Following a very long hiatus, we’re delighted to relaunch ArabKidLitNow! with some fabulous Arabic picture books recommended for English translation by children’s book author and translator, Dr. Amal Alaboud. These are all published by Al Yasmine Publishing House (Dar al-Yasmine) in Jordan, and Amal has sample English translations for all five, available on request.
by Dr. Amal Alaboud
5 recommended Arabic picture books
Adnan and the Ramadan Dish
Arabic title: عدنان وطبق رمضان
- Author: Ali Al-Zaini, illustrator: Haya Saleh
- Winner of the Arab Children’s Book Publisher Forum Award 2020
- Published by Dar Al-Yasmine, Amman, Jordan. Book details on website here
- See the whole book on Youtube, read by Storytime with Teta
- For rights enquiries, contact info@alyasminebooks.com
Adnan and the Ramadan Dish is a delightful look at the first night of Ramadan from the perspective of a young boy. Like all children, he is focused on the wonderful decorations, and particularly, on his favorite dish, molokhiyya.
Instead of getting what he wants immediately, he learns how important it is to be involved in helping the local community and his extended family as they prepare for the evening’s meal. The book is a wonderfully light-hearted look at an important festival and is one that children can easily relate to.
The Hen that Loves to Crow
Arabic title: فريدة الدجاجةُ التي تُحبُ أن تَصيحَ
- Author: Hadi al-Shaer, illustrator: Sasha Haddad
- Published by Dar al-Yasmine, Jordan, 2017
- See and hear the whole book at Storytime with Teta on YouTube
- Book trailer on Dar Al-Yasmine’s YouTube channel
The Hen that Loves to Crow is a wonderful parable for young children on the importance of being yourself and not just giving into socially constructed roles.
The little hen, Farida, wants to crow like the other young roosters but isn’t allowed to because she must learn to lay eggs. The rest of the animals try to force her into her role, but she saves the coop by crowing when a fox tries to enter it. Her actions show the rest of the chickens that it is possible for a hen to crow, and to break those traditional roles.
A Very Naughty Cat
Arabic title: قط شقي جدا
- Author: Abeer Al Taher, illustrator: Maya Fidawi
- Published by Dar al-Yasmine, Jordan
- 2014 Children Book category winner of The Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature.
- Featured in World Kid Lit #SeekingAPublisher series 2023
- See and hear the book read by Csja-Pédagogie (YouTube)
The Very Naughty Cat tells the tale of a friendship between an old man and his cheeky cat.
When the old man adopts the stray cat they soon become firm friends, but the cat is not the most well-behaved of animals and causes chaos in the old man’s house. Much as he loves the animal, he decides it is time to get rid of it, but no one he knows will keep it.
In desperation, he decides to leave it in the furthest place he can think of, Antarctica. Once he gets there, he understands that he can’t abandon his friend, no matter how annoying the cat may be.
The book is a wonderful and quirky look at the value of friendship with whimsical illustrations by much-loved Lebanese illustrator and artist Maya Fidawi.
Lubna and the Magic Square
Arabic title: لبنى والمربع السحري
- Author: Hadil Miqdadi, illustrator: Diala Zadah
- Published by Dar al-Yasmine, Jordan
- History, mathematics, strong female character
- 40 pages
- See and hear the whole book at Storytime with Teta (YouTube)
Lubna and the Magic Square introduces Cordoban Lubna, also known as Lubna of Cordoba, a real person who lived in Cordoba ten centuries ago. The actual woman was a successful polymath with interests in writing and mathematics. She is known to have set up a school in the Library at Cordoba to teach children in the city.
In the book, we meet Lubna as a child in a fictional situation. She explains her interest in numbers by showing how she has named each of her friends after a number that she thinks best suits them. When they visit the library, they see several of the Caliph’s scholars struggling to fill in missing numbers in a damaged document. Lubna examines it and sees the answer. The scholars, of course, do not believe her and order her and her friends out of the library, only to come and find her later to get the answer.
The story is a delightful and detailed tale that also gives the reader a chance to see something of historical Cordoba and to understand how important the library in the city once was. The book is illustrated in a nicely understated fashion by Diala Zadah and translated into English by Dr. Amal Alaboud.
Nos Noseis (Half a Half)
Arabic title: نص نصيص
- Author: Abeer Al Taher, Illustrator: Zainab Faidhi
- Published by Dar al-Yasmine, Jordan
- New telling of a classic Arabic folktale
- Hear and see the whole book at Storytime with Teta (YouTube)
“Nos Nosees” (Half a Half) is a classic folk tale of a young boy whose greed makes him forget his mother’s warning to refuse invitations to strangers’ houses. In this case, the stranger turns out to be a ghoul who traps him and plans to eat him. With the help of a talking mouse, who is, in reality, the daughter of the Sultan, he manages to outwit the old ghoul and kill him by throwing one of his hairs on the fire.
The story is wonderfully illustrated by Zainab Faydi and contains enough action and twists to keep young readers well engaged as well as reminding them of the importance of listening to parental advice. It also demonstrates the importance of brains over brawn.
Find out more
Please contact Dar al-Yasmine director Abeer al-Taher and managing director, Hadil Miqdadi for more information and rights enquiries: info@alyasminebooks.com
This book list is available to download as a PDF here.
English sample translations by Dr. Amal Alaboud are available on request. Please contact Amal by email.
Dar al-Yasmine were also featured on ArabLit this week as part of their #WorldKidLitMonth feature on 10 Arabic Children’s Publishers
About Amal
Dr. Amal Alaboud is an assistant professor of Translation Studies at Taif University, Saudi Arabia. She’s a children’s stories writer and translator. Her works have been translated into Spanish, French and Chinese.
Contact Amal by email
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