Shubh Diwali!

By Chitra Soundar and Charlene Chua

WSRA Children's Literature: Picture This 2021 Recommendation List

The festival of lights is here—time to celebrate the New Year!

Diwali has arrived! Rangoli art decorates the floor, and strings of flowers hang around the doors. Now it's time to ring the bells, light the lamps, and welcome the New Year with family and friends. A sweet introduction to the Hindu festival of lights.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Release date: Sep 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780807573563

Chitra Soundar

Chitra Soundar is originally from India, where as a child she feasted on folktales and stories from Hindu mythology. She is the author of the picture book Pattan’s Pumpkin: A Traditional Flood Story from Southern India, illustrated by Frané Lessac. She currently lives in London.

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Reviews for Shubh Diwali!

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A loving family prepares for and celebrates the Hindu festival of Diwali in this rhyming picture-book from Indian expatriate author Chitra Soundar, now living in London, and Singaporean expatriate illustrator Charlene Chua, now living in Canada. As they clean and decorate, listen to stories and pray, the family are filled with joy, and with the light that Diwali brings...Having enjoyed other titles from both Soundar (Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market and its sequels) and Chua (How Nivi Got Her Names), I picked up Shubh Diwali! with a sense of expectation, one made all the keener by the relative dearth of good Diwali titles here in the states. Although slight, the narrative here reads well, and hits on some of the high points of celebrating this festival, while an author's afterword gives more detailed information. The artwork is colorful and cute, in a cartoon-like style, and captures the excitement of the activities described in the text. Recommended to anyone looking for Diwali picture-books for younger children.