The Boy & The Bindi

Author: Vivek Shraya

Illustrator: Rajni Perera

Grades: PreK - 3

In this beautiful children’s picture book a five-year-old South Asian boy becomes fascinated with his mother’s bindi, the red dot commonly worn by Hindu women to indicate the point at which creation begins, and wishes to have one of his own. Rather than chastise her son, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself.