The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story

Synopsis

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.

Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.

Copyright:

2020

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780884487562

Related ISBNs:

9780884487548, 9780884487579

Publisher:

Tilbury House Publishers

Date of Addition:

03/31/20

Copyrighted By:

Aya Khalil

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Children's Books, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies

Grade Levels:

First grade, Second grade, Third grade, Fourth grade, Fifth grade

Reading Age:

6–8

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.