Monsoon Afternoon
Kindergarten-Grade 3—One afternoon during India's monsoon season, a young boy is bored when his grandmother, his parents, and his brother turn down his plea for play. Finally, his grandfather is willing to fold paper boats, which they sail in a washtub. They take a walk through the rain and swing in the banyan tree. The boy asks eagerly if Dadaji had the same experiences when he was a child and he wonders if things will still be the same when he himself is a grandfather. As in Sheth'sMy Dadima Wears a Sari(Peachtree, 2007), Jaeggi's soft watercolors underscore the warm relationship between generations and the feeling of belonging that an extended family grants. This beautiful and atmospheric picture book makes a great addition for all multicultural collections. Pair it with Uma Krishnaswami'sMonsoon(Farrar, 2003) for a storyhour about India's rainy season.—Monika Schroeder, American Embassy School, New Delhi, IndiaCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.