A Dog Named Haku: A Holiday Story from Nepal by Margarita Engle (review)

In Nepal, the festival Diwali has a special component where stray dogs, or kukur, are honored, and young brothers Alu and Bhalu are particularly determined to find a dog to feed this year given search dogs' important help after the recent Nepalese earthquake. After combing the town they happen on a sad and abandoned puppy, whom they dub "Haku" and smuggle into the house and up to the rooftop as the night draws in. Drawn by the sound of puppy woofing, the rest of the family, including the boys' little sister, heads up onto the roof, and there, with a backdrop of festival fireworks, they include Haku in the celebrations and agree that in the day's tradition of sibling giving, "all three children should generously give one another one lonely puppy who needed a home." Engle, working with her daughter and Nepalese son-in-law, creates a spare, lyrical text that eschews the usual explanatory glosses (the name of the tradition, Kukur Tihar, isn't even explicitly mentioned); while non-Nepalese audiences may therefore need some help to contextualize some elements, such as the flower wreaths and red forehead mark on the dog, the result is a bracing absence of pandering that relies on the dog-centered plot and festive details to drive the story on their own. Painterly digital illustrations are occasionally stiff, but there's a pleasing balance between lively pattern and festive details and the purple tones of the evening, and Haku, with his importuning big eyes, is practically irresistible. The result is an engaging introduction to a tradition that a lot of kids would like to join in celebrating and a quick view of a country that doesn't get much attention in youth literature. A glossary, a brief bibliography of children's books about Nepal, and a list of slightly contrived activities is appended.