In this beautiful children's picture book by Vivek Shraya, author of the acclaimed God Loves Hair, a five-year-old boy becomes fascinated with his mother's bindi, the red dot commonly worn by South Asian women to indicate the point at which creation begins, and wishes to have one of his own. Rather than chastise her son, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself.

Beautifully illustrated with hand paintings by Rajni Perera, The Boy & the Bindi is a joyful celebration of gender and cultural difference. (From Arsenal Pulp Press).

The Boy & the Bindi is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Vivek Shraya is a writer, artist and musician from Alberta. As a writer, Shraya examines questions of race in Canada. She has been nominated for the Lambda Literary Award four times and has received the 2015 Honour of Distinction from The Writers' Trust of Canada. Shraya manages the Arsenal Pulp Press imprint VS. Books, which offers a mentorship and publishing opportunity to a young Indigenous, Black writer or writer of colour.

Shraya's work includes the novel She of the Mountains and the poetry collection even this page is white. Her latest books are the essay I'm Afraid of Men and comic book Death Threat.