Diverse Books - Near East/Levant/Arabian Peninsula Picture Books | Nashville Public Library

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1) Sundays are for feasts

Author

Boukarim, Leila

Description

"Every summer, Yasmine visits her family in Lebanon, and every Sunday, the whole family comes over for lunch. This summer Sunday, Yasmine has declared that she's making the hummus! But hummus is harder to make than she expects, and Yasmine has all sorts of questions: How much garlic should she add? Is it lemon juice or vinegar? And where does the sesame flavor come from? With a little help from Baba, Yasmine mixes in a bit of this, and a bit of that...

2) Hilwa's gifts

Author

Description

"Ali has arrived in Palestine for a visit just in time for the olive harvest. His grandfather, Seedo, and Hilwa--his favorite tree--greet him in the grove, where Seedo explains that Hilwa has many gifts to share. Other family members whack the trees' branches with sticks, singing 'Zaytoon, ya zaytoon' while cousins clap and dance and happily pick up fallen olives. (Luckily, a gentle whack is all it takes for Hilwa's fruits to rain down!) The next...

3) Everything grows in Jiddo's garden

Author

Matari, Jenan A

Description

"Everything Grows in Jiddo's Garden is the story of a young Palestinian girl and her Jiddo--her Grandpa! Jiddo's garden is a wonder. In it grows so many amazing things--to see, smell, and taste. But helping him to tend the garden teaches this young girl about even more than fig trees. It gives her a chance to discover just who she is. Many years ago, like so many Palestinians, her family was forced to leave their homeland. But Jiddo shows her how,...

4) The City of Jasmine

Author

Presley, Nadine

Description

A young Syrian American girl remembers the beauty and joy of her home in a gorgeous picture book that is perfect for fans of Watercress.

5) Watermelon madness

Author

Najjār, Taghrīd ʻĀrif

Description

Noura loves watermelon truly, madly, deeply. Can there ever be too much of a good thing?

6) Eid breakfast at abuela's

Author

Description

Join Sofia and her mom and dad as they spend Eid, the Islamic holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, with her Mexican grandmother. Includes trilingual glossary.

7) A map for Falasteen: a Palestinian child's search for home

Author

Description

At school, Falasteen and her classmates are tasked with finding their families' home countries on a map, but no matter how hard she looks, Falasteen can't find Palestine. Can a place exist if it's not on a map? Confused, Falasteen turns to her family for answers. Her grandfather, grandmother, and Mama encourage her to see their homeland from a different perspective, and each of their stories helps her understand her people's history and her own place...

8) The light of home

Author

Description

A young girl and her family have to suddenly leave home, traveling by foot through different landscapes and settling in a new city, that looks and feels very different from home.

Author

Description

"A fun and touching debut that explores the power of finding your voice. Rudābeh (Rudy for short) loves to talk, sing, jump and shout. There's just one problem: the adults in her life are always telling her that she is SO LOUD. When her grandmother (Māmān Bozorg) visits from Iran for the first time, Rudy worries that she might be too loud for her. But as she tries to be quieter, Rudy starts to feel less and less like herself. Listening closely...

10) Grandpa is here

Author

Description

"Grandpa is finally here to visit! He's brought a suitcase smelling of Persian spices, walnuts picked from his trees at home, and sparkly saffron to make yellow rice. And Grandpa and granddaughter have so much they want to see and do together. She shows him all her favorite things: the mountaintops, the tunnel she discovered, and the horse in the field. If only Grandpa could stay longer, then he could see the spring. But when time together is limited,...

11) Homeland: my father dreams of Palestine

Author

Moushabeck, Hannah

Description

"A Palestinian family celebrates the stories of their homeland in this moving autobiographical picture book debut by Hannah Moushabeck. With heartfelt illustrations by Reem Madooh, Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine is a love letter to home, to family, and to the persisting hope of people, which transcends borders"-- Provided by publisher.

12) Eleven words for love: a journey through Arabic expressions of love

Author

Abdel-Fattah, Randa

Description

"A family has fled their homeland in search of safety in another country, carrying a single suitcase. As their journey unfolds, the oldest child reflects on the special contents of that suitcase: photo albums that evoke eleven of many names for love in Arabic. From sunshine-warm friendship to the love that dissolves all tears; from the love that makes you swoon to the love that leaves you yearning for the heart's homeland--her family has experienced...

13) Frizzy haired Zuzu

Author

Description

When Zuzu straightens her curly hair, everyone thinks she looks fantastic, but Zuzu does not feel like herself without her frizz, and decides to keep her beautiful hair just the way it is.

14) These olive trees

Author

Description

"It's 1967 in Nablus, Palestine. Oraib loves the olive trees that grow outside the refugee camp where she lives. Each harvest, she and her mama pick the small fruits, and she eagerly stomp stomp stomps on them to release their golden oil. Olives have always tied her family to the land, as Oraib learns from the stories Mama tells of a home before war. But war has come to their door once more, forcing them to flee. Even as her family is uprooted, Oraib...

15) Egyptian lullaby

Author

Pliska, Zeena M

Description

In this love letter to Cairo, Egypt, a young child is sung a lullaby by her great-aunt who paints a vivid portrait of the ancient city as the child drifts off to sleep.

16) Babajoon's treasure

Author

Esnaashari-Charmatz, Farnaz

Description

While spending time with her Babajoon and Mamanjoon, Miriam begins to notice details about her Babajoon that make her think he could be a pirate, which leads him to share memories with her about his childhood in Iran.

17) Remembering mom's kubbat halab

Author

Description

Bushra and her brother miss their mother, including the way she made their favorite dish, kubbat halab, which had no equal--so Bushra, her brother, and their father set out to learn how to make this special treat. Includes information on and a recipe for this Iraqi specialty.

18) Arab Arab all year long!

Author

Description

"Yallah! From January to December, join some busy kids as they partake in traditions old and new. There's so much to do, whether it's learning to write Arabic or looking at hijab fashion sites while planning costumes for a local comic convention. With details as vivid as the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle perfume (made to remind Mom of Morocco), children bond with friends, honor tradition, and spend loving time with family. Accompanied by buoyant...

19) A Persian Passover

Author

Description

"Ezra and Roza are helping to prepare for their Passover celebration. Ezra is proud to be in charge of bringing his family's flour to the synagogue to be baked into matzah in a traditional wood-burning oven. But when Ezra makes a mistake and the matzah is ruined, what will he and his sister Roza, do? Join the siblings as they experience the sights, smells, sounds, and unique traditions of a seder in Iran of the 1950s"-- Provided by publisher.

20) Under my hijab

Author

Description

As a young girl observes that each of six women in her life wears her hijab and hair in a different way, she considers how to express her own style one day.