by Gita Varadarajan
Illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan
Orchard Books
Scholastic Inc.
2022
40 pages
ISBN: 9781338598810
Beautifully illustrated and deftly told, My Bindi is an excellent choice for the multi-cultural classroom and should be on every family's bookshelf, The world needs more acceptance and love, and through picture books, young children come into contact with other places and people.
Divya asks her mother, her Amma, why she wears a bindi, even when she sleeps. Her mother explains that Hindu women and girls wear their bindi because it's their third eye that can look inside of them and protect them.
Divya is worried about wearing a bindi for the first time to school. She dreads what her classmates will say and the teasing she'll endure. They might think she's weird. Amma explains that when she wears her bindi, she feels it. Divya isn't convinced, but Amma allows her to choose her own bindi from a box of dozens of sparkly, beautiful bindis. Divya chooses one that looks like the sun.
The next day, the teacher, Mrs. Gonzalez, asks Divya to tell the class about her bindi. She gathers strength from her bindi and tells the class what it means. She is proud to be her and different, unique and unafraid.
Simply a beautiful book with a girl who finds her voice and claims it, I highly recommend My Bindi for young readers K-grade 4.
