Book Cover Image of The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil

The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story
by , Illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan

Publication Date: Feb 18, 2020
List Price: $17.95
Format: Hardcover, 36 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9780884487548
Imprint: Tilbury House Publishers
Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers
Parent Company: Tilbury House Publishers

Hardcover Description:

2021 ARAB AMERICAN CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WINNER

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.