In Vivek's Shraya's "The Boy & The Bindi," a moving and gorgeously illustrated children's book, a young boy asks his mother about the "dot" she wears on her brow. She explains it is a bindi that "keeps [her] safe and true," and he asks for one too. Given a yellow bindi, the boy wears it outside and to school, and he feels the bindi helps him become "everything he can be." The story is suitable for ages four to eight, exploring gender and cultural difference Read aloud by The Cultural Cafe on YouTube and published by the Arsenal Pulp Press.

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