Sona and the Wedding Game

by Kashmira Sheth, Yoshiko Jaeggi (Illustrator)

Overview

Experience the magic of an Indian wedding in this story of a girl playing a fun, traditional game on her sister's wedding day.

Sona's big sister is getting married and she's been given an important job to do. She has to steal the groom's shoes. She's never attended a wedding before, so she's unfamiliar with this Indian tradition―as well as many of the other magical experiences that will occur before and during the special event. But with the assistance of her annoying cousin Vishal, Sona finds a way to steal the shoes and get a very special reward.

With amusing text and gorgeous, vibrant watercolors, author Kashmira Sheth and illustrator Yoshiko Jaeggi present a heartwarming story ripe with themes of family, ritual, and tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682634486
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	05/24/2022
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	67 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kashmira Sheth was born in India with Guajarati as her mother tongue and began learning English in fifth grade. She had lived in Bhavnagar and Mumbai before moving to United States when she was seventeen to attend Iowa State University, where she received a BS in microbiology. Before becoming an author Kashmira had many different jobs, including running a dance school and choreographing and performing Indian dances, working in a bakery, and working as a food microbiologist. She is the author of several picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and young adult novels. Taking inspiration from her own life and experiences, much of Kashmira's work centers on Indian culture and features Indian and Indian American characters.

Yoshiko Jaeggi was born in Kagoshima, Japan, which is famous for its volcano. She drew her first picture in the ashes that rained from the sky. Yoshiko was trained at the Osaka Municipal Institute of Fine Art and has illustrated several picture books. She lives in Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

★ "Everyone will want to attend this wedding." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Another strong collaboration from the pair who created My Dadima Wears a Sari (2007) and Monsoon Afternoon (2008, both Peachtree.)" —School Library Journal

"A lovely mirror for young readers of Indian heritage" —Booklist

From the Publisher

04/01/2015
K-Gr 3—Another strong collaboration from the pair who created My Dadima Wears a Sari (2007) and Monsoon Afternoon (2008, both Peachtree). Sona's grandparents and annoying cousin, Vishal, travel from India to America to attend the wedding of Sona's sister, which will be a Hindu ceremony. She is not familiar with the traditions, and know-it-all Vishal pesters her with his knowledge about the proceedings. Sona learns that, as the younger sibling of the bride, her job is to steal the groom's shoes during the ceremony and bargain with the young man before giving them back. Eventually she comes up with a plan for how to steal the shoes, but she has to team up with Vishal to pull it off. He wants her to ask for a million dollars to return them, but Sona has a different prize in mind, one that is satisfying and surprising. Sheth's semiautobiographical text is supported by an extensive author's note that talks about her inspiration for the story and further explains some of the wedding traditions depicted. Jaeggi's dreamy, watercolor illustrations show the hustle and bustle of the event without losing the intimate moments and complicated feelings involved. Readers will enjoy seeing a sumptuous wedding and learning about some of those traditions along with Sona. VERDICT Overall, a fine addition to most collections.—Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

School Library Journal

★ 2015-02-03
Who would have thought that the bride's younger sister must steal the groom's shoes at an Indian wedding ceremony? Not Sona.Sona, a young Indian-American girl, learns about the traditional wedding customs of her family's region during the preparations for her sister's marriage. Her dadima (grandmother), visiting for the celebration along with her grandfather and younger cousin Vishal, asks her to steal the groom's shoes. Sona hasn't heard about this custom, and Vishal, knowledgeable about weddings because he has gone to many at home, tells her "[i]t's like a fun game." Before the wedding day, Sona helps to rub a special cosmetic paste on her sister's skin and decorates the house with garlands and rangoli designs. She attends the mehndi party, where an artist paints henna designs on all the women and girls. But all during these preparations, she is thinking about how best to pull off the shoe caper. Finally, the wedding itself starts, with the groom riding a white horse. (Often in the United States, a car or horse-drawn carriage is substituted, as explained in the excellent author's note.) The whole ceremony is described in detail, but it is Sona and Vishal's part in the shoe-stealing game that will engage young readers. The artist's research shows in every double-page spread, and she does a wonderful job of creating a diversity of expressions in her lively watercolors. Everyone will want to attend this wedding. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews