Notes from a teacher-reader

• Opportunity to talk about traditions and celebrations in French

• Very colourful book and beautiful images

• Different aspects of Diwali: religious, cultural

• Can create parallels with other celebrations that involve light: Kwanza, Hanukkah

• Lots of different shades of skin colours, good for representation for students

• Inter-religious celebration and respect for other cultures’ celebrations

• Challenging essentialism/stereotypes/tokenism: Authentic pictures that represent the community: eating food with her hands

• Binny goes to her community to find Joy when she is being bullied by other kids

• Text heavy, so it might be too difficult for very young learners, might need to read to them

• Solicit / ground students’ identity in literacy by asking them what they know about Diwali and how they celebrate it with their families

• Other texts to support: Des lumières pour Gita - film

Feel free to contact the teacher-reader, Asha Nagpal, at asha.nagpal@peelsb.com  if you have questions about this novel.