By Kabir Sehgal, Surishtha Sehgal
A sister and brother spend a morning gathering marigolds and roses to grind into the bright powders of Holi, and by the end the whole street is throwing color. The Hindu festival of spring, told in a few glad words a page.
Chintoo and Mintoo, a sister and brother, spend the morning gathering flowers — marigolds, jacaranda blossoms, roses — and grinding the petals into the bright powders Holi is played with. Then the day comes, everyone spills out into the street, and they throw color at each other until the whole neighborhood is red and yellow and blue and laughing. Holi is the Hindu festival of spring and new beginnings, and of good coming out ahead of bad. The book tells it at the very youngest level: a few words a page over Vashti Harrison's glowing pictures, so a four-year-old can follow every step from the quiet flower-gathering to the joyful mess at the end.
What makes this one work is that it lets a single family actually live Holi instead of pointing at it from a distance. You watch the morning of gathering flowers, you hear why the day matters, and then you're right in the street when the color flies, so Holi lands as something Chintoo and Mintoo do rather than a holiday on a list. It's also about as easy as a picture book gets, a few words a page, which makes it a good first real story for your very youngest and a warm way in if Holi is new to your child.