Ritu Weds Chandni by Ameya Narvankar

In just a few short weeks (December 1, 2020), Ameya Narvankar will be releasing his debut children's book Ritu Weds Chandni. Ritu Weds Chandni is a beautiful... yet controversial... story about a young girl who stands up for the people she loves. Who is she standing up for? Who is she standing up to? What is she standing up for? Keep reading for the answers to these questions and to learn how to integrate Ritu Weds Chandni into your lessons!

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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

🍎 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.

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