Celebrating Birthdays from Many Cultures • Chitra Soundar

I was born and raised in Chennai, a coastal city in South East India, in a very traditional family. We did not have TV until we were 14 and other than the BBC World Service and a bunch of Enid Blyton books that sounded magical, we were largely untouched by western influences until the late 1980s.

My birthdays were always celebrated in a traditional way. That was nice because I was able to celebrate twice – once on the lunar calendar based on the original lunar month and birth star in a Hindu calendar and once in the Western calendar 9th January (Yes it is today! Happy Birthday to me!).

I got to put on a new dress, my Granny would make an Indian sweet (whatever I asked for the previous night), I would be blessed by everyone in the family (we were a joint family – so uncles, aunts, cousins) and my Dad would give me a small extra allowance which I would cherish and save so I could buy stationery. (You can take the girl out of the stationery shop, but…)

That's me on the far right kneeling in front of my Granny

If the English birthday (ie, the one on the western calendar) happens to fall on a school day – I would be allowed to ditch the uniform and wear my new dress to school and I was expected to take a bag of sweets into school for the children and teachers.

First birthdays are celebrated with ceremonies, prayers, a big feast and the entire clan turning up. Here is an invitation from 1972 inviting our family and extended family to my first birthday celebrations.

And here is a photo of my sister's first birthday in the traditional way with priests, ceremonies and a lot of smoke.

Sorry Sis!

My nephews who are of mixed-race, have a bit of both worlds. We travelled to India and celebrated their first lunar birthdays in the traditional way with invitation and all. And they got their cake and party here in the UK with friends and family in the UK.

That's cake with my nephew's favourite car in the world - Lightning McQueen

What has all this got to do with picture books you wonder? Well, I’ve been trying to get a picture book for my nephews (who are 4 ½ and 2 and are of mixed-race) that shows them what birthdays are for Indian families – not just the cake, the presents, the party with balloons and hats, but the quiet wisdom of elders, the whisper of a blessing, the touch of grandfather’s hand on his head wishing him every joy in the world forever and ever!

Unfortunately there are very few picture books currently in print, published in the UK that have another culture represented. Thanks to Frances Lincoln (and Janetta Otter-Barry) we have one from the amazing South African writer and illustrator Niki Daly.

Niki Daly (Author and Illustrator) Published by Frances Lincoln in the UK

Tamarind Books published Kay's Birthday Numbers written by the wonderful Verna Wilkins (illustrated by Elaine Mills) in 1987 and I hope Verna brings it back as part of FireTree Books.

Verna Wilkins (Author) Elaine Mills (Illustrator) Published by Tamarind Books in 1987

Another out of print birthday book is Gail's Birthday written by Katie Teague published by Magi Publications in 1995.

It is sad that there is so much choice on birthday books overall but so little that are diverse. The US fared a bit better. They do have a handful of Asian and Spanish birthday celebrations in picture books for children that grow up in those cultures.

Monica Brown  (Author), Sara Palacios (Illustrator) Published by Children's Book Press

Pat Mora  (Author), Cecily Lang (Author) Published by Prentice Hall &IBD

Shan-Shan Chen (Author) Heidi Goodman (Illustrator) Published by Tuttle Publishing

The Latin press Arte Publico has a children's imprint called Pinata Books for Children. It has published two birthday books in Latin families.

Spelile Rivas  (Author), Valeria Cervantes (Illustrator) Gabriela Baeza Ventura (Translator)

by Diane Gonzales Bertrand (Author), Robert Trujillo (Illustrator)

Then I found a non-fiction one from a long time ago, that celebrates birthdays around the world. Sadly I think it is out of print.

Mary D. Lankford  (Author), Karen Dugan (Illustrator) published by Harpercollins

And finally here is a very new one from  Nigeria, which I was happy to find and hope many more books come out of countries and communities with an inspiration to reach children of all backgrounds.

Mylo Freeman (Author) Published by Cassava Republic Press

So I had accidentally stumbled into a gap which I had hoped would not exist. What should I do? What would any writer do? Fill it, of course. I've started dreaming up stories that are set in mixed-race families (that are part-Indian) that celebrates birthdays in a unique way - in a way that celebrates the customs and traditions of both the cultures these children straddle.

However I'm worried, I might have missed wonderful books that might have been published or translated into English. I'm not infallible, neither is my God - Google. So if you find any that I might have missed, please do share below.

I solemnly promise to create a list that I will share with librarians, schools and parents so that all children can read about birthday celebrations of their neighbours, friends and children across the world. 

If like me, you're inspired to write a story of your own, that resonates with your extended family, a student in your school, a new neighbour from another country, here's something to start you off - a link that lists traditions across the world - http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/traditions.htm.
(Be cautious, do verify them, it is after all "The Internet" where dubious trumps hang around!)

And here is one from the definitely-not-dubious but very amazing John Green on his Mental Floss channel.

And now please join me in singing Happy Birthday (in 7 different languages) to everyone celebrating their birthday on 9th January -  Kate Middleton (you know her, right?), Morris Gleitzman (Australian children's author), Farah Khan, the Bollywood choreographer extraordinaire and of course me.