Celebrating Diwali Book Review

Books are a great way to learn about cultures and celebrations that we might not participate in ourselves, and there are a lot of great kids books that can help people of all ages understand different cultures and holidays they might not already know about.

Celebrating Diwali by Anjali Joshi is a brief book that covers the basics of the five-day festival of light that is celebrated by about 1 in 7 people in the world across 90 countries.

Diwali is celebrated by several different religions, and the traditions and stories about the holiday can vary among groups and families. The main commonality is that it is seen as a triumph of light over darkness or good over evil.

In some cultures the holiday is said to celebrate Prince Rama’s defeat of the demon Ravan, who had kidnapped his wife, Suta. Other Diwali tales highlight the victory of Krishna over the demon Narakasura, while other religious groups have other stories to celebrate.

The book outlines the celebrations and what the different days of the holiday are said to stand for, and how it is celebrated in different religious traditions. It also includes crafts, recipes and games for your Diwali celebration.

It provides a nice, quick overview of Diwali for people who don’t have much knowledge of the celebration and does a good job of covering different ways it might be celebrated by people of different religious backgrounds.

About the book: 50 pages, paperback, published September 2022 by Rockridge Press. Suggested retail price $7.99.

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Diwali Printables for Kids

If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.

The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.

The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.

The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).

Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.

The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.

Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.

This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.

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