Picture book introduces kids to Hindu holiday Diwali

Diwali in My New Home

Written by Shachi Kaushik and illustrated by Aishwarya Tandon

Beaming Books, 2022

Priya has moved to America from India. Today is Diwali, a favorite Hindu holiday. She is excited as she thinks about the celebration.

But she is saddened to look out the window and see no decorations. She remembers how her school in India celebrated the holiday. The halls were decorated. Everyone wore traditional outfits, made cards, and sang songs. Here, no one seems to know about the holiday.

She goes home and smells cardamom, an Indian spice, and warm ghee, butter. Her mother is baking.

“It smells like Diwali,” she says.

She helps her mother clean house. She remembers her grandmother saying, “Goddess Lakshmi always visits a clean and decorated house.”

She sits on the front steps making a flower as a rangoli with colorful sand. A rangoli is supposed to bring luck and happiness.

Neighbors come by and compliment her work. They also comment on the delicious aromas coming from the house.

Later, Priya and her father decorate the house with lights. Again, neighbors come by and ask if they are decorating early for Christmas. Priya explains it is for Diwali, the festival of lights. Papa invites them to come back later to celebrate with them.

Priya and her parents change into traditional costumes. They say prayers, and light clay lamps, the diyas, and incense sticks in front of figurines of Hindu deities.

The neighbors come and celebrate with them. Priya is happy again, and thinks, “It feels like Diwali.”

The children play with sparklers outdoors. Fireworks are Priya’s favorite part of the celebration.

“This Diwali isn’t the same as in India,” Priya thinks, “but it’s Diwali in my new home.”

At the back of the book, there are two pages giving information about the Diwali holiday. There is also a glossary defining words used in the book.

The illustrations by Aishwarya Tandon are colorful and bright. They will draw children into the story.

“Diwali in My New Home,” introduces American children to the popular Hindu holiday Diwali. Diwali happens in October or November on the night of a full moon. It is celebrated on the third day of the five-day festival.

On this day, Lord Rama, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshman came back to his kingdom Ayodhya after spending 14 years in exile. Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and hope over despair.  

In America, Indian organizations host events for Diwali. Most cities have these events.

About the Author

Shachi Kaushik is a children’s media enthusiast, writer, and storyteller. Raised in India, she currently lives in Vancouver with her husband. This is her debut picture book.  

About the Illustrator

Aishwarya Tandon is an illustrator and cartoonist. She holds a bachelor of science and an honors degree in animation and multimedia from the Birla Institute of Technology. Aishwarya lives in India.

Father comforts daughter after her childhood home burns

Dear Wild Child: You Carry Your Home Inside You

Written by Wallace J. Nichols and Wallace Grayce Nichols

Illustrated by Drew Beckmeyer

Cameron + Company, 2022

This picture book, “Dear Wild Child: You Carry Your Home Inside You,” was inspired by a letter a father wrote to comfort his daughter after her childhood home burned down. She had just left home for college.

The story is in the father’s voice. It begins “We built your house around you when you were still growing inside your mother, in the shade of ancient redwood trees, by a creek, not far from the ocean.”

He tells his daughter that her home helped make her the person she is today. It was built strong of hardwood and stone. The family filled it with books, guitars, a piano, pets, and memories.

She learned to walk there, and listened to sweet lullabies. The wind sang though the canyon, the trees, and the chimney. The fireplace crackled and kept them warm.

In the canyon, she played. She discovered salamanders, swimming holes and fairy houses. She collected buckets of plums, heart-shaped rocks, and crawdads. Bright stars peeked through the trees and owls called.

They had sleepovers, holiday gatherings, parties, and weddings in the house. They entertained many visitors and had delicious dinners there.

The house withstood droughts, floods, and earthquakes. She was there to see it all.

Then a lightening storm blew through the canyon. It started a wildfire.

“The unstoppable flames roared over the ridges and climbed the tall trees,” writes the father. “The fire took back your house. I wish I could have protected it. But I couldn’t and I didn’t.”

But he tells his daughter, “Your house served its original purpose. You are healthy and strong because of your home. It grew you.

“The house might be gone, but you will carry your home with you wherever you go. You are my wild child.”

The colorful illustrations bring life to the book. Their colored marker style appeals to children.

At the back of the book, the author Wallace J. Nichols tells about the fire. He says climate change is making weather less predictable and more extreme. We will need to become resilient and more creative.

About the Authors

Wallace J. Nichols wrote this picture book with his daughter Wallace Grayce Nichols. Wallace J. Nichols is a marine biologist. He lives in the Slow Coast of Central California. 

Wallace Grayce Nichols is a student of sustainable design.

About the Illustrator

Drew Beckmeyer is a fine artist, an illustrator, and an elementary school teacher. He lives in California.

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‘Sarah Rising’ helps children understand protest

Sarah Rising

Written by Ty Chapman and illustrated by DeAnn Wiley

Beaming Books, 2022

Sarah is a young girl who keeps beetles and ants as pets. One morning her father tells her she won’t go to school today. Instead, she will go with him to a protest.

Dad explains that the police killed a black person. Police are supposed to serve and protect us, he says, but they hurt us instead. That’s why it is important to stand up for what is right and keep each other safe.

Sarah and her dad join a crowd of people carrying signs and shouting for justice. It is loud and scary, but Sarah holds her father’s hand and feels safe.

Then Sarah sees a monarch butterfly and follows it. The butterfly flies right into a police officer’s face. He jumps back and smacks at the butterfly. It falls to the ground and remains there.

Sarah runs to the butterfly. The police officer shouts, “Get back!”

Sarah picks up the butterfly and runs back into the crowd. She doesn’t know where her father is. She shouts for him a long time, but can’t find him. Finally, a woman protester kneels down to help her.

The protester lets her sit on her shoulders so she can see over the crowd. They search and shout. Finally, Sarah spots her dad. She jumps down and runs to him.

She and her dad stay at the protest for a while. Sarah holds her dad’s hand and yells with the crowd, “No justice, no peace!”

Sarah puts the butterfly in a jar with leaves. At night, Dad sits at Sarah’s bedside. He tells her, “It’ll be okay. I’ll keep you safe, just like you kept your butterfly safe.”

After a few days, the monarch is better. Sarah sets it free outdoors and watches it fly away.

The colorful, bold illustrations by DeAnn Wiley help to tell the story and make it attractive and engaging to young people. 

Although police brutality is a scary topic for children, Chapman is careful to emphasize how Sarah’s father keeps her safe and the community is supporting one another.

The author Chapman was inspired by the protests in Minneapolis after the police killing of George Floyd. He wanted to write a children’s book that gave children an opportunity to think about racial injustice, protest, and being part of a community that protects one another.

In an author’s note, Chapman writes about his experience growing up black in the Twin Cities. He also tells about racial inequities there and the problem of police killing black people in the Twin Cities. He says black people came together to keep one another safe during the Minneapolis Uprising.

The backmatter includes a list of things children can do to address racism and a discussion guide for parents and educators.

About the Author

Ty Chapman is a Minneapolis Twin Cities-based author, poet, puppeteer, and playwright of Nigerian and European descent. He is passionate about art that speaks to the black experience in America. His recent accomplishments include being named a Loft Literary Center Mirrors and Window fellow and publishing poetry through multiple journals.

About the Illustrator

DeAnn Wiley is a Detroit-based artist who has been painting traditionally for over five years. She recently broke into the digital art world and shares her artwork with a large online audience. She is an advocate for social justice and is dedicated to making art that is authentic and intentional in empowering black, queer, overweight, and disabled people.

 

Story of gay weight-lifting champ empowers children

 

Strong

Written by Rob Kearney and Eric Rosswood, illustrated by Nidhi Chanani

Little, Brown and Company, 2022

Rob Kearney always knew that he liked to feel strong. As a child, he lifted heavy boxes and brought all the groceries into the house in one trip.

In school, he liked to test his strength in tug of war and guarding the quarterback in football. In high school, he felt powerful lifting other cheerleaders into the air. His favorite sport was weight lifting.

A teacher introduced him to the Strongman competition. In it, men lifted logs, stones, and tires. He trained to compete. He went from lifting 150 pounds to 400 pounds over his head.

But on the day of the competition, he struggled. He finished in last place.

His life brightened up when he met Joey at a weightlifting event. The two of them fell in love. Today they are married.

Rob and Joey trained together.  Rob prepared for the North American championship event.

Joey encouraged Rob to dress in the brighter colors he preferred when he lifted. Rob began dressing in bright colors and dyed his mohawk a rainbow of colors.

During training, Joey lifted more than only weights. He lifted cars, and once pulled a fire truck down the street.

Rob was nervous on the day of the competition, but he did his best and he won! At the back of the book, Rob includes an encouraging message to children. He tells them to believe in themselves.

He also includes more information about the strongman sport including the definitions of expressions used in the sport.  

Nidhi Chanani's illustrations are bright and kid-friendly, carrying the reader through the story. 

About the Authors

Rob Kearney is the only openly gay professional strongman in the world. He is a North American champion, a world-record holder, and a Pro Ambassador for Athlete Ally. He lives in Massachusetts with his husband Joey.

Eric Rosswood is an LGBTQ+ activist and the award-winning author of “Journey to Same-Sex Parenthood” and “The Ultimate Guide for Gay Dads.” He lives in New York with his husband Mat and their two children.

About the Illustrator

Nidhi Chanani is the award-winning creator of the graphic novels “Pashmin” and “Jukebox,”and the illustrator of many picture books, including “I Will Be Fierce” by Bea Birdsong. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and child. Visit her online at everydayloveart.com.

Velveteen Rabbit celebrates 100 years in print

The Velveteen Rabbit

Written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson

Reproduced by Suzeteo Enterprises, 2017; Originally published in 1922

“The Velveteen Rabbit” is a classic children’s book celebrating its 100^th year in print this month.

Very few children’s books remain in print for so long. Most picture books sell between 5,000 and 10,000 copies in hardcover and go out of print within two years.

“The Velveteen Rabbit” endures because of its universal theme about love and its appeal to both children and adults.

The story begins with a boy receiving a velveteen rabbit as a gift at Christmas. The child likes the toy when he first gets it, but quickly forgets it in the excitement of looking at all his new presents.

For a long time, the velveteen rabbit lives in the toy cupboard mostly ignored. He is snubbed by the more modern mechanical toys.

The only toy who is kind to the rabbit is the wise skin horse, the oldest toy in the nursery. One day the velveteen rabbit asks the skin horse, "What is real?"

The skin horse explains that when a child loves you for a long, long time, you become real. Nursery magic makes you real. By the time you become real most of your hair has been loved off. Your eyes may fall out and you are loose in the joints and very shabby.

But these things do not matter because once you are real you can’t be ugly except to those who don’t understand.

The skin horse is real because years ago the boy’s uncle made him real. Once you are real you will always be real, the skin horse explains. It lasts forever.

One day when the boy is going to bed, he cannot find the china dog that always sleeps with him. Nana hands him the rabbit. This is how the boy begins sleeping with the velveteen rabbit every night. In the spring and summer, the boy takes the rabbit outdoors with him when he plays.

Finally, the rabbit hears the boy tell Nana that the rabbit is real. He feels almost too happy to sleep. So much love stirs in his sawdust heart that it almost bursts.

One day when the velveteen rabbit is outdoors, he sees two real rabbits. They ask him why doesn’t he get up and play with them. He doesn’t want to admit that he can’t move. Finally, one of the real rabbits says the velveteen rabbit doesn’t smell right and he isn’t real. The velveteen rabbit insists he is real, but the rabbits hop away.

The velveteen rabbit becomes more and more shabby, but the boy loves him just as much. To him, his rabbit is just as beautiful. It doesn’t matter to the velveteen rabbit how he looks to other people. The boy loves him.

Then one day, the boy becomes ill. He has scarlet fever. In 1922, there were no medicines to treat this illness. Children sometimes died from it.

The velveteen rabbit stays at the boy’s side. He knows the boy needs him. He looks forward to the time when they can go outside and play.

Finally, the boy gets better. He sits up in bed and looks at picture books while the velveteen rabbit cuddles at his side. One day, they let him get up and dress.  They tells him he will go to the seaside the next day.

The velveteen rabbit looks forward to the seaside. But the boy’s doctor says everything in the boy’s room should be disinfected. The books and toys that he played with in bed must be burned. 

The rabbit is put in a sack with the picture books and carried out to the garden to be burned the next day. The boy is told the velveteen bunny was lost. He is in a different room and he has a new bunny to sleep with him.

The rabbit feels very lonely. He wriggles enough so he can get his head out of the opening of the sack. He thinks, “Of what use was it to be loved and lose one’s beauty and become real if it ended like this?” A real tear trickles down his nose and falls on the ground.

Where the tear falls a flower grows.  A fairy steps out of the blossom. She says she is the nursery magic fairy. She says she takes care of all the play things that children have loved.

The fairy carries the rabbit into the wood. Wild rabbits dance there. She tells them she has brought them a new playmate. She kisses the velveteen rabbit and puts him down on the grass. He has become a real rabbit.

The next spring the boy goes out to play in the wood. He sees two rabbits and he notices one of them looks just like his old bunny. But he didn't know it was his own bunny who had come back to look at the child who first helped him to be real.

Over the years, “The Velveteen Rabbit” has been illustrated by many artists including Maurice Sendak and Sarah Massini. Erin Stead illustrated a special 100^th anniversary edition published this year by Doubleday Books for Young Readers. However, the original illustrator was William Nicholson.

Nicholson’s illustrations are sparse. They are done in dull colors and filled with shadows. Like the story, his illustrations are melancholy.   

The 2017 edition is intended to closely reproduce the original children’s book which was published in 1922. On the title page, the full title is “The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real.”

About the Author

Margery Williams was an English-American author, primarily of children’s books. She achieved lasting fame at 41 with the publication of “The Velveteen Rabbit” in 1922. This classic is her best-known work. She received a Newberry Honor for “Winterbound.”

William Nicholson was a British painter of still-life, landscape and portraits. He was also a printmaker, a designer for theater, a children’s book author, and an illustrator.    

  

Beautiful picture book tells story about slowing down

 

Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Take an Evening Stroll

Written and illustrated by Britta Teckentrup

Translated from German by Nicola Stuart

Prestel Publishing, Random House Publishing Group, 2022

“Big Hedgehog and Little Hedgehog Take an Evening Stroll” is a beautifully illustrated story about slowing down to appreciate nature.

The parent and child hedgehogs take a leisurely walk home. Little Hedgehog keeps asking Big Hedgehog to wait so they can take in the beauty of the evening. Big Hedgehog patiently stops again and again before telling Little Hedgehog that they have to move on.

The two stop to watch the sun set and the moon rise. They stop to smell beautiful wildflowers, to visit owls, and wait for the moon to come out from behind a cloud.  They stop to say goodnight to fish and frogs, and to watch fireflies dance. Finally, they stop to count the stars.

In the last pages, Big Hedgehog again tells Little Hedgehog they should go on because they are almost home. Then he discovers that Little Hedgehog has fallen asleep.

Britta Teckentrup’s mixed media illustrations combine textured collage and soft color. The lovely images set the relaxed mood of the story making it a wonderful bedtime story. Children can find small details – like a lady bug, a moth, squirrels, and a dragonfly in the pictures.

My only criticism is that the author makes the hedgehogs’ home a house rather than a more realistic nest or burrow. This is particularly jarring because nature is portrayed in a realistic way in the rest of the book.

About the Author-Illustrator

Britta Teckentrup is an award-winning German author, illustrator, and fine artist. She has written and illustrated over 120 picture books that have been translated into over thirty languages. Her books include “The Egg,” “Alle Wetter,” “Don’t Wake Up Tiger,” and “Under the Same Sky.”  She lives in Berlin, Germany, with her husband and son. 

‘Earth Friend Forever’ teaches youngsters about plastic

 

Earth Friend Forever

Written by Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez, and Sanden Totten

Illustrated by Mike Orodán

Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2022

‘Earth Friend Forever’ teaches children about how plastic hurts the environment. But it does this in a fun, amusing way. Earth is a character writing a friendly letter to children.

The story begins, “Dear little humans living on me: It’s your E.F.F. (Earth Friend Forever)!”

Earth begins by talking about how Earth is a good friend to children, making waves for them to surf on, growing fruits and vegetables for them to eat, and making fresh air for them to breathe. Earth smiles in these pictures.

But then Earth says, “There’s something we need to talk about. You’re covering me with plastic!”

Earth goes on to explain how plastic is showing up in the ocean, in forests, on mountains, and in deserts. And it doesn’t go away. Bacteria can’t break it down like it does other materials.

“So the plastic piles just grow and grow,” Earth says. “I’m worried that one day I’ll be nothing but plastic.”

Then Earth says humans will not let that happen. Earth tells children some things they can do. Recycle plastic. Replace plastic things with things made of cloth, glass, or metal. Reuse plastic things. Throw away plastic garbage.

One day children may become scientists who invent new ways to recycle and break down plastic, Earth says.

The story ends with Earth writing, “Well, little humans, I’m glad we had this talk.”

In the back of the book, there is more information. Children learn what plastic is, how it is made, fun facts, and scientific solutions in the works.

This book presents quite a bit of information in a kid-friendly way. It will help youngsters become more environmentally aware.

About the Author

Molly Bloom, Marc Sanchez and Sanden Totten are the creators of American Public Media’s “Brain’s On!” and the authors of “It’s Alive” and “Road Trip Earth.” They became friends while working at Minnesota Public Radio and decided to make a show for children. Visit them at brainson.org, follow them on Twitter@Brains_On, or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

About the Illustrator

Mike Orodán is the author-illustrator of the Peek-aBaby series, and illustrator of “Crossings” by Katy S. Duffield. He lives in Surrey, England. Visit him on Istagram @thebundad.