My family and I love seasonal and holiday-prep books. The offerings for Diwali are a little slim, but there are several books new this year to consider…(Updated Sept. 17, 2019)
Diwali (Celebrate the World) (Amazon | Indiebound): This new explainer-style book has lovely artwork and goes out of its way to show celebration taking place in lots of contexts. One of them is in front of the White House… with a family of non-participating picture-takers in the foreground. Odd choice! But it is really pretty.
Diwali Lights (Amazon | Indiebound): Adorable photos of many babies dressed to impress, holding sparklers, and oohing at the sights; some awkward but topical rhymes. A partner to the beloved Holi Colors.
Five Days of Diwali (Amazon): Three kids celebrate each day of the festival—this is a little rough language-wise and mostly serves as an itinerary, reporting on its three protagonists enjoying stories but not telling the stories, for instance.
Baby’s First Diwali (Amazon | Indiebound) is new, although it doesn’t break much new ground. It replaces the out-of-print My First Diwali.
Priddy’s very pared-down Diwali Touch and Feel is down 90% from last year’s price… to a mere $62.88 per board book. (This is still a joke, do not buy this.)
Peppa’s Diwali (Amazon) The porcine menace strikes again.
DIWALI PICTURE BOOKS
Bharat Babies’ Let’s Celebrate Diwali! (Amazon | Indiebound) takes place in a Western classroom, where four friends talk about the Diwali traditions in their (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh) families.
Diwali: Holidays in Rhythm and Rhyme (Amazon | Indiebound) has gorgeous artwork, suffused with excitement and vigor. It switches back and forth from a multiethnic Western(?) classroom setting to an Indian setting and the words are somewhat awkward read alone. The accompanying song is pretty much Raffi-goes-Bollywood.
Amma, Tell Me About Diwali (Amazon | Indiebound) is wordy but has a fascinating art style; it presents a modern family celebrating Diwali in a big city and then adds a quick recap of the Ramayana and a folk tale about the value of dedication to work. The rhyming text didn’t flow for me but there’s a lot of content and context.
The Diwali Gift (Amazon | Indiebound) is an edutainment story about three monkeys, and has some cute moments.
Crayola has released Diwali Colors (Amazon | Indiebound), which has a textbooky attitude and a coloring page.
If you’re looking for more: check out a Diwali craft kit from my pal Rachel Gupta’s Artsy Dinos!