Review by Erin Wilson

Nobo is so excited to celebrate Nobo Borsho, Bengali New Year, in her class. She has picked a beautiful red and white shari for the occasion too. Her accessories include a velvet red blouse, glass bangles to match and a teep for her forehead. Her outfit is ready to go! Her mother has left the country for a work trip and now she is depending on her Baba, father, to help her drape the shari for the party. Her father is confident to do so with the help of YouTube videos. 

The morning of the party, her father drapes the shari in such a way that it’s a cloth melting around Nobo in a fiasco with no resemblance of a shari. Nobo runs to her room sobbing and upset about this. Her Baba says to her, “‘Nobo, come darling. It’s just a shari. You will look beautiful no matter what you wear, and believe me, you will find so many other ways to have fun at the party.’” This inspires Nobo to fashion a new outfit out of her shari. With a pair of scissors and imagination, she cuts the shari up and designs a whole new outfit. Her classmates look at her awe of this new creation, yet one student declares, that’s not how you wear a shari. Nobo musters up her confidence and decides that she likes it and had fun making it and several more classmates agree. In the end Nobo is deemed “The Queen of Style” and the class enjoys their New Year celebration. 

Pohela Bokshakh, Shubo Nobo Borsho, the Bengali New Year, is one of many festive days in Bangladesh. This one is also my personal favorite. Nobo Opens a Door truly shares the excitement that everyone has for this day. It is colorful and festive, everyone buys and prepares their new clothes of red and white for the day. This book is a wonderful story about family, creativity, and confidence. Anyone who reads this will enjoy it and can learn more about this holiday, not only through Nobo’s experience but with fun facts at the end of the book.

 “My hope is that when a child reads this book, they will not only appreciate the culture visually but may absorb it more spiritually too.” Maria

Title Information: Nobo opens a door

Author: Maria Chaudhuri

Illustrator: Istela Imam

ISBN: 9789849670773

Publisher: Ignite Publications Limited, a member of Ascent Group

Language: English

Date: 2022

Author Bio: Maria Chaudhuri was born and raised in Bangladesh. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religion from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College, Vermont. Her essays, features and short stories have been published in various collections, journals and literary magazines. She lives in Hong Kong.

Additional books by Maria Chaudhuri

Beloved Strangers: a memoir by Maria Chaudhuri

Publisher: Turtleback Books

ISBN: 9781408844618 (ISBN10: 1408844613)

Date: 2014

Illustrator Bio: Kazi Istela Imam is a graphic designer and illustrator, passionate about typography, colors and patterns. Her work draws inspiration from the noise and chaos of Dhaka, as well as matters of the heart and mind. Her projects include creating product identities, books, and social campaigns. She has illustrated HerStories, Quarks & Socks, The Myth Bridge and the Sweet Bitter podcast series, among many other publications. Follow her on Instagram @istelaillustrated

Additional illustrated works by Istela:

Title: Quarks and Socks: The Interdimensional Letters of Wasi Babu and Dr. Arash

Authors: Katerina Don, Sarah Fardeen

Illustrator: Amit Ashraf, Kazi Istela Imam

Publisher: Bengal Publications

ISBN: 9789849302575

Language: English

Date: 2018

Title: The Myth Bridge

Authors: Saad Z. Hossain, Salzar Rahman, Katerina Don

Illustrators: Mia Oberland, Sayeef Mahmud, Kazi Istela Imam, etc.

Publisher: HerStory Publications

ISBN: 9789849702511

Language: English

Date: 2022

Reviewer Bio:

Erin Wilson currently works as a Teacher Librarian in Dhaka, Bangladesh and has worked internationally for 10 years in the following countries; China, India, and now Bangladesh. She has vast experience working in diverse cultures from Native American students to inner-city students and the international community. Her other passion lies in studying Asian dances. Currently she is focused on Odissi classical dance, and uses this dance vocabulary for storytelling in the library to actively engage children. It’s never boring in the library. 

You can follow the school where she works, International School Dhaka Instagram: @ isd_library

Opinions expressed in posts on this site are the individual author’s and are not indicative of the views of Global Literature in Libraries Initiative.