Festival of Colors is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 550 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
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SUMMARY
"Festival of Colors" by Surishtha and Kabir Sehgal is a vibrant children's book that celebrates the joyous Indian festival of Holi. The story revolves around siblings Mintoo and Chintoo, who eagerly anticipate the arrival of Holi. As the festival approaches, they gather vibrant powders, or gulal, to playfully throw at each other. The book beautifully captures the excitement and exuberance of the festival, showcasing the colorful clouds of powder, joyful dancing, and the infectious spirit of celebration. Through poetic language and lively illustrations, the Sehgals bring to life the significance of Holi as a time to forgive, let go of past grievances, and embrace love and unity. "Festival of Colors" not only introduces children to the cultural traditions of Holi but also conveys universal themes of forgiveness, friendship, and the power of coming together in celebration.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Help students to analyze what the author’s purpose for writing the book might be.
- Have students sequence the important events in the story. This is an important skill when it comes to retelling a story.
- Introduce and act out action verbs.
- Discuss the various transition words found in the story.
- Discuss the importance of kindness.
- Discuss mindfulness with students and practice a mindfulness activity with them.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30Â writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This book is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Holi Hai! by Chitra Soundar
- Binny's Diwali by Thrity Umrigar
- Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
