Garland of Henna

Varsha Bajaj (varshabajaj.com) is the author of the middle grade novels Thirst (a New York Times bestseller and Global Read Aloud selection), Count Me In, and Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood. She also wrote the picture books The Home Builders (an Imagination Library selection, 2020–2024) and This Is Our Baby, Born Today (a Bank Street Best Book). She grew up in Mumbai, India, and when she came to the United States to obtain her master’s degree, her adjustment to the country was aided by her awareness of the culture through books. She lives in Houston, Texas.Archana Sreenivasan (archanasreenivasan.com) is an illustrator based in Bangalore, India. Her books with starred reviews include Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy by Tara Dairman and the award-winning Seven Golden Rings by Rajani LaRocca. In 2023, she debuted as author-illustrator with her board book India on a Plate! She studied animation film design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and participated in a summer residency at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she studied illustration.

“Bajaj sensitively explores the frustration children encounter when trying new tasks. With gentle coaxing from her family, Nikita learns to trust herself and take pride in her henna art. Dynamic illustrations filled with traditional floral designs of creeping vines, blossoming flowers, and paisleys trail across the pages. The hues of henna—which is dark green when first applied and dries to a warm red—are reflected in the earthy colors throughout the story. A warm and tender tale of family traditions.” —Kirkus Reviews“Born into ‘a long garland/ of teachers and keepers of art,’ a girl worries over her early efforts at rendering henna designs in this rhythmically narrated and lusciously drawn tale. . . . Henna art motifs swirl throughout Sreenivasan’s gold- and olive-hued digital drawings, offering henna portraits of Nikita’s family, while Bajaj’s prose amplifies various aspects of henna art in this connective work.” —Publishers Weekly“The familiar picture book theme of persistence is given a fresh, distinct style here, as garlands of henna designs wind through the textured, vibrant art, eventually culminating in a triumphant spread that sees the smiling faces of Nikita, Nani, and Mom beaming from flowers. Nikita is a wonderfully relatable protagonist, and her frustration, fear, and pride are deftly conveyed through body posture—the hunched shoulders and locked knees as she marches off in anger will surely be recognizable to any kid or caretaker. . . . A compassionate look at the effort it sometimes takes to get the family tradition down just right.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books