This book, while simple in text, is more about the illustrations and the story. The desert girl and her family are longing for water. The monsoon boy and his family are seeking to flee from the overabundance of it! Of course, the paths intersect.

But I appreciate this book for its multicuturalism. The representation that people can live in different regions and yet, life is so much the same. We tend to think only us have a routine or chores or the like. Yet that isn't true. At all. Families are more alike than we are different. I would love to highlight that in a storytime! ( )

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

American author Tara Dairman and Indian illustrator Archana Sreenivasan join forces in this picture-book examination of the lives of two Indian children, and the impact that changing weather patterns have on them and their families. The girl and her family lead a pastoral life in the dry desert, herding camels, while the boy and his family are settled in a rainy region, where they raise goats. Both families face the extreme weather brought on by climate change, and must flee their homes, meeting together on the mountain...

Dairman's text in Desert Girl, Monsoon Boy is simple, with no more than a few words per page, but it communicates the essentials of her story, which is further amplified by Sreenivasan's expressive artwork. According to the author's note, the two families here are meant to represent the Rabari people of northern India, some of whom are settled, and some of whom still live the traditional nomadic life. Although I didn't love this one quite as much as the friend who recommended it to me - thank you, Kathryn! - I did find it engaging, and think that it makes a fairly gentle but still striking introduction for younger children to the ideas of climate change and the dangers of changing weather patterns for human and animal populations. Recommended to picture-book readers looking for such tales, as well as those seeking stories set in India. ( )