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Title details for The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil - Available

The Arabic Quilt

An Immigrant Story

by Aya Khalil
Anait Semirdzhyan
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

2021 ARAB AMERICAN CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD WINNER

Children's Africana Book Award (CABA) 2021 Honor Book

NCSS 2021 Notable Social Studies Book

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.

That night, Kanzi wraps herself in the beautiful Arabic quilt her teita (grandma) in Cairo gave her and writes a poem in Arabic about the quilt. Next day her teacher sees the poem and gets the entire class excited about creating a "quilt" (a paper collage) of student names in Arabic. In the end, Kanzi's most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one.

This authentic story with beautiful illustrations includes a glossary of Arabic words and a presentation of Arabic letters with their phonetic English equivalents.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 21, 2020

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780884487562
    Kindle restrictions

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 3.7
    • Lexile® Measure: 710
    • Interest Level: K-3(LG)
    • Text Difficulty: 2-3

  • Reviews

    • School Library Journal

      Starred review from March 1, 2020

      K-Gr 2-Kanzi, a young Egyptian immigrant, is nervous about looking different on the first day of her new school. When Kanzi's classmates tease her about her native language, her teacher helps Kanzi and her classmates learn the value of being bilingual and the beauty of being different through a creative class project: a paper collage quilt with all the students' names written on it in Arabic. The story highlights the role of a supportive and creative teacher and the importance of instilling acceptance in children. "My mom says we should only speak English," says Molly, one of the students. In response, the teacher writes the words algebra, coffee, lemon, and sugar on the board as an example to show the students how many languages share the same origin and that "knowing different languages will make the world a friendlier place." The story ends with a powerful poem with a compelling message of taking pride in one's mother tongue. The author includes a glossary of Arabic words with phonetics and their meaning in English. VERDICT 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

      Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
Kindle restrictions

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:3.7
  • Lexile® Measure:710
  • Interest Level:K-3(LG)
  • Text Difficulty:2-3

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