Characters whose self-identity as a boy or man is made explicit in the story, or whose gender expression (appearance, clothing, how they present themselves to others), pronoun (he/him), and name align with prevailing masculine norms.
Monica, who wants to be a baker like her grandmother, finds the doll hidden in the bread on the feast for the Three Kings and thus gets to bake cookies for the next fiesta.
Lorena shares beautiful memories with her grandfather as they look through a chest of things belonging to her dead grandmother.
"Fatima's life is beset with what seems to be disasters. Her journey leads her from Morocco to the Mediterranean, Egypt, Turkey and, finally, to China. It is in China that she realizes that what seemed at the time to be really unfortunate events were an integral part of her eventual fulfillment."--Jacket flap
Dari version available in the Bates catalog.
Pashto version available in the Bates catalog.
Some two hundred and fifty years ago the great King Ahmad Shah Durrani ruled Afghanistan. His magnificent empire extended from eastern Iran to northern India, and from the Amu Darya to the Indian Ocean. Known to his people as Ahmad Shah Baba (Ahmad Shah, our father), the king was an outstanding general and a just ruler. But he was vexed with troubles and needed to find someone with the right qualities to help him — but how? -- publisher
Dari version available in the Bates catalog
This is a very old story, one that has entertained people all over the world for hundreds of years. A young couple invites a stranger to share their meal. As he leaves, his parting words reward their generosity in an amazing way. News of their changed status travels fast and prompts a greedy merchant to seek out the stranger in the hope of gaining a similar reward for himself. But, of course, the result is very different. This tale encourages readers to think about the nature of giving and receiving. It is set here in Afghanistan and retold for young people by the Afghan storyteller and teacher Palwasha Bazger Salam. --publisher
Dari version available in Bates catalog
A young girl wants to fly a kite, but her family cannot afford to buy one, so her father helps her make a kite of her own.
As he participates in the festivities of Las Posadas, preparing for the birth of Christ, a young Mexican boy worries about what gift he will have for the baby Jesus.
Recounts, in Spanish and in English, the story of Ricardo Romo, a Hispanic-American All-American athlete and scholar who became, among other things, a U.S. representative to the United Nations, and the president of University of Texas at San Antonio.
A colorful folktale about the natural world by a renowned Chicano writer. Little Crow and Father Crow sit on the branch of a tall tree surveying the freshly planted corn field. Father Crow tells Little Crow that the human father and son they see working in the fields do a lot for crows. They plant corn, they move water, and they feed the crows with their fields. The crows sing their gratitude to the farmers, but in spite of their efforts to sing their best songs, the farmers don't like the crows. As they watch, the tricky farmer bends to get a rock. He hides it by the side of his leg, and when they get in close range, the farmer launches his missile at the crows. But Little Crow and Father Crow are much too fast for him. They fly overhead, laughing and singing. Other crows are not so lucky, like Uncle Fly-Too-Late whose wing was broken when a farmer threw a rock. Little Crow is troubled. What if the farmer picked up a rock when Little Crow wasn't looking? What if Little Crow couldn't get away fast enough? Soon, Little Crow has an idea that just might save all the crows.
Inspired by a patchwork quilt, Toña and her grandmother use vacant patches of land in their neighborhood to grow vegetables, then form The Patchwork Garden Club to encourage other children to follow their example.