In this article I share several Holi books for kids categorized by age/life stage. All of the books are in English.
Holi is known as India’s festival of Colors. It’s actually rooted in Hinduism and is a celebration of the arrival of spring. Of course, spring is represented by colors. Cold winter days come to an end to give rise to beautiful, colorful blossoming flowers, the growth of crops as India is very much an agrarian based economy.
Holi is a time for the growth of crops but as well as new beginnings and growth for people.
Jump to a section:
- Holi Books for Toddlers
- Holi Books for age 2-5
- Holi Books for Age 6+ (kids who are reading)
- Holi Books for age 9+
- Holi Coloring and Activity Books
- For Parents Presenting Holi at School
- Free Coloring Pages
Holi Books for Toddlers
Baby’s First Holi is a thoughtfully designed board book that features tough, thick pages – easy for little hands to hold and manage, rounded corners and soft padding on the cover. The 12 pages illustrate the items involved in celebrating Holi ranging from colored powder to sweets.
Available in board book as well as Kindle edition.
Holi Colors is a board, picture book, that teaches children Hindi colors vocabulary with cute rhymes and other Hindi vocabulary associated with the festival.
Available in board book as well as Kindle edition.
Celebrate Holi With Me is great for your toddler but also kids up to 8-9 enjoyed it too! This book shares the legend of Holi in an easy-to-understand way.
Available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle edition.
Holi Books for Age 2-5
festival of Colors depicts an Indian brother and sister, living in India who are getting ready for Holi. They gather flowers and other materials to make their own colored powder (gulaal). It depicts the before as well as the celebration itself in addition to everyday life of families in India.
Available in board book, hard cover, paper back, and Kindle edition.
Mom, tell me about Holi is a simple book with a short background on Holi – why and how it’s celebrated, the colored powder, tools, foods and sweets associated with Holi.
Good book for kids growing up in India as well as outside of the subcontinent.
Available in paperback.
Holi With Rainbow Clouds is the story of a little girl named Pia, who has a dream about Holi and celebrates the festival with rainbow clouds.
Fair warning: at the time of publishing this article there were no reviews for this book on Amazon.
Available in paperback and Kindle edition.
Crayola Holi Colors features photos and facts about Holi while describing various colors you’ll find in a Crayola crayon box. There’s a coloring page at the end of the book.
Available in library binding, paperback and Kindle edition.
Holi Books for 6+ (kids who are reading)
The Colors of Holi emphasizes learning Hindi colors vocabulary. The colors are written in English and Hindi and include bright colors associated with Holi as well as gray and brown which are typically not associated with Holi.
Available in paperback.
Why do we celebrate Holi is a relatable book for children growing up outside the Indian subcontinent as it revolves around Preeti, a young Indian girl who is intrigued by this festival and its importance in her heritage.
The story also depicts a loving relationship with her grandmother who teaches her about Holi – the legend and the spirit of Holi.
Available in paperback and Kindle edition.
My Holi Colors of Cheer features the story of two children who have travelled to their grandparents’ home in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains to celebrate and learn about Holi.
This book emphasizes how Holi is tied to Mother Nature – a festival that welcomes and celebrates the arrival of spring along with the legend of Holi.
Available in hard cover, paperback and Kindle edition.
Let’s Celebrate Holi is for South Asian kids growing up outside of the Indian subcontinent. It shares the legend of Holi in English and how Holi started in a way that kids will understand.
It follows the story of a brother and sister eager to learn about Holi.
Available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle edition.
Holi Hai! follows a young girl named Gauri who is preparing for Holi with her family. Each family member is tasked with making colored powder (gulaal) and they each randomly select a color from a bowl.
Gauri is upset when she doesn’t get her favorite color which is an allegory throughout the story about the Holi legend of Prahlad and how he was instrumental in relinquishing anger – he showed everyone the strength of love over negativity.
Available in hardcover and Kindle edition.
In Shalu Holi, the Festival of Colors Holi is the backdrop for a story about celebrating differences through friendship as well as teaching friendliness.
Preeya is a new girl at school so Shalu wants to befriend her to make her feel welcome. However, the two girls like different things. Instead of their differences becoming a barrier to friendship they celebrate their differences and learn the meaning of friendship. I like that it also teaches about reaching out to the new person – taking the first step. Being friendly and nice are two different things.
Nikki Celebrates Holi offers a unique perspective of a multicultural family and how they internalize and celebrate Holi. It also encourages children to be inquisitive.
Available in paperback and Kindle edition.
Dev and Ollie Colour Carnival is an adventure story about Dev and his magic owl as they arrive in India for Holi. Dev doesn’t want to get smeared in color but Ollie tries to change his mind while teaching him about Holi through humor and fun. This book also has a map, fun facts about Holi and a puzzle.
Rani is a princess with a pet elephant named Bindi. She’s excited to celebrate Holi but Bindi is not. Will she be able to convince Bindi to celebrate with her?
Rani Celebrates Holi is available in paperback.
Holi Books For Age 9+
Amma, Tell Me About Holi is a popular children’s book about Holi. And parents read it to children as young as 3. I put it in the category for 8+ because this story includes illustrations that some parents found a bit scary.
Parents can skip pages/alter the story when they read it to their children but if a child is reading on their own then this one might be best for kids who are a little older.
Available in paperback.
The Holi Colors story follows a little girl who is excited to celebrate Holi tomorrow. But she hits her head and dreams about a world that is devoid of color and how much she misses it.
Available in paperback and Kindle edition.
Here Comes Holi The Festival of Colors shares the story of the legend of Holi and the young boy, Prahlad and how he overcame evil with love.
Holi Coloring and Activity Books
Below is a selection of coloring and activity books available on Amazon. There are some I did not include because they did not have any reviews and did not have photos depicting the content inside the book.
I suggest that before giving a child one of these books, teach them about Holi first. I made the mistake of giving the 50 Holi Activity Book (which is a really nice activity book) to my little niece before she’d actually experienced Holi and it was totally lost on her.
Fair warning: at the time of publishing this article this coloring book had 0 reviews on Amazon. I included it because there was a photo of some of the coloring pages and they looked nice.
A Holi and spring themed coloring and activity book.
This Holi activity book has coloring pages, mazes, word searches and more.
Holi 50 Activity Book has puzzles, coloring, word games, crafts, and stories.
Useful To Present Holi at School
For parents looking for a general intro to Holi book that children who are not Indian/South Asian will relate to, We Throw Color On Each Other is a good one. If you’re a parent that’s going to do a presentation about Holi at your child’s school – this is a good book and story to share.
It’s Time For Holi follows the story of a little boy and his excitement about Holi. It shares his self exploration of the holiday and relating the colors to spring and Mother Nature. Children as young as two and as old as 10 have loved this book.
Free Coloring Pages
You can find several free Holi coloring pages to download here.
Summary
In Hindi Books for Kids, you’ll find links to books for children to learn about Holi, categorized by age and type. Kids will learn why and how Holi is celebrated, what it means, terminology, Hindi vocabulary and more.
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You might also like these other articles on our blog:
Bollywood Holi songs
Holi Cartoons for Kids
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