The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story

(Author) (Illustrator)
Available
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Product Details
Price
$17.95  $16.69
Publisher
Tilbury House Publishers
Publish Date
Pages
36
Dimensions
9.3 X 10.2 X 0.5 inches | 1.1 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780884487548

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About the Author
Aya Khalil is the award-winning author of The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story, which was an NCTE's Charlotte Huck Award Recommended Book and a 2021 Arab American Book Award, among other honors; The Night Before Eid: A Muslim Family Story; and The Banned Books Bake Sale: A Protest Story. Aya holds a master's degree in education and works as a freelance journalist. Her articles have been featured in The Huffington Post and The Christian Science Monitor, among other publications. She immigrated from Egypt to the United States when she was young and currently lives with her partner and three children in Northwest Ohio. Find her at AyaKhalil.com.
Anait Semirdzhyan grew up in a multicultural family and lived in several countries with diverse cultures before settling in the Seattle area with her husband and twin daughters. Her illustrations begin as pencil sketches on cold-press watercolor paper. She then inks the outlines, paints with watercolors, and scans the illustrations in order to edit them in Photoshop. She is the illustrator of The Arabic Quilt and other works that can be viewed at www.anaitsart.com.
Reviews
SLJ Starred Review -- A timely, heartwarming story with expressive, vibrant illustrations that complement the text. This story will boost immigrant children's morale and teach others to be more open-minded.--Noureen Qadir-Jafar, Syosset Library, NY "School Library Journal" (3/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)
A full cast of narrators brings life to this audiobook, making listeners feel like we are in the kitchen with Kanzi's Egyptian family or in her third-grade classroom at school. On her first day of school, a classmate, Molly, teases her about her native language. Her teacher responds by assigning a class project that teaches the value of being bilingual: a quilt with all the students' names in Arabic. Lively music enhances the happy mood of triumph as the class quilt is unveiled. By the end of the audiobook, Molly's voice has changed from snobbish to contrite, and Kanzi's from ashamed to proud. Also included is a glossary of Arabic words spoken in Egyptian dialect and a list of English words derived from Arabic.-- "AudioFile review" (4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM)
In the end, Kanzi's most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one.-- "Goodreads" (3/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)
One of the Eighteen 2020 Children's Books You'll Want on Your Reading List This Year--Abi Berwager Schreier "Romper" (12/29/2019 12:00:00 AM)
Is it possible that a kid's book can make a grown person cry? Yes, most definitely, because I did while reading Aya Khalil's debut picture book The Arabic Quilt- An Immigrant Story. The term "children's book" is misleading. They should generally just be called books, because it's stories like these that deserve a larger audience than only the market it's being targeted to.

The Arabic Quilt is an endearing story of little Kanzi's first day of 3rd grade in the U.S. She recently immigrated with her family from Egypt and doesn't want any extra attention on her than is necessary. Whether you are a new immigrant, or several generations removed, this story will especially be felt by families where the parents: speak a different language, dress in traditional clothes or send ethnic food for lunch. Or, like me, all of the above. Hence, the waterworks.

Even though my kids are not immigrants to the U.S., and neither am I, this scene has played out before with my own children at their school. Once, after seeing me dressed in hijab, my daughter got asked, "Why does your mom wear that?" "Does she have hair?" It is so hard for children to just want to belong and find their place, without their classmates making it harder.--Isra "Muslims in Kid Lit" (2/21/2020 12:00:00 AM)