The team at Hadi Bad has put together a short list of resources — books, websites, and films — to help parents and educators as they talk with children about Palestine.
None of the Arabic children’s books on the list has yet been translated to English, although samples of several of them — including Hooda Shawa’s Dragon of Bethlehem and Taghreed Najjar’s Whose Doll is This?, Sitt al-Kol, and Mystery of the Falcon’s Eye — are available on this website.
Fatima Sharafeddine’s moving في مدينتي حرب (In My City, There’s War) has been translated to French and Dutch. The Hadi Badi team also suggests Sharafeddine’s العمة زيون وشجرة الزيتون (Auntie Zayoun and the Zaytoun Tree).
Hooda Shawa’s beautiful picture book سماء سامية الملونة (Samia’s Colored Sky) is part of a series that focuses on the work of Palestinian artists. The series also includes Ibtisam Barakat’s award-winning الفتاة الليلكية (The Lilac Girl, 2019).
To this list, we would also add Sonia Nimr’s brilliant طائر الرعد (Thunderbird) trilogy, which foregrounds a time-travel fantasy, but always has contemporary Palestine in its sights.
Publishers who want to know more about these titles can email info@arablit.org.
For those looking for English-language titles, children’s literature media and culture MA student Ala’ Qaraman also suggested Young Palestinians Speak: Living Under Occupation by Anne-Marie Young and Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood and Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat.
ArabKidLitNow! 