The Boy & the Bindi
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this beautiful children’s picture book by Vivek Shraya, author of the acclaimed God Loves Hair, a five-year-old South Asian boy becomes fascinated with his mother’s bindi, the red dot commonly worn by Hindu women to indicate the point at which creation begins, and wishes to have one of his own. Rather than chastise her son, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself.
Beautifully illustrated by Rajni Perera, The Boy & the Bindi is a joyful celebration of gender and cultural difference.
Ages 3 to 6.
Vivek Shraya is a performer, musician, and filmmaker, and the authors of God Loves Hair and She of the Mountains.
This publication meets the EPUB Accessibility requirements and it also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG-AA). It is screen-reader friendly and is accessible to persons with disabilities. A book with many images, which is defined with accessible structural markup. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order and semantic structure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A small boy asks his mother about her bindi, the dot Hindu women wear on their foreheads: "Above her nose is where it goes./ What is this dot? I want to know!" He looks up at her in the bathroom as she peers into the mirror to make sure it's in the right position. "My bindi keeps me safe and true," she explains. "My bindi tells me where I'm from." She offers the boy his own bindi a break from convention, since they are more commonly worn by married women and he senses its effects for himself. "As soon as it's on, I feel so calm / Like all the noise around is gone." The bindi watches over the wearer, "Making sure I don't hide/ Everything I am inside." Newcomer Perera's illustrations sometimes stumble into clich with stars and tie-dye effects, but other spreads compel attention. A tight-focused portrait of Ammi gazes out from the page; she's strikingly beautiful, with dark skin, dark eyes, and swirling black hair. Shraya's (God Loves Hair) story defines and affirms important values of Hindu culture and nudges gender norms, as well. Ages 4 8.
