This was a delightful story. I appreciated the details in the prose and the beautiful illustrations.

This is the explanation of Diwali or Deepavali celebration that came from India. Although celebrated throughout the country, different parts of India have their own believes about this happy events. But for those who lives in a multi-cultured neighborhood, it is interesting to learn about how others prepares and celebrates their ancestor beliefs.

I loved that this picture book great for all ages explored Diwali Christmas Hanukkah and what makes them different but what also make them similar. I think every library should have this book.

I enjoyed this one very much. I even learnt more about Diwali/Deepavali as well as Hanukkah.

Sharing of cultures is not only enriching for the child but the adult as well.

Wonderful unfolding of the story and I loved the questions for discussions at the end.

I do wish the desserts/treats were elaborated on.

Sparkles of Joy is a cute read for children. I enjoyed the story. It talks about different holidays that the children celebrate. I am giving this book a 3 out of 5 stars. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

“Sparkles of Joy” is such an important story to adapt into one’s classroom because it teaches students about diversity. As a 1st grade teacher I always try to teach my students about different holidays celebrated as it is so important.

What I love about this story is the author Aditi Wardhan Singh write about friends who celebrate different holidays such as Diwali, Hanukkah, and Christmas and some of their traditions. I also love that at the end of the story the author includes a little about the history of these holidays and why they are celebrated, gives some recipes/ some games that can be made or played during these holidays and an opportunity for teachers to ask their students questions about their understanding.

My only complaint is that I would have loved to have seen a pronunciation key. As a teacher and most importantly as a person, out of respect I feel it’s important for us to be pronouncing unfamiliar words correctly and I wished I would have seen a key so I can say these very important words properly.

Overall I adore this book, the pictures, but most importantly the meaning behind it. I can’t wait to purchase this story for my classroom when it is available.

A big thank you to the publishers for sending this story via NetGalley to my for my honest review.

This book teaches children about a variety of holidays including Diwali, Holi, Christmas and Hanukkah, with a focus on Diwali and Christmas. The story shows that the celebrations are similar and different in many ways but each involves family, traditions, food and culture. This is a great book for teachers to add to their classroom libraries about holidays. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the 3-8 age range. The font and text is large and fairly accessible for developing readers but I can also definitely see this book being enjoyed as a shared reading or read aloud experience. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this awesome book!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This book was good and I liked all the characters. It’s a great, fast and enjoyable read. I enjoyed the way the book compares and contrasts all the special holidays. This book would be good for a school classroom or library.

The pictures that went with the book were simple, but well done. Also the characters themselves were cute.

Overall, I would read more by this author.

An intelligent and interesting story about celebrating diversity, through three main holidays: Diwali, Hanukkah and Christmas. Definitely, comparing is not necessarily good, but the book succeeds to offer mostly a diverse overview of the holidays in an inclusive and curious way. Personally, I´ve found many relevant details about Diwali I was not familiar with.
This book can be easily used in schools to increase multi-cultural awareness and acknowledge children about the diversity of other cultures and religions.

Riya is excited to have her friends over to share in the celebration of Diwali. They dress in traditional clothes, make crafts, and have snacks. The significance of the holiday is then explained.

While I was thrilled to learn about Diwali, I honestly could have done without the constant comparisons to Christmas and other holidays. Also, the formal tone comes off more as a lecture than a story, but on the whole, this is a fun and colorful way to help bring diversity into a classroom or public library.

What a sweet book about the similarities of traditions around the winter season between Diwali, Hanukkah & Christmas. I loved the friends bonding over celebrations and simulations, while learning about the holiday differences. This book felt genuinely joyful and fun.

There are end sections that share the history of the holidays and some activities you can do to celebrate at home too.

My son’s name was one of the characters which was a fun surprise too!

I originally picked this up because my husband is traveling to India for work in May and December. So fun to learn more about their cultural celebration of Diwali.

A really sweet little book that teaches young children about the Indian festival of Diwali (with a smattering of Christmas and Hanukkah mentioned as well) through the lens of a group of friends who are celebrating the festival together. The book is a sweet way to show that kids are accepting of all traditions information & ability to experience them. I love that there an appendix at the end of the book giving a bit more detail about Diwali and includes a traditional activity of how to make your own diyas, my son and I gave them a go and while ours aren't as pretty as they could be, it was a fun and enriching activity. The illustrations are striking, colourful and draw in the eye of adults and children alike. This is such a lovely book introducing children to diversity in celebrations and how beautiful any celebration can be regardless of faith. I'd love to go to an in person Festival of Lights and experience its beauty first hand after reading this. Thank you to NetGalley for sending me a digital ARC of this book to read with my son in exchange for an honest review.

I almost didn’t finish this book. I appreciate how all the children are trying to connect their different holidays together, but it made the story feel disjointed for me. I also found the writing choppy and lacked a poetic flow that is characteristic of kids books. The appeal of this book for me is that it’s about Diwali and it explained the holiday well, but I just could not connect beyond that.

Thank you NetGalley and Raising World Children LLC for an ARC of this book.

Beautiful book with great illustrations. I found this useful to become more knowledgeable about Dawili festivals bit the bonus was the salt dough decoration recipe and a good checklist for organising your own festival and making sure you understand what you need to show love from all back grounds

Love the cultural diversity representation!

Thank you, Raising World Children LLC, for the advance reading copy.

For Indians, the story is quite relatable and familiar. This short, colourful picture book would tell the meaning behind the great festival of Deewali which is celebrated all over the country with great pomp and joy.

Love the colourful illustrations.

A cute little book about celebrating and learning about different kinds of holidays.

The book takes place at a Diwali celebration, where we get to know Diwali, Hanukkah, and Christmas. (The last one I want to point out that everyone can celebrate Christmas wether you are a Christian or not. The Viking celebrated Christmas long before it was deemed a Christian holiday; did you know Jesus was born in the summer, and that since most people celebrated Christmas it was much easier to take that day and say ‘It’s Jesus’ birthday!’. Anyway, back to the book.)

The illustrations were beautiful, and the description and introduction to each holiday they all celebrated were easy to understand.

I think this is a great book for children to learn more about different holidays. At the end of the book, there’s more information if there’s more questions coming up throughout the book. An overall good read. I recommend it!