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21 matching books
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Spell it Like Samar
"An empowering story of persistence and believing in yourself! Samar has recently moved to America from Syria, and everything is new. Even the jump rope games at recess are unfamiliar. It doesn't help that Jenna, the class bully, keeps making fun of Samar's accent. Samar decides to enter the school spelling bee to prove once and for all that she's smarter than everyone thinks! But learning the words turns out harder than she thought. Can Samar be persistent and compete in the school spelling bee?" -- publisher
Snow in Jerusalem
"Avi and Hamudi are two boys who live in Jerusalem's Old City--Avi in the Jewish Quarter and Hamudi in the Muslim Quarter. To each boy, the other's neighborhood is an alien land. Both are caring for the same beautiful white stray cat." -- publisher
Time to Pray
Overview: I heard the voice of the muezzin calling, "Come to pray, come to pray." Yasmin is visiting her grandmother, who lives in a country somewhere in the Middle East. On her first night, she's wakened by the muezzin at the nearby mosque calling the faithful to prayer, and Yasmin watches from her bed as her grandmother prepares to pray. A visit with Grandmother is always special, but this time it is even more so. Her grandmother makes Yasmin prayer clothes, buys her a prayer rug, and teaches her the five prayers that Muslims perform over the course of a day. When it's time for Yasmin to board a plane and return home, her grandmother gives her a present that her granddaughter opens when she arrives: a prayer clock in the shape of a mosque, with an alarm that sounds like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer. Maha Addasi's warm and endearing story is richly illustrated by Ned Gannon. This Arab American Book Award, Honor Book features a text in English and Arabic, and includes an author's note and glossary
Maryam the New Yorker
"This series is inspired by the adventures of Maryam, an American multiracial child who lives in Queens, New York. It highlights the diversity and multiculturalism of the City of New York by focusing on Maryam's encounters with children who come from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. Each book takes place in one of the many beautiful parks in the city. The goal of the series is to help children understand that there are many more similarities that exist between people than differences. They also learn about different cultures and immigrant communities that call this unique and vibrant city home. In this book, Maryam goes to Flushing Meadows Corona Park with her parents and baby sister Emmy. Her typical family outing in the park is soon transformed into a beautiful multicultural playdate with Maria. When the two girls and their families start sharing food and stories, Maryam realizes the beauty of friendship that transcends cultural barriers." -- publisher
Traveling Man
"James Rumford, himself a world traveler, has retold Ibn Battuta's story in words and pictures, adding the element of ancient Arab maps-maps as colorful and evocative as a Persian miniature, as intricate and mysterious as a tiled Moroccan wall. Into this arabesque of pictures and maps is woven the story not just of a traveler in a world long gone but of a man on his journey through life." -- publisher
Riding a Donkey Backwards
"Timeless wisdom is found in absurdity in these tales of an iconic Muslim character known as the sagest man in the village — and also its biggest fool. Would you like to know how a thief can turn into a donkey? Whether a cow can climb a pole? Or why you should spoon yogurt into a lake? Mulla Nasruddin knows all the answers, and he might also tell you why he rides his donkey backwards. Whether in the guise of an imam in a mosque or a beggar in the street, this trickster is never at a loss for a rejoinder, though it may leave you scratching your head, rolling your eyes, or laughing out loud. Enjoy twenty-one classic tales about a much-loved character from Muslim cultures in a book packed with jokes, riddles, and wisdom and paired with vibrant, theatrical illustrations." -- publisher
The Arabic quilt
"Kanzi's family has moved from Egypt to America, and on her first day in a new school, what she wants more than anything is to fit in. Maybe that's why she forgets to take the kofta sandwich her mother has made for her lunch, but that backfires when Mama shows up at school with the sandwich. Mama wears a hijab and calls her daughter Habibti (dear one). When she leaves, the teasing starts." -- publisher
The magic horse
A Sufi teaching tale in which two very different princes find their hearts' desires: one in a wondrous, mechanical fish, the other in a magical wooden horse
The Farmer’s Wife
A cumulative Sufi teaching tale of a farmer's wife who is trying to retrieve an apple from a hole in the ground
The old woman and the eagle
A Sufi teaching tale from Afghanistan about an old woman who insists that an eagle must really be a pigeon