Brother and sister Chintoo and Mintoo are getting ready for Holi, the Indian festival of colors. Their process is slowly revealed as the siblings gather petals, dry and separate them, and then crush the dried petals into powders. Lively digital illustrations show the children’s excited family members and neighbors carrying the powders through the streets, and then “POOF!” wet and dry powders fly through the air in a rambunctious celebration. Readers will learn from the book’s endnotes that Holi celebrates “inclusiveness, new beginnings, and the triumph of good over evil.” This is useful information, but the real beauty of this attractive book is that it shows the country’s home life and community togetherness beyond the holiday celebration. Children in primary grades will find this an accessible read, whereas younger patrons can enjoy it as a read-aloud and learn about colors and cultural festivals in an engaging way. VERDICT A must-buy for picture book sections that will delight children regardless of their familiariy with the holiday.

Autorentext
Surishtha Sehgal was a university professor for many years and now enjoys reading to children during story time. She is the founder of a nonprofit organization that promotes social responsibility among students, and she serves on the boards of two universities and a national arts center. Surishtha and her son, Kabir Sehgal, are a mother-son writing team whose books include Festival of Colors, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, and Seven Samosas and the New York Times bestselling A Bucket of Blessings, both illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. She lives in Atlanta. To learn more about the Sehgals' books, visit Bucket.art. Kabir Sehgal started his class newspaper in second grade and has been writing ever since. A bestselling author of several books, he is also a jazz bassist and Grammy Award-winning producer. Kabir and his mother, Surishtha Sehgal, are a mother-son writing team whose books include Festival of Colors, illustrated by Vashti Harrison, and Seven Samosas and the New York Times bestselling A Bucket of Blessings, both illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. He lives in Atlanta. To learn more about the Sehgals' books, visit Bucket.art.Vashti Harrison, author and illustrator of the bestselling Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History, is an artist, author, and filmmaker with a passion for storytelling. She earned her MFA in film and video from California Institute of the Arts, where she snuck into animation and illustration classes to learn from Disney and DreamWorks legends. There she rekindled a love for drawing and painting. Now she uses her love for both film and illustration to craft beautiful stories for children.

Klappentext
Youngsters can learn all about Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors, in this lush picture book from a "New York Times"-bestselling mother-and-son duo. Full color.