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First Festivals: Holi
The Blurb On The Back:
First Festivals
Holi has arrived!
Lift the flaps to discover the joy and celebration of this special holiday
It’s Holi, the Hindu festival of colour! Families who celebrate hang their marigold decorations, light their bonfires and tell stories over two days before dancing and throwing gulal powder everywhere.
This board book features delightfully energetic illustrations by Darshika Varma and sets out the different elements that go to make up the Holi festival. Varma’s illustrations show different generations and use lots of bright colours. However the use of the flaps is a little underwhelming and they’re quite flimsy and susceptible to tearing in small hands, which is a shame because I think this is a nice introduction to the festival.
I picked this up because to my shame I don’t know much about the Hindu faith and although I knew there was a colour festival, I didn’t know much about it beyond that. This book is actually a really good summary of what the festival involved for very young readers and sets out the various elements to it. I really liked how Varma’s illustrations show different generations enjoying and participating in the festival and they all have a sense of energy about them while making great use of colour.
Where I think the book does fall down is that this is a board book designed for small hands and intended to take a certain amount of stress but the flaps are really flimsy and likely to tear very easily, which is a real shame given the cover price of this book (£7.99). I also don’t think the designs beneath the flaps were particularly exciting and there needs to be some kind of surprise or delight to make them effective and keep very young readers interested.
All in all, this is a useful board book to give to any younger readers interested in learning more about this festival but it’s a shame the publisher didn’t make the best use of the format.
The Verdict:
This board book features delightfully energetic illustrations by Darshika Varma and sets out the different elements that go to make up the Holi festival. Varma’s illustrations show different generations and use lots of bright colours. However the use of the flaps is a little underwhelming and they’re quite flimsy and susceptible to tearing in small hands, which is a shame because I think this is a nice introduction to the festival.
FIRST FESTIVALS - HOLI was released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Holi has arrived!
Lift the flaps to discover the joy and celebration of this special holiday
It’s Holi, the Hindu festival of colour! Families who celebrate hang their marigold decorations, light their bonfires and tell stories over two days before dancing and throwing gulal powder everywhere.
This board book features delightfully energetic illustrations by Darshika Varma and sets out the different elements that go to make up the Holi festival. Varma’s illustrations show different generations and use lots of bright colours. However the use of the flaps is a little underwhelming and they’re quite flimsy and susceptible to tearing in small hands, which is a shame because I think this is a nice introduction to the festival.
I picked this up because to my shame I don’t know much about the Hindu faith and although I knew there was a colour festival, I didn’t know much about it beyond that. This book is actually a really good summary of what the festival involved for very young readers and sets out the various elements to it. I really liked how Varma’s illustrations show different generations enjoying and participating in the festival and they all have a sense of energy about them while making great use of colour.
Where I think the book does fall down is that this is a board book designed for small hands and intended to take a certain amount of stress but the flaps are really flimsy and likely to tear very easily, which is a real shame given the cover price of this book (£7.99). I also don’t think the designs beneath the flaps were particularly exciting and there needs to be some kind of surprise or delight to make them effective and keep very young readers interested.
All in all, this is a useful board book to give to any younger readers interested in learning more about this festival but it’s a shame the publisher didn’t make the best use of the format.
The Verdict:
This board book features delightfully energetic illustrations by Darshika Varma and sets out the different elements that go to make up the Holi festival. Varma’s illustrations show different generations and use lots of bright colours. However the use of the flaps is a little underwhelming and they’re quite flimsy and susceptible to tearing in small hands, which is a shame because I think this is a nice introduction to the festival.
FIRST FESTIVALS - HOLI was released in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.