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Author's Summary
Ayesha is excited to attend her cousin Ritu's wedding. She can't wait to dance
at the baraat ceremony! But not everyone is happy that Ritu is marrying her
girlfriend Chandni. Some have even vowed to stop the celebrations. Will Ayesha
be able to save her cousin's big day? Centering Ayesha's love for her
cousin as much as it showcases Ritu and Chandni's love for each other, this
warmhearted debut from Ameya Narvankar celebrates the power of young voices to
stand up against prejudice and bigotry.
🍎 Title: Ritu Weds Chandni
🍎 Author: Ameya Narvankar
🍎 Author: Ameya Narvankar
🍎 Illustrator: Ameya Narvankar
🍎 Date: December 1, 2020
🍎 Publisher: Yali Books
🍎 Pages: 36
Geography
Ritu Weds Chandni takes place in India. Most of your students will have heard of India, but may not be able to tell you where it is or much about it. Before reading Ritu Weds Chandni, take the time to build your students' background knowledge. Pull out a map of the world. Where do you live? Can you find your city, state/province, and country? Can you find India? What ocean is next to it? How do you think that ocean got its name? What is the distance between your country and India? Do you see any interesting land or water features on the map? This would also be a good time to share some photos of India with your class.
For more information about India, please visit
Kids World Travel Guide. You'll be able to see photos, learn interesting facts, and see a
kid-friendly map of the country.
Story Elements
Ritu Weds Chandni has easily recognizable characters, settings,
problems, and solutions that make it an ideal book to use when teaching story
elements. Picture walk the story before reading it to your class.
What can your students learn about the characters and setting of the
book? What significant events do they see unfolding? What is the
biggest problem of the story? How is that problem solved?
🍎 Characters: Ayesha, Ritu, Chandni, family, and community members
🍎 Setting: modern-day, India
🍎 Problem: Community members are upset by Ritu and
Chandni's wedding and are trying to put a stop to it.
🍎 Solution: Ayesha stamps her foot at them, tells them
Ritu and Chandni will be getting married and that no one will stop them.
After you picture-walk through Ritu Weds Chandni, go ahead and
read it to your class. This is a book that may push the comfort zones
for some children and spark an interesting... and possibly an
enlightening... class discussion. Depending on the age, background,
and maturity levels of your students you may have some children in your
class argue about the problem of the story and say that Ritu and Chandni's
same-sex marriage is the problem. Plan ahead and decide how you will
respond if this happens.
If you have time and want to have your students write down the characters,
setting, problem, and solution of Ritu Weds Chandni, you may use
the above story map. To download a FREE copy of this printable (one page in
all), please click on the image above. Clicking this image will take you to
the Teachers-Pay-Teachers third-party website. This is a
FREE download-- no purchase necessary.
Using a Glossary
When writing Ritu Weds Chandni, Ameya Narvankar added a glossary to the back of the book to help children learn some new words in Hindu. You may need to teach a mini-lesson about what a glossary is and how to use one:
A glossary is a list of words and what they mean. They are usually found
at the end of a book or report that uses hard words to read or special
words.
As you read Ritu Weds Chandni, make an anchor chart of the words your students don't recognize. Can they make intelligent guesses about what those words mean by using context clues or illustrations to help them? When you are done reading Ritu and Chandni, take the time to look up each word in the glossary. If time allows, read the story again. How does learning new words change their understanding and enjoyment of the story?
To learn more about Ameya Narvankar and Ritu Weds Chandni, visit
the Yali Books website.
(Next Article:
Goo on My Shoe by Jacqui Sheperd)
