Welcome, Uncle Nowruz! A Persian New Year’s Story

In this high-spirited seasonal picture book, Kheiriyeh reimagines the Iranian folktale of Nane Sarma, who embodies winter, and Uncle Nowruz, the messenger of spring. Nane Sarma waits for Uncle Nowruz each year, but she always falls asleep before his arrival. This year, she invites her three grandchildren to welcome the messenger—and to help keep her awake until his arrival. But after cleaning the house, gathering symbolic items for the haft-seen table, shopping for new clothes, and fretting about a forgotten component, Nane Sarma is exhausted. When Uncle Nowruz arrives, the missing item in hand, he drinks saffron tea and eats pastries with the children, enjoys dinner with them, and gives them an Eidi before heading out to spread word of spring’s coming. Saturated illustrations rendered with crispness and care employ Persian iconography and motifs throughout a rollicking introduction to a favorite holiday that also serves as an ode to the changing of the seasons and the passing of time. Characters are portrayed with light brown skin. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)