FICTION

Holi Hai!

by Chitra Soundar (text) & illus. by Darshika Varma
Albert Whitman. Jan. 2022. 32p. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780807533574.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 3–The day before Holi, everyone in Gauri’s family works to make their holiday colors from natural sources. Gauri is upset when the color she picks from the bowl isn’t her favorite. When she sulks, her grandfather tells the legend of how Prahlada defeated the evil of anger with his love. Gauri relinquishes her anger and celebrates. Brilliant pink, jade, purple, green, red, and yellow saturate every page. Just as intense as the colors depicted, the emotions featured—love, anger, forgiveness, joy—vividly shine. Back matter explains the Hindu festival, words that may be unfamiliar to some readers, and recipes to make colored water (not powder).
VERDICT Shelve this vibrant book alongside Kabir Sehgal and Surishtha Sehgal’s Festival of Colors or Rina Singh’s Holi Colors.
Reviewed by Patricia D. Lothrop , Jan 01, 2022

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