With colorful and vibrant illustrations, this book introduces young listeners not only to bindis and part of a rich culture but also hits upon other important themes, which young listeners can relate to.

Bindu has a bindi for every occasion and enjoys wearing them. When her Nani comes on the airplane and delivers them herself, it's a special surprise. But Bindu also begins to notice that not everyone around them is as accepting of the bindis. When the big day comes for a performance on stage, Bindu suddenly isn't so sure she wants to go up and perform. But Nani might be just the help she needs.

My favorite part about this book...okay, there are two favorite aspects...are the illustrations. These are so bright and bold, and allow the joy of life to beam from every page. And it's perfectly fitting to the vibrant colors found in several aspects of the culture in India. Plus, they are simply a joy to look at. Bindu and Nani are presented with warmth and love even when the situations aren't happy and Bindu needs to work through whatever problem she faces.

As to the second plus point—the reader learns about bindis. Bindis are a more well-known aspect of India, and this book does a terrific job at letting readers learn what they are and mean. While the story itself gives a general glance at their importance to Bindu and the fun as well as huge variety involved, there's more detailed information at the end, which enables guardians/parents/caretakes to help listeners gain a greater understanding after the book is read.

The story is also very well done and sticks nicely to the intended age group. The first part allows Bindu's excitement and joy for her bindis to come through. Then, when Nani comes, it switches gears to illustrate how wearing a bindi in our Western culture does stand out. I do want to note that while I found it very important to show the unfortunate negative attention that wearing a bindi can receive (it is a sad fact), I was surprised that this was done by a crowd holding signs at an airport. While I'm not saying this doesn't happen somewhere and sometime, I believe the negativity usually comes across in daily life...not a protest. Otherwise, I found the negative glances and feelings well done and easy for young listeners to recognize and understand.

Then, there's Nani's amazing solution to Bindu's nervousness and fear to get onto the stage and show off her culture. This was done masterfully and in a very inspiring way.

In other words, I enjoyed this one quite a bit and give it a big thumbs up.
I received an ARC and found it to be a nicely done read. ( )