"Each autumn we gather with our friends and family and light our brightest lanterns. It’s time for Diwali, the festival of lights! In this lovely board book with illustrations from Archana Sreenivasan, readers learn that the five days of Diwali are a time to pray for a bountiful season, celebrate the special bonds between siblings, and rejoice in the victory of light over darkness and good over evil." www.amazon.com

This is one book in an entire series of board books with the goal of opening up the youngest listeners to the variety of cultures and some of their celebrations. I've read two of these already, but this one is my favorite.

Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, is celebrated around this time of year (end of October/early November). In these pages, the background behind Diwali is very quickly hit upon (the goddess and how the light invites her in), allowing the main focus to remain on the preparation and practices during the five day celebration. For a board book, there is enough text, but it never comes across as too much. Rather, it's perfect to read-aloud and flows with enough of a 'story time' flare to keep it interesting. It probably won't hold the interest of the youngest listeners, but children ages four and up will pick up on the information and have no trouble understanding what is going on.

The illustrations are bright, detailed and bring the scenes to life without growing confusing or over-packed. The people's expressions bring across the joy and make it difficult not to want to dive into the pages and celebrate with the characters.

While Dewali is a celebration many readers may not have heard about before, this book does a great job of making the basic background and rituals understandable. While younger listeners will enjoy gazing at the illustrations, slight older listeners (ages four and up) will be more able to grasp the holiday and the celebration.

I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed this one the most in the series, so I wanted to leave my honest thoughts. ( )