Summary
Bindu loves her bindis almost as much as she loves her Nani. Nani lives in India and sends Bindu bindis of all different shapes. When Nani comes to visit, Bindu becomes uncomfortable wearing her bindis in front of others. Nani manages to make Bindu feel better about her bindi by teaching her about her Indian culture. Together, they share their culture with those around them and Bindu learns to be proud of who she is and how she chooses to represent herself and using her culture.
Theme(s):
Self Confidence, Tradition, Courage
Personal Response
This book was very thoughtfully written and I feel that the author did a great job of displaying the Indian culture. The illustrations were bright and colorful and managed to effectively catch my attention as a reader. I love how this book promotes self expression and the idea of channeling culture into that expression. I had very little prior knowledge on the topics discussed and felt that even adults can learn a lot from this book.
Teaching Ideas
This story taught a great deal about bindis and their relation to the Indian culture. It also taught about courage and overcoming fears. I think this book could be used in a lesson regarding courage and doing things that might be scary at first. At young age, many children have fears involving self confidence. Using this book to start a discussion on ways to build courage to overcome fears could be very affective. The class could discuss positive self-talk and mindfulness as examples.
Recommended Reading Level
Birth-PreK, Grade 01, Grade 02, Grade 03
