Today I’m sharing a very special little book which will leave you with a warm glow inside. make sure you read Katie’s piece about embracing other cultures and celebrating diversity.
In a world sometimes sad, where our hopes come and go. All you need is the light from a small ‘Little Glow.’
As the nights draw in, a small and lonely flame watches the many inspiring ways that communities celebrate light throughout the year, wishing to be bolder and brighter.
As a family gathers around Little Glow, it becomes clear that even the smallest of lights have an important purpose.
This beautiful book looks at the way that light is used in many celebrations around the world – Diwali, Chinese New Year, and Halloween are all featured. It also has an important message about the power of community and coming together to help combat loneliness, and of taking a moment to pause and reflect if you need to. It is definitely a must-have for any school who is studying celebrations around the world of the symbolism of light in religion.
Katie Sahota for Library Girl and Book Boy
When I first met my (now) husband, it was important for me to embrace the Punjabi and Sikh culture as part of the development of my relationship with my mother-in-law. She taught me about the different celebrations and encouraged me to wear traditional Punjabi clothes when I visited the Gudwara. I even took classes to learn how to speak Punjabi, but that was really hard and I have to confess I didn’t continue! My mother-in-law taught me how to cook Indian food, and apparently Bibi (my husband’s grandmother) was very impressed with my paratha. In return, my own mum enjoyed teaching my mother-in-law how to make marmalade – or “mumalade” as we labelled the jars!
There are so many different celebrations as part of all cultures, but they all have in common the desire to bring together families and communities, which for me is the most important thing – unity.
My husband and I have 2 children, and as they have got older they have become more conscious that having mixed heritage is less common than the majority of children they are at school with. Unfortunately, this has resulted in them feeling different and they have been exposed to racist attitudes. After reading some quite shocking statistics about the lack of representation in children’s books, it was really important to me that Little Glow was an inclusive book in which all children would be able to find a character to identify with. The illustrator, Harry Woodgate, has brought my ideas to life and created a beautiful multi-cultural community that comes together to celebrate different festivals and events throughout the season.
At one of our early events to promote the book, we were delighted to hear positive feedback from a family who had really struggled to find books that included children with disabilities for their son. Another family were really pleased to see the inclusion of the Chinese culture, and a mixed-race family were delighted to find a book in which their daughter could see herself.
Little Glow by Katie Sahota and Harry Woodgate is published by Owlet Press, £7.99 paperback / £12.99 hardback, out now. www.owletpress.com
There are so many children from families of a whole mixture of different cultures and backgrounds so it’s lovely to find a book which represents so many of them on its pages. We desperately need more inclusive books on our shelves, and this is definitely one to watch out for.
Library Girl.
*Many thanks to Owlet Press for sending me this title to review*
Library Girl and Book Boy 