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Today we are going on a journey to the Middle East. Often times what we hear coming out of the Middle East is violent. Today I would like to share an insightful book and a look into the everyday life of Israel/Palestine.

When I first read the book Habibi by Naomi Nye a few years back I thought it was one of the most wonderfully crafted an authentic stories presented on the region. I’m very biased as my husband is from Lebanon and we spend a lot of time with family in that region of the world. My children could relate to the story of Habibi on many levels. We’ve raised our children speaking Arabic just so they could communicate with their family overseas. Though language hasn’t been an issue , the adjustment to a new country always is.

Because all of us here have a first hand experience of the region, I wanted someone to read this book who hadn’t bee to the region and see what their experience with Habibi was. Today’s blog post is shared with us by our intern and crafter extraordinaire Hannah Rials.  Please enjoy our journey today and the rich cultures, diverse backgrounds, and traditions which live in the Middle East.

A Review

Habibi: (n.) “darling.” Arabic, a term of endearment in all countries.

Liyana’s just had her first ever kiss, and now her father announces that her family is moving to Jerusalem and he is returning. After years of living in America, Poppy is ready to return to his homeland and be reunited with his estranged family. So without any say from Liyana or her brother Rafik, the Abbouds pack up their house, manage an estate sale, and fly across the world to Jerusalem/Palestine, a country that is supposed to be improving, but is life really any better than it was when Poppy left?

Liyana feels lost in Jerusalem. Her very traditional family does not speak a word of English, so both she and they must be translated through Poppy. She knows no one here. Back in St. Louis, even the grocer knew her. Here, she’s just half and half—half American, half Arabic. She has no place, but as she comes to experience and explore Jerusalem and its inhabitants, she begins to find herself more at home, especially when she meets Omar, the handsome Jewish boy in the lamp store.

They form a friendship based on peace and the belief that the world can only get better when people change their views. If they continue to think in the same way that they always have, then things are always going to stay the same. All the adults who talk about change and peace do not seem to understand that.

Naomi Shihab Nye’s story shows a troubled country through a powerful, influential prospective—that of a child’s. Too often, adults overlook the simple solutions, the easy through process. They make everything complicated, when the solution might easily be changing your tune. National change does not happen without first a change in thought. All it takes is a friendship between a young, quirky Arabic girl and a peaceful Jewish boy in Jerusalem to start that change.

This story is beautifully woven. I learned so much about Jerusalem that I never knew. It seems like such a foreign place, so far away, but Nye creates a beautiful, endearing culture, despite the dangerous aspects. Liyana, the habibi of the family, is a wonderful inspiring character that is easy to connect to and offers a fresh prospective. I can’t wait to see what else Nye has created!

Somethings To Do

Make your Own Bedouin Drum at RhyhmWebccom

Make your Own Baba Ghannouj

Virtual Tours of Jerusalem:

Create your own Family Memories: Recently our entire family returned to my husband’s homeland of Lebanon and much fun was had, old memories were revisited and new ones were created.

 

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End of Summer Audrey Press Book Sale!!

Summer is slowly winding down and thoughts are turning to the upcoming school year and reads that will take us into (and through) the colder months ahead. Instead of being sad to see summer go, I choose to Celebrate! And what better way to do it than with an End of Summer Audrey Press Book Sale. For two weeks only readers can get a great deal on two of my most popular books. But don’t delay; this super special sale ends August 14, 2015.!

First up The Waldorf Homeschool Handbook: The Simple Step-by-Step guide to creating a Waldorf-inspired #homeschool. And for a limited time, this best-selling book by Donna Ashton, The Waldorf #Homeschool Handbook is now only $17.95 until August 14th, 2015 ! http://amzn.to/1OhTfoT

Enjoy more month-by-month activities based on the classic children’s tale, The Secret Garden! A Year in the Secret Garden is a delightful children’s book with over 120 pages, with 150 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. AND, it’s on sale until August 14th ! Grab your copy ASAP and “meet me in the garden!” http://amzn.to/1DTVnuX

Two great children’s books-Your choice, $17.95 each!

The post Book-Jumper Summer Reading Series: Habibi by Naomi Nye Book review appeared first on Jump Into A Book.

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An animated project wins the top short film prize at Cannes.

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The 2012 Bologna Ragazzi Awards for the best children's books in terms of graphic and editorial design have been announced. Champagne, cake, confetti, coffee, and CONGRATULATIONS go to:

New Horizons - Mentions


Misunderstanding, written by Farideh Khalatbaree and illustrated by Ali Boozari (Shabaviz Publishing Company, Tehran – Iran)


Waterlife, written and illustrated by Rambharos Jha (Tara Books, Chennai – India)

Opera Prima - Winner


Tabati, written by Nadine R. L. Touma and illustrated by Lara Assouad Khoury (Dar Onboz, Beirut - Lebanon)

Opera Prima - Mention


Grimmie's White Canvas, written and illustrated by Hyunjoo Lee (Sang Publishing, Seoul – Republic of Korea)

Thanks to my friend Jules, one of the Ragazzi jurors, for this information!

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Yesterday afternoon and early this morning I sat, reverent, as I read Anthony Shadid's final book, House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East.

It isn't right: his final book.  We need Shadid, the Pulitzer Prize winning Middle East correspondent for the New York Times who passed away just a few weeks ago on his way home from war. (He was walking a mountain pass, there were horses near, he died, an allergic reaction).  We need how he sees, how he teaches, how he loves, and how he writes.  He is not replaceable.

House of Stone is breathtaking—gigantic in ambition, equal to that ambition, combustible and yet right in its mix of country history, imagined (or imaginatively supplemented) familial history, personal yearning, poetry, politics, passion flowers.  It recounts the months Shadid spent rebuilding his great-grandfather's estate in old Marjayoun, a dusty place where gardens grow in the country known as Lebanon.  It gives us Shadid, newly divorced and with a daughter far away, seeking to resurrect the idea of home.  It introduces the sarcasm and suspicions and ironies and odd camaraderie of a band of neighbors and fickle house builders.  It memorializes a dying doctor who knows everything, it seems, about making gardens grow.

House of Stone is a book built of many parts, and yet it works seamlessly, sweeping foreigners like myself toward its quiet, exotic heart.  There is war, and there is the pickling of olives.  There is dust, yet flowers grow.  There are age-old accusations and cautions about war.  There is a father working so far from the daughter he loves but choosing to believe in days yet to come.  There is Shadid's own sadness over those who have died too soon—by horse, by weakened lungs.  Yes, horse.  Yes, weakened lungs.  It is nearly unbearable to read these passages, but they are so beautiful and holy that we do.

One passage, here.  All of it this good:

The tiles returned one to a realm where imagination, artistry, and craftsmanship were not only appreciated but given free rein, where what was unique and striking, or small and perfect, or wrought with care was desired, where gazed-upon objects were the products of peaceful hearts, hands long practiced and trained.  War ends the values and traditions that produce such treasures.  Nothing is maintained.  Cultures that may seem as durable as stone can break like glass, leaving all the things that held them together unattended.  I believe that the craftsman, the artist, the cook, and the silversmith are peacemakers.  They instill grace; they lull the world to calm.

Rest in peace, Anthony Shadid.

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Our current Book of the Month is Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis, which profiles the stories of 24 young Iraqi refugees, aged 8-19, told in their own words.

Two years ago, Save the Children Sweden and Inma Group South Lebanon worked with Iraqi refugee children in Lebanon to create short animated films. Read more about the project here and watch this video, which I found praticularly thought-provoking. The detailing is superb too – note the unhappy expression on the sun on the cover image…

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Born and raised in the USA, Elsa Marston is a children’s author who specializes in books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the Middle East. “A lot of my writing is about the Middle East and Arab-Americans.” says Elsa. “That’s because my late husband, Iliya Harik, was from Lebanon; family connections and his work as a political scientist (Indiana University) took us to that part of the world many times. I want to share with young readers my own interest in those lands and peoples, and equally important, help contribute to better understanding of the Arab/Muslim world. In that way I hope to continue Iliya’s life’s work, along with my own.”

From June 12 to the 14, Elsa will be attending an international conference on children’s literature in Beirut, Lebanon and told us:

I think this is the first time anything quite like this, at least with this scale and scope, has been done in the Arab countries, although there are IBBY chapters in Lebanon and Palestine and probably elsewhere. The preliminary program looks very interesting… an idea of some of the concerns that are gradually starting to take hold in the literature of that part of the world. Up till very recently, literature for children and teens consisted mostly of translations of European fairy tales and simplified western novels, and Arabian Nightsy stories. The idea that fiction for young people could reflect the lives of those young people and their societies had not quite caught on. (It must be admitted, the same thing was true here with respect to the Middle East, until about a dozen years ago! And that’s basically what I’ll be talking about.)

Elsa expects the conference to be largely in Arabic, with English and French mixed in liberally; and program highlights include:

Day #1
1st session: Social and Cultural Environment in Children’s Books
Illustration of Children’s Books in Italy (Italian speaker)
Illustration of Children’s Books in Sudan

2nd session: Representation of Conflict in Children’s Books
Beverley Naidoo speaking about conflict and resolution in her own work (re South Africa)
Conflict and the Enemy Image in Syrian Children’s Books
Palestinian Children’s Books: Occupation, Violence, Displacement

Day #2
1st Session: Influence of Censorship on Writing
Censoring Children’s Books in Nazi Germany and After the War (German speaker)
Censoring Children’s books in Iraq’s Past Regime

2nd session: The Role of the Family in Children’s Books
Effect of New Teaching Methods on Children’s Books in France (French speaker)
The Role of Family in Tunisian Children’s Books
The Role of Family Members in Lebanese Children’s Books

Day #3:
1st session: Art and Imagination in Children’s Books
Illustrating War: Comparing an Egyptian and a Lebanese Book
Imagination in Lebanese Children’s Illustration
Impact of Color in Illustrated Books

2nd session: Artistic Structure
Collage in Children’s Drawings in Iran
The Birth of Snakedog (European speaker)
U.S. Literature for Young People About the Arab World (Elsa Marston)

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