Monsoon Afternoon

Monsoon Afternoon

Written by Kashmira Sheth

Illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi

Published by Peachtree Publishers

Copyright 2008

32 pages

Fiction

Monsoon Afternoon is a book about a boy in India who wants to play, but everybody is too busy. Dadaji takes him outside to play. The two of them talk about the monsoon, and the boy thinks about when he will be a dadaji. When the two of them get back to the house, Dadima tells them to clean up after themselves.

Yoshiko Jaeggi used watercolors to illustrate this book. The use of earth tones ties in with the topic of the monsoon. The shades of blue in the book are used to depict the rain. The cool colors give the book a cheerful tone.

This book would be beneficial in a third or fourth grade class, because it has a few advanced vocabulary words. Monsoon Afternoon would be beneficial to use in a science lesson. A teacher could read this book to her students before they learn about the water cycle. Teachers could also use this book as part of a social studies lesson. Students could compare the amount of rain India gets with the amount of rain their home country gets. This book could also be used for a cultural lesson. Students could research the home countries of other students in their class. This book won an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in 2009, according to the author’s website.