Holi (Rookie Read-About Holidays) [Paperback]

Uma Krishnaswami (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Exuberant color photographs reflect the nature of the Hindu celebration that commemorates the triumph of good over evil and the beginning of spring. Here, the mythic root of the holiday and the contemporary ways of celebrating it are explained in terms simple enough for young listeners and readers, Hindu and non-Hindu alike. Several photos show the vibrant colors of the gulal with which celebrants powder one another, and their joyful participation in being dusted-or soaked in colored water-is apparent. The Hindu population of the U.S. continues to grow, and this brief title is a welcome choice as it serves both to broaden existing holiday collections and to introduce this religion to young America readers.
Coop Renner, Blackshear Elementary School, Austin, TX
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

From Booklist

Reviewed with Mary Dodson Wade's Cinco de Mayo.

K-Gr. 2. These titles in the ongoing Rookie Read-About Holidays series introduce two holidays in a format designed for beginning readers. Both books combine crisp color photographs with a few sentences per page, printed in large type set against bright white backgrounds. Holi briefly retells the Hindu holiday's story before describing the raucous, colorful ways that the day--a "holiday when everyone can be a kid!"--is celebrated. Cinco de Mayo is equally succinct. It outlines the events that led up to the Battle of Puebla in remarkably simple terms, and then shows various aspects of contemporary festivities, including a mariachi band, dancers, parades, and so on. Presenting only the basics, the books will leave many children with questions, including the location of Mexico and India (no maps are included). But these holidays are often overlooked in books for youth, especially for this age group, and the pictures and words combine to offer bright, serviceable introductions. A vocabulary review closes each book. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Children's Press(CT) (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0516277642
• ISBN-13: 978-0516277646
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 5.9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,038,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Uma Krishnaswami is the author of many books for children. She is also on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple informative book with beautiful photographs, February 29, 2004

By 

Pearl of Wisdom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holi (Rookie Read-About Holidays) (Paperback)

This book's virtues are its simple text, interesting facts, and beautiful color photographs. There are just 1 or 2 sentences on each two-page layout, with just a couple of pages displaying as many as 3 sentences. However, with these limited words, the book educates the reader about the Hindu story behind Holi, the celebratory traditions of Holi, and the significance of Holi. I especially recommend this 31-page book for readers age 4-8; however, even adults will learn interesting facts about Holi. I never knew what the colored powder was made of, and I had never heard of Princess Holika until I read this book. I also loved the photographs of typical Indian families smiling, celebrating, and enjoying each other's company.

This book would be educational and enjoyable for both Indians and non-Indians, but it does have a couple of minor flaws. One is when the author writes, "Some people visit the temple on Holi." The accompanying photograph shows a kid wearing sneakers, so I doubt he's in a Hindu temple. It's probably some kind of community hall because Hindus never wear shoes in a temple. (However, this flaw is minor because the sneakers are in the background, and you'd have to pay pretty close attention to even notice them).

One thing that is slightly more troublesome is the repetition of 4 non-English words throughout the text; the author never indicates which language they're from. I wish the author had added one sentence like, "These words are from Hindi, the national language of India." I think this would have made things clearer for the many non-Indians who assume all Indians speak the same language, and it's called "Indian."

Minor flaws aside, I did enjoy this book, and I highly recommend it. I learned a lot and loved looking at the pictures!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars illustrated with photos of real Indian families celebrating, September 26, 2003

By 

KNSudha (Saratoga, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Holi (Rookie Read-About Holidays) (Paperback)

My 3 year old son just loved this book, the pictures are great, very relevant, and appealing to his age group, and older(visiting 4-6 yr olds have also appreciated this book). They understand the story of good vs evil a little better than he does, but this is an indispensable addition to any S. Asian Hindu who would like to share memories, and create new festival traditions with their children.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for ESOL students!, May 2, 2006

By 

Lynn Ellingwood "The ESOL Teacher" (Webster, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holi (Rookie Read-About Holidays) (Paperback)

Another great holiday book from Rookie Readers! If only other book companies took time to write books about international holidays as much as Scholastic does.