It is spring and Chintoo and Mintoo are excited; it is time to prepare for Holi, the Indian festival of colors. Together, the brother and sister roam their verdant garden, collecting the flowers they will turn into brightly colored powders. They gather hibiscus flowers, because hibiscus flowers make red. Orchids, marigolds, and irises come next. Chintoo and Mintoo dry the flowers before separating the petals and finally pressing them into powder. Once their petal powders are complete, it's time to celebrate. All dressed in white, the siblings join their parents, friends, and neighbors outside where the powders will be tossed about. The Sehgals a mother-and-son duo use short, repetitive sentences and color-coded words, which nicely pair with Harrison's genial scenes emphasizing the vibrant, sunny colors of the festival and the delight of getting ready with family. This lively, informational read reinforces primary and secondary colors and showcases this jovial Hindu festival as a time to celebrate fresh starts, friendship, and forgiveness, and have lots of fun in the process. An authors' note offers more context.--Lock, Anita Copyright 2017 Booklist

This sweet, nicely repetitive story for the preschool set teaches colors ("Marigolds make orange") while describing how two children make petal-powders for tossing with neighbors in the streets for Holi. Joyful, color- and light-filled digital illustrations incorporate authentic North Indian details such as rangoli art, though other details seem more Americanized. An authors' note about Holi is appended. "Holi, hai! (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

PreS-Gr 2--This board book adaptation captures the beautiful illustrations and evocative descriptions of the original. Young readers are introduced to the Hindu Spring festival of Holi through the eyes of two young siblings, Chintoo and Mintoo. The siblings collect the colorful flowers of hibiscus, orchids, marigolds, and irises that they then dry and press into powders. When their powders are ready and they go off with their family toward the celebration, there are vibrant bursts of powder and shouts of "Holi, Hai." The colors used are vivid throughout but they especially pop after the bright powder is thrown. The short sentences and repetition will make this appealing to young readers. The use of color within the text also highlights the words used, creating deeper associations between that color and its spelling. It's also wonderful that the illustrations depict the various shades of brown skin tones of the siblings and others, highlighting that different races that can exist among family members and within a community. An author's note gives further information. VERDICT A lovely addition to share about this joyful holiday that would be a great choice for a diverse spring programming or displays.--Kristyn Dorfman, The Nightingale-Bamford Sch., New York City

The Sehgals, the mother-son duo behind A Bucket of Blessings, offer a fittingly vivid introduction to Holi, the springtime Hindu festival of colors, as seen through the eyes of Indian siblings Chintoo and Mintoo. The children collect flowers from their garden to turn into brightly colored powders ("They gather orchids, because orchids make purple"), then gather with everyone they know in the town square to celebrate by throwing the powders on each other. Harrison (Little Leaders: Bold Women), working in a distinctly Disneyesque style, fills a spread with laughing and dancing celebrants, their skin and white clothes covered in dustings of red, yellow, blue, and purple. But the Sehgals also remind readers that "Holi is a festival of fresh starts. And friendship. And forgiveness." Those already familiar with Holi may wish that the authors had devoted less space to powder preparation (in real life, the afterword notes, "most people buy these powders from the local bazaar") and more on other aspects of the holiday. But there's enough brightly colored fun to prompt readers to seek out local Holi celebrations. Ages 2-8. Illustrator's agent: Carrie Hannigan, Hannigan Salky Getzler. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.