A quick one because I have no business being online when I should be cleaning and packing. :) Here are a couple of old books - now public domain - for learning/teaching Geography. I like the gentle and conversational approach.
Please keep us in your prayers and have a great Ramadan everyone!
Two weeks ago, I blogged about my favourite book haunts. I thought I would give special mention to one of them today - Alvi Book Bank.
When we first moved to Pakistan back in 2004, Mars and I had to make a few adjustments in our lives. In Singapore, we were used to going on field trips and bargain shopping sprees, visiting with friends for play dates and taking off for a meal out on a whim if we so desired. In Pakistan though, the days seemed to yawn ahead of us. There was little to do, nowhere to go and no friends to visit.
Then we discovered Alvi Book Bank and the little unassuming second-hand store made our lives more than bearable. I was a newish mum and homeschooler then trying to build a library for little Mars, who was then an only child. I had had to leave most of our books in Singapore during the move (oh! how that hurt!) so Alvi Book Bank was truly a godsend. Mr Fareed Ahmed Alvi knew his business and clearly loved books with a passion for his store was always crammed with some of the best titles for children that the literary world had to offer. My daughter and I would spend hours in there, painstakingly rifling through pile after pile of books, giggling smugly everytime we found a good book. When we weren’t at the store, we would wonder if Mr Alvi had any new stock and worried that others would get to them before we could.
When we moved back to Singapore in 2006, we missed Mr Alvi’s store. None of the second-hand bookstores in Singapore could compare in terms of price, range and charm. (We actually missed Pakistan’s dust and mess!) We continued to visit Alvi’s Book Bank every time we visited our family in Islamabad. The staff got to know us. We were such regulars that they would let us have the run of the place and even let us have the store’s only torchlight when there were power outages - they knew that not even a blackout could drive us away :)
Mr Alvi wasn’t always at his store but he too began to recognise us as faithful customers, this time with Bear in tow. Still, he maintained his reserve and barely cracked a smile, his expression always aloof. My husband joked that he was a hard businessman, never giving discounts even to long-time customers. We had no issues with that however - his books were well-chosen and equally well-priced.
Then one day, we visited the store again and found it vacated. The staff at the neighbouring stores saw us looking perplexed and told us that he had moved to a smaller place above. We trudged up the stairs and wondered how he could possibly fit all his books into such a tiny room. It turned out, he couldn’t and had had to move most of them to a warehouse. His landlord had raised the rent and he couldn’t afford it. The room was temporary till he could find new premises, he said. He looked worried but had not lost his dignified carriage and demeanor. He looked a little disappointed then, but definitely not beaten. There was something about the distinguished gentleman that assured us that he would bounce back from the setback.
In his quest for more a more affordable shop, he was to move a few more times. My family and I began to have a cat-and-mouse relationship with Mr Alvi and his books.
When we finally returned to settle in Islamabad once again in 2008, Mr Alvi had moved yet again. The tiny room he had occupied was vacant and we were left wondering where he had gone this time. We asked the other store owners and drove to the major shopping areas but we had no luck. Then one day, a friend told me about a large bookstore near a pharmacy at Blue Area, a business district. We went immediately (I know, it sounds obsessive) and were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books.
As we browsed, my husband ran up to me excitedly. “It’s Alvi!” he whispered fiercely. I was too caught up by the books to pay attention so he grabbed by arm and pointed to a gentleman in a cream hat. “It’s HIM! This is HIS STORE!” He went to talk to Mr Alvi and introduced himself. From a distance, I could see his cool veneer cracking and he seemed pleased that he had such a faithful following in my kids who looked so obviously delighted to see him.
Mr Alvi moved another two times and both times we tracked him down. His last location was at a new housing area at a sector called E/11-3, quite a distance from our home. The store was a little small and his books were stacked so dangerously high that I often wondered if he would have to call for a rescue team to extricate us if we upset the piles by accident.
By then, Mr Alvi no longer kept my kids at arm’s length and would engage in friendly chats with them. He would recommend titles to them and ask his staff to climb the mountainous piles and throw them down to my kids whom he ordered to stand at a safe distance. When the summer days were hot, he would offer the kids cold drinks and turn on the fan for them. He was well-acquainted with their preferences and saved them some wonderful gems - collections of English books and Science magazines in mint condition. He even gave us discounts without us ever hinting for them. We took this as a sign that we had officially broken the ice with Mr Alvi :)
We saw Mr Alvi a few weeks ago at another bookstore. We had not visited his shop in a while so my elder daughter greeted him. We made a promise to ourselves to visit his store once again but our plans were always on the backburner as the kids were busy with studies and classes.
My heart feels heavy as I write this. I truly wish we had managed to go. I don’t know what difference it would have made, but I wish we had.
On Wednesday, 28 August 2010, Mr Fareed Ahmed Alvi was one of 152 people who perished when Airblue’s flight ED 202 from Karachi crashed in Margalla Hills. He had been flying home after visiting his elder brother Professor Tauheed Ahmed Alvi, of DJ Science College in Karachi. I am told that he was travelling with this two children and is survived by his wife and a daughter. Inna lilla wa inna ilayhi raji`oon. Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return.
May Allah forgive him and give him the very best in the hereafter … ameen.
May He forgive all who perished in the flight and grant them paradise … ameen.
May He give strength and fortitude to all the bereaved families in this time of adversity … ameen.
O Allah! Let not any of our sins go unforgiven, nor any of our worries undispelled, nor any of our needs and difficulties unfulfilled, let the end of our deeds be the best of all … ameen.
Bear: Ummi! Ummi! I want to tell you something!
Me: Oh? What is it?
Bear: Ummi, I saw a spider just now. I said to it, “Salutations!” and it waved its leg at me!
Can you guess which book she’s just finished reading? :)
Reading Rainbow was an American children’s television series aired by PBS to promote the joy of reading among children. Hosted by LeVar Burton (how many of you remember Kunta Kinte??), each episode featured a children’s story book which would be narrated and accompanied by catchy illustrations on-screen. The books’ themes would be further explored in a fast magazine-style format through field trips, on-location adventures and interviews with children. Episodes dealt not only with Language, Science and Math but also social issues like slavery, gangs and homelessness.
The series ran for some 26 years, making it the third longest-running series (after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It won 24 national Emmys, including 10 for best children’s series. The series is no longer being broadcast (the last episode was telecast in August 2009) but you can purchase DVDs from the Reading Rainbow site.
If you are sorely disappointed that I’m not featuring any freebie today, DON’T BE! There are teacher guides, themed lesson plans, parents’ guides and more available for download for FREE!! Yay-ness! Visit their Classroom Resources Page to download them.
Right… carry on then!
My kids and I are huge fans of award-winning writer, Linda Sue Park. Her book, A Single Shard, is one of our favourites. It is a vividly told tale set in Ch’ul’po, a potter’s village, in 12th-century Korea. The protagonist is 10-year-old orphan, named for a mushroom that grows “without benefit of parent-seed”. He was raised by Crane-man (he has a shrivelled leg). These two outcasts make their home under the bridge and scavenge for food, refusing to beg or steal. When he accidentally breaks a pot belonging to Min, a master potter, he has to work off his debt and this sets off a series of change. I won’t say more except that if you like a story about loyalty, courage and love, then this is the book for you.
My friend at Tea and A Think is a fellow fan of the book :) She has compiled a wonderful list of facts on Korea and links to celadon pottery and Korean food. You can do a great unit study based on these links and her other book recommendations.
We’ve also enjoyed Linda Sue Park’s other books. I strongly believe in using living books and hers are wonderful for History and Geography. See Saw Girl tells of Jade, a girl of good social standing in 17th-century Korea who longs to see the world. Women then did not leave home (LITERALLY) till they married and then, did not ever step outside the walls of their marriage home. The Kite Fighters is about two brothers Kee-Sup and Young-Sup in 15th-century Korea. Young-Sup, the younger, often feels envious of his older brother, who seems to be favoured simply because he is the first-born. When the young king enlists their help for a kite competition, they learn to complement each other and understand each other better.
When My Name Was Keoko takes us to a more contemporary time - 1940 to the end of the second World War. Korea has been occupied by the Japanese since 1910 and their oppressive rulers are determined to erase the Korean identity and culture through propoganda and outright force. We see the struggle of the Korean people through Sun-hee (who is forced to take on the Japanese name Keoko) and her brother Tae-yul who narrate the story in turns. Each of the characters we meet show courage in their own unique way. We learn not just about role of Japan in WW2 but also what happens to Korea after it regains its independence. What makes this story even more meaningful is that the characters were inspired by true stories told by the author’s friends and family.
Korean paper doll - lots more paperdolls from all over the world available for download at Education.Com
We have been blessed to find loads of books on a variety of subjects here in Islamabad courtesy of our two favourite booksellers - Alvi Book Bank and Jumbo Book Sale. Mr Alvi really needs to get larger premises - I worry that my kids will be injured by an avalanche when they try to tackle his precarious piles of books. Still, he’s helped us secure such wonderful literature and enough Science texts to last us for at least 3 years that we are not complaining (much). Jumbo Book Sale has been wonderful in that we have found many vintage Weekly Readers (I just love the thick papers and monochrome illustrations… they really don’t make ‘em like they used to!) and award-winning chapter books.
I’d love to do some reviews here but I am wondering if I should use our Goodreads account or just feature them here on my blog. For those of you who read my blog (there must be … what? two of you? :P), I’d like your opinion on this.
If you are a book and curriculum junkie like me, you might like these :)
I found these vintage Geography books - they are so charming. It has a conversational approach so I think children will like them. They are now public domain and available for download:
I also discovered two other free textbooks - one for Geology and one for Geography - at Kids Geo. I have not gone through all of it but it looks promising. You can read them here:
We follow a living books approach to our studies so we like using literature. Penny Gardner has a list of such books and Simply Charlotte Mason has a good bookfinder.
I have so much to say about this book but Bear is begging for a game of “Bus Stop”, so watch this space. :)
What is worse than a migraine? Napping and waking up an hour later bathed in perspiration because the power is cut off in the most humid of Pakistani summers with the said migraine doubled in intensity.
Yesterday was THAT kind of day but alhamdulillah `alaa kulli haal… You know, I have become used to the load shedding. I have. It happens three times a day, each lasting an hour. We know exactly when it is going to happen and for how long so when the electricity is cut, we invade my mum-in-law’s territory (it is cooler downstairs) or just try to keep ourselves occupied till it is turned back on.
Still, the city’s development council decided to mess with my mind just so I don’t get too sure of myself. They cut the power at a different time AND for a much longer period! I was about to bust a gut stressing over whether I could iron my kids’ karate gi in time for the class when not only was the power restored, but the rain came down! The neighbours’ kids came over and they all had a grand old time in the rain. I was quite the contented one - I managed to get the kids’ uniforms all nice and spanky if only so they could get them all filthy dirty within 5 minutes of the class :)
Anyway, just so this doesn’t turn into a completely vacuous post, I thought I would talk about a few gems which have helped us with our Qur’an lessons:
Colour-coded Tajweed Mushaf - When Ms M was in Singapore, her teachers at the masjid used a set of readers that thoroughly frustrated her. The book was poorly designed and the verses were printed extremely closely together so much so that Ms M would feel overwhelmed just LOOKING at the pages. (I admit, the readers intimidated me too! *S*) Ms M would return home looking very down each day, saying that she had to repeat her assignments. I was a little taken aback because she was already reading the Qur’an at home and doing it rather well ma shaa Allah. It was only when I saw the books that I realised why her progress was poor. We bought her her own mushaf which looks like this one and once she moved on from the readers, there was no holding her back alhamdulillah. The font - Uthmanic script - suits her well and the layout is also easy on the eye. The tajweed rules are colour-coded to help her recite and pronounce properly - I know some purists who disagree on relying on these masaahif and insist that one should memorise the tajweed rules instead. In shaa Allah I hope that my kids and I will do so, but until then, these are extremely helpful.
Touched by An Angel - Tafseer of Juz Amma by Muhammad Alshareef - This is a 16-CD set (audio) of a seminar given by AlMaghrib Institute solely dedicated to the explanation of Part 30 of the Qur’an. I like that the speaker warns listeners that a large number of people never actually listen or complete the CDs they purchase. This helps put us into serious learning mode. Muhammad Alshareef has a very engaging style and a talent for examples that strike a chord so lessons are nothing short of inspiring.
You can download a free Study Guide & Personal Notebook Exam. The Study Guide is about 200 pages long and contains useful notes, translations and explanations of the verses as well as quizzes. It is well-designed with space for students to write down gems they glean from the lectures.
Methodical Interpretation of the Noble Qur’an - This textbook provides an overview of every Surah. Lessons include translations of verses, lists of important vocabulary, tafseer and points that students can ponder over. There are questions that students can tackle as well. I found the tafseer section a little brief, but parents/teachers can easily supplement with other texts. It is well organised so if you are short on time, this book will help you through lessons. Easy on the eye layout and hardcover. I hope that Darussalam will publish more of such books for the other parts of the Qur’an.
Ad-Duha’s Tafseer books for young students - Ms M was very proud to get her own set of tafseer books. Ad-Duha’s books are very much on the Qur’an and Sunnah and they are informative yet easy for young readers. Each book comes with a summary of the surah, its commentary and questions for narration/comprehension. These help a great deal in promoting self-study and revision. Ad-Duha’s site is closed for maintenance at the moment, but will be open before Ramadan in shaa Allah. More good reads in store I hope!
Juz Amma Teacher with children’s repetition- Ms M’s favourite qari is Meshary Rashid Alafasy so last `Eid, we gave her this 2-CD set as a gift. The qari reads a verse and his students (adorable sounding children ma shaa Allah!) repeat after him. Sometimes the students make mistakes and Sh Afasy corrects them (in Arabic) and requests that they repeat the verse. My kids find this cute and feel heartened that they aren’t the only ones making mistakes. The clear recording, Sh Afasy’s melodious voice and the children’s distinct enunciation make it a pleasurable listen.
Juz Amma Teacher with ’space’ - I don’t have this CD set but I understand that it follows the same format as the previous CD. The only difference is that there is a blank ’space’ after the qari recites to allow the listener to attempt the same verse.
Ahl ul Qur’an Gear by Haroon Baqai - This 9-CD set was given to us by a dear sister in Singapore as a farewell gift when we moved to Pakistan :) It contains recitation (with a pause / blank ’space’ for you to practise after the qari), exercises and review from Surah an-Naas to Surah al-’Alaa. I think that it is nice for the young ones as the qari speaks to the listener in a gentle and encouraging way. (He speaks in English by the way.)
Qur’an Plugin for MS Word - - This is a very nice tool for Qur’an studies ma shaa Allah. With it, you can insert verses from the Qur’an and also the translation into your documents. The English translation is `Abdullah Yusuf `Ali’s. There are other translations available as well: French, German, Bosnian, Malay, Farsi, Russian, etc. I love it because I’ve been able to create my own tafseer booklets, copywork / notebooking material for the kids’ Qur’an studies.
Emails are nice, but good old handwritten letters are nicer. And you know what is EVEN better?
Parcels :)
Today, I received a lovely gift from Umm Obaidah. I call it my almost-surprise because while it was not unexpected - we are both participating in a swap organised by Farhana - I was so thrilled when it arrived that it sure felt like a surprise :) Make sense?
Anyway, Umm Obaidah has given me a WONDERFUL book. It is entitled The Invocation of God by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. He is one of my favourite authors, so I know that I will enjoy reading this.
Jazakillah khayran Umm Obaidah … may Allah increase us in `ilm and imaan ameen :)
Some resources we have found online…
Guides
Nature Stories - free/public domain
Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1876)
Arabella Buckley
Thornton W. Burgess (1874 - 1965)
Clara Dillingham Pierson
Others
Farhana of Sketched Soul - bless her - is organising yet another swap. This time it involves books and crafts - how can I pass this up even though I should be getting busy packing?
How it works:
Fun! Now, go on there and join up!
I wanted to add a few more lesson ideas but I am on a borrowed computer and it is really driving me nuts!
Books
Under the Hawthorne Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna The story centres around the O’Driscolls, the average Irish family who are tenant farmers, dependent on potatoes as their main source of food. Tragedy strikes in the form of “the Blight” - a disease that destroys the potato crops - and what ensues is extensive starvation.
Eily (who is 12), Michael (10) and Peggy (7) O’Driscoll have coped with heartbreak upon heartbreak. Their parents left to find work but have gone missing and their baby sister Bridget is dead and buried under the hawthorne tree. Their village is devastated and farmers are being evicted by the landowners. Surrounded by disaster and the threat of being sent to the workhouse, the children are determined to survive and stay together. Armed with nothing but courage and love, they embark on a perilous journey across Ireland to find their great-aunts, Nano and Lena, whom they have only heard about in their mother’s stories…
Wildflower Girl by Marita Conlon-McKenna The sequel to Under the Hawthorne Tree sees Eily, Michael and Peggy alive and well six years later in Castletaggart. Aunt Lena is now dead and the girls and Aunt Nano try to eke out a living at the bake shop. However, times are hard - many inhabitants of Castletaggart have either died in the Great Famine or have left. Aunt Lena’s landlord decides to sell his property and move to Dublin and offers to pay for the family to go to America. However, Nano is too old to travel; Eily has accepted a marriage proposal and Michael gets a job in a stable. Young Peggy, all of thirteen, decides to take her chances and migrate for a better life. She braves horrifying conditions on the journey across the Atlantic. Life isn’t much easier in the promised land - she gets a job in a lodging house but is abused by the drunken proprietor. As a maid in a large house, she toils endlessly and is not given even facilities for a bath. Still, Peggy’s spirit shines through…
Fields of Home by Marita Conlon-McKenna the third and final volume of the Children of the Famine trilogy. The O’Driscoll siblings plod on in trying to build better lives. Eily and her husband are tenant farmers but there are rumours that their rents are being raised. She witnesses an old woman being evicted as she is unable to pay the rent. Michael seems happy enough working in the stables and is even riding in races. However, the Big House is set on fire and completely razed. No one knows who the culprit is but Michael’s employers move to England and so he is out of a job. Peggy, in Boston, continues to work hard but is lonely, especially after her friend Kitty gets a job elsewhere…
The Hunger: The Diary of Phyllis McCormack, Ireland, 1845-1847 (My Story series) by Carol Drinkwater One of a series of historical novels for children published by Scholastic UK. Each book is written in the form of the diary of a fictional young woman or man living during an important event in history. In “The Hunger”, we meet Phylly, a 14-year-old girl who documents her dreams and struggles. She has a job as a scullery maid at the absentee landlord’s house. She and her family get by but when disease strikes the potato crop, Ireland is plunged into famine. Phylly struggles to keep her courage up. Her rebel brother is wanted; she loses her family when they are evicted and she hardly dares to hope that the landlord’s son, Edward, could care for her, an uneducated maid… Will life ever get better?
I found the notes and background information tremendously useful. We learnt about the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants and English and Irish, Irish history and the key figures. (I censored the bits about Edward and Phylly when reading to my daughter.)
Twist of Gold by Michael Morpurgo My elder daughter loves Michael Morpurgo and was excited when she found out he had written a book about the Potato Famine. Ireland is ravaged by famine and disease and Sean (13) and Annie (10) O’Brien have already lost three siblings. Their father had gone to America promising to send for them later but they have not received any news from him. Their mother lies dying. Rather than see her children starve to death, she tells them to leave for America to search for their father. With her prayers, the cloak of a kindly British dragoon, and a gold torc (a family heirloom), Sean and Annie make the perilous journey across the Atlantic. Theirs is a story of survival and they meet many characters along the way - two kind Bostonians sisters, a (born free) black man, born free, an evil bounty hunter; a charming riverboat captain, a former Civil War colonel; pioneers and also a fellow Irishman who is a gold prospector. Will they find their father? Will they be able to build a new life?
Nory Ryan’s Song by Patricia Reilly Giff As the story opens, Nory shares dulse (a seaweed) with her friend Sean Red Mallon. Although disease has not struck the potatoes yet, the spectre of famine looms. “I was so hungry,” she says - an omen of even harder times to come. When the crops fail, farmers and their families who cannot pay the rent. Nory makes it her mission to help her friend Cat Neely and her widowed mother, who are being turned out. Her plan is to get a gold coin from the Anna Donnelly, the village healer… Nory’s determination and love for her friends and family make this book a touching and worthwhile read.
Katie’s Wish by Barbara Shook Hazen Katie, whose mother has passed away, has been left in the care of her grandparents. It has been two Christmases since her father left for America and she can hardly wait to join him. When served plain, boiled potatoes for what must be umpteenth time, Katie mutters, “I wish they’d go away.” Her wish seems to be granted when the potato crops are afflicted with a disease and turn black and rot. As potatoes are the main source of sustenance for the poor Irish folk, the people suffer horribly. Famine strikes and disease spreads. Katie is filled with guilt and is sure that her ungrateful wish caused the famine…
The watercolour pictures are expressive and evocative… I like Katie’s fiery red hair!
Useful Links -Ireland
About Potatoes
Ms M was very interested in the Second World War and we kept reading books related to it - fiction and non-fiction - for the longest time. I was going to write summaries and/or reviews, but I am in a blue funk because my digi-cam has gone wonky.
So here is a list of books we like… reviews will come later in shaa Allah… when my good humour is restored…
Reference
Stories/Chapter Books by Michael Morpurgo
Other Chapter Books
Picture Books, etc.
Umm Nassim, long overdue and I actually have more books on my list!! But here are some for a start…
My kids, I think, are culturally neither here nor there. They are part Pakistani (yes, I know “Pakistani” is technically a nationality and not a race) and part Malay and part a whole bunch of other things *S* … They are aware of their ethnic identity (whatever it is!), but in shaa Allah define themselves as Muslims first and last. They love learning about Muslims living in other parts of the world and are thrilled whenever we find a book with Muslim characters.
Here are some that we have enjoyed:
Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty Mark Alan Stamaty is a well-known writer and illustrator with long-running comic strips under his belt. This particular book was something new for my daughter who has never read a comic. She found Alia’s Mission a compelling read … and why not, the heroine is passionate about books!
We read this book together with The Librarian of Basra: A True Story of Iraq by Jeanette Winter
Both these stories are about Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of Basra’s Central Library. There is talk of an impending war in Iraq and Alia is anxious about the fate of her cherished library, which holds, among other gems, a biography of the Prophet 
that is 700 years old. She approaches the governor for permission to move the books to safety but is denied. Undeterred, Alia loads the books into her car at the end of each day and takes them home. When war is declared, her friend Anis, who owns a restaurant close to the library lends a hand. He rallies his family and hides the books in his establishment. Together, Alia and her comrades manages to save 30,000 books before the library is razed.
Rather than rely on graphic descriptions or frightening pictures, Winter uses colour to illustrate the message - deep maroons for war and then blues and pinks to signify hope. Stamaty’s book goes into greater detail and shows how the love for learning and books unified the people - even those who probably didn’t know how to read lent a hand! It also tells of how Alia, who went over and above the call of duty, suffered a stroke due to stress and exhaustion.
We enjoyed both these books tremendously - they really struck a chord!
The Day of Ahmed’s Secret by Florence Parry Heide & Judith Heide Gilliland, illustrated by Ted Lewin: I had forgotten to mention this so I’ll do it now. I heard about this book from my friend Suzanne. She teaches English and spoke so passionately about this book that I HAD to go out and get it!
Before I talk about this book, I MUST talk about the illustrator, Ted Lewin. I can’t draw or paint for toffee but I have always longed for the ability. Ted Lewin has illustrated several books that Ms M and I enjoy. He has an inimitable style that gives the stories warmth and life. His watercololours are remarkably detailed and in this book, he and the authors expertly capture the sights, smells and sounds of the markets and busy streets of Cairo. I sometimes feel as if I were looking at a photograph! I’ve discovered the secret to his realistic and vibrant pictures - he uses his friends and neighbours and their kids as subjects and directs them to ‘act’ out the story while he photographs them in the studio! You can read about it here.
The Day of Ahmed’s Secret is about Ahmed who rides through the streets of Cairo to deliver cylinders of butane gas (it is for cooking) to his father’s customers. He has a secret to tell his family, but it must keep till the evening. Ahmed seems rather young for such hard work but he does it patiently and quite obviously, out of a sense of love and duty for his family. We sense how mature he is in his quiet introspective nature and in how he understands why he has to grow up quickly to help ease his father’s burden.
As Ahmed weaves in and out of the city, we meet various characters - the food vendor who always has a word for him, the rose water man, the customers and all the folks who make up the hustle and bustle of Cairo that he is a part of. He reflects on how old the city is and talks of the desert in almost sentimental terms. Through it all, we are constantly reminded of the secret he is carrying.
When he finally returns to the warmth and comfort of home, he finally divulges his surprise. Young Ahmed proudly reveals that he can write his name. We see a copy of his Arabic script and the beaming faces of his family. Ahmed may be older than most children who already know how to read and write, but it is no less an accomplishment. I felt like thumping his back when I read this book!
A keeper!
Sitti’s Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter: Mona lives in the US and her Sitti (grandmother), in a small Palestinian village. Distance at first separated them and then language but both these barriers were overcome when Mona visited. She misses her grandmother and begins to remember that beautiful time when they were together. At first, they communicated through Mona’s father who translated for them and was like their “telephone”. Slowly, however, they made up their own language and let the love bind them ever closer.
She reminisces about the house, the countryside, Sitt’s tea and lemon tree and the age-old customs of the Palestinian villagers. Most of all, she remembers the close bond she forged with Sitti - one particular incident that stands out is when she brushed Sitti’s hair. Mona recalls how difficult it was to leave - even her father kept going outside to hide his tears.
Mona keeps the connection alive with her grandmother by thinking of how they and indeed, all of mankind, are bound to each other as part of a beautiful universe.
I love this book - it is simply told but so wonderfully lyrical and emotive. The illustrations, with all their subtle touches capture the colours of the desert (I love the picture of Sitti’s lemon tree) and the love between Mona and her grandmother.
One Green Apple by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted Lewin: We have our pet authors and Eve Bunting is one of them. We enjoyed The Memory String, Gleam & Glow, Pop’s Bridge and Whales Passing. One Green Apple is about Farah, a Muslim girl who is new to America. Her headscarf and inability to speak English set her apart from her classmates, some of whom are friendly and some of whom have mentioned her home country in less than friendly terms. Her father has told her, “Our home country and our new one have had difficulties.” We are not told where Farah is from but I suspect it must be Pakistan or Afghanistan from the word “dupatta” that the author uses for the shawl she wears.
On this day, Farah and her classmates are visiting a farm. She enjoys the sights and smells but is very anxious and feels “tight inside”. When she goes to pick an apple, she chooses a small green one that fits right in her hand. Farah likes it even though the others choose the sweet, red ones because it is different like her. The barriers begin to break, tentatively, but surely. At first, a friendly girl Anna reaches out and then she joins in making apple cider by helping to operate the press. On the way back, she enjoys a lighthearted moment with her new friends. She finally has the courage to say her first “outside (her)self” word - “App-ell” and her friends applaud her. I love the illustrations - Ted Lewin’s winning work! They are bright, sunny and so full of hope! It was nice to also see Farah’s isolation and shyness fall away into a confident, triumphant smile.
The Roses in My Carpets by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Ronald Himler: This book made me choke up. A young Afghani’s recurring nightmare pulls us into this story - “It’s always the same. The jets scream overhead.” He dreams of running to escape the bombs together with his mother and sister, Maha. In his dreams, they weigh him down and always, he wakes up to his bare home in a refugee camp.
In quiet and almost grim tones, he tells us about his days. He lives with his mother and sister and they manage to eke out a living with the help of a sponsor. He prays and goes to school, but his most cherished activity is when he learns how to weave carpets. It is his lifeline - he hopes this skill will help provide for his family. It also allows him to visualise and carve out his dreams - a world of hope and beauty. The nameless protagonist uses red threads to honour the martyrs, blue for the sky, free of bombing jets, black for the night that hides them from the enemy and white for the shroud of his father. He uses no browns for he longs to escape the dirty brown huts of the camp.
Maha is hit by a truck one day. When he rushes to the hospital, he sees his mother, face contorted in pain. All at once, the fear of losing yet another family member hits them. However, the boy consoles his mother and tells her to go home and pray for Maha. He realises then how he is as tall as his mother and truly the man of the family. The doctor later gives him the good news that Maha will recover. He returns home to his mother and they share a quiet dinner without Maha. It is obvious they miss her sorely - he would often share his bread with her and this time, they tear the bread into three pieces out of habit.
The story ends on a hopeful note - that night, he dreams again but this time, his mother and Maha do not hold him down. They find a space where the bombs do not touch them, where the earth is strewn with red roses and where the sky is blue and free from the menacing jets.
My elder daughter loves books with a passion. A highly auditory learner, she is able to sit through challenging and even chapter books. Her reading skills though need to be worked on. I had thought that she is weak visually, but this is not the case. I have seen her understand and notice details with accuracy and clarity on many occasions.
I have come to the conclusion that it is really a lack of confidence that has stopped her from being able to read. I am quite sure too that my anxiety has rubbed off on her and while I don’t want to pressure her anymore, I feel that she IS ready to read independently.
We tried several approaches, none of which seemed to work. I have Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox & Elaine Bruner, but could not bear its messy layout and boring drills. Other online phonics resources seemed to only scratch the surface. They were also very inconvenient. I would have to spend a long time printing, preparing flash cards and stapling books.
Then I read about Valerie Bendt’s Reading Made Easy : A Guide to Teach Your Child to Read through my friend’s online bookstore. It is such a gem that I wish I had heard about it sooner. With this book, absolutely NOTHING else is needed. I don’t even have to prepare - all I have to do is read the ’script’ prepared and point to the word lists. Lessons are broken down into bite-size pieces but challenging enough to give the child a sense of direction and satisfaction. I have never felt so relaxed teaching Ms M how to read.
Ms M did 12 lessons in ONE sitting! I feel so positive about this! This book is a definite keeper … ma shaa Allah.
A must-have!
My friend Lisa has well and truly created a monster… no, TWO! She has got both Ms M and me positively addicted to goodreads. I think from the looks of it, my 5-year-old will outdo me!
So, join us and share our favourite reads and wishlists:
To borrow Lisa’s words, let’s book brag! *S*
psssst: Add us as friends, K?
Went to the library today … they are running the Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) promotion from 26 May to 8 July 2007 …
We get to borrow double our quota! That’s 16 + 16 + 16 + 8 …
We just about went berserk!!!
Umm Nassim, this is for you :)
I know I said that I am not a library person but what is one to do when there are no decent second-hand bookstores (this is the one thing I miss about Pakistan!) and one’s kids read more than one can afford? I got premium membership for Ms M and I and with lil Bear’s membership, we get to borrow 20 books at a time!
I don’t have time to write out reviews/summaries yet - in shaa Allah soon - but these are some books we have enjoyed:
Fiction… some with lovely illustrations!
Learning about Other Cultures
Science
We’re doing birds now that we are done with mammals (well, just about…).
Books both Ms M & Bear liked
1. The Nine Lives of Montezuma by Michael Morpurgo
This chronicles the life of Montezuma, a ginger tom with a white patch on his throat. He has to fight for his life from the outset - as a newborn, he survives despite attacks from a barn owl, the attempts of a farmer to drown his siblings and abandonment from his neglectful mother. He is rescued by the farmer’s son, Matthew, and becomes a permanent and much-loved fixture in the household.
What follows are the many brushes Monty has with death. First, he gets his head stuck in a tin before hurling up a tree and falling in a pond. Then, he becomes involved in a violent fight with the farm dog, Sam, over Sunday roast left-overs. Next, he is stranded in a snowdrift and a brutal fight with a rival tom. He watches over Matthew who grows up and takes over the farm. But all creatures must face death and Montezuma dies, leaving behind fond memories…
2. Under the Hawthorne Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna
I discovered this gem quite by accident and almost gave it a miss. I bought it for a mere 50 rupees (SG$1!!). This award-winning novel deals with the the Great Irish Famine that ravaged Ireland in the 1840s. The story centres around the O’Driscolls, the average Irish family who are tenant farmers, dependent on potatoes as their main source of food. Tragedy strikes in the form of “the Blight” - a disease that destroys the potato crops - and what ensues is extensive starvation.
Eily (who is 12), Michael (10) and Peggy (7) O’Driscoll have coped with heartbreak upon heartbreak. Their parents left to find work but have gone missing and their baby sister Bridget is dead and buried under the hawthorne tree. Their village is devastated and farmers are being evicted by the landowners. Surrounded by disaster and the threat of being sent to the workhouse, the children are determined to survive and stay together.
Armed with nothing but courage and love, they embark on a perilous journey across Ireland to find their great-aunts, Nano and Lena, whom they have only heard about in their mother’s stories. The children sleep in the open and forage for food in the wild and in the farms of dead tenants. They are confronted with death at every turn. They see bodies of those who died with no one to mourn or pray over them and they see the living dead - those so traumatised that they are but shells of their former selves.
When the O’Driscoll children arrive in Ballycarbery, they see the ships loaded with food bound for England. It is a painful and bitter pill to swallow - the landlords were making money while their countrymen were falling dead from starvation. And indeed, that is the irony of those horrific years - it was only the potato crop that failed; wheat, oats and meat were in excellent supply but they were shipped out to England. It is said that a million and a half people died during these dark years and another million emigrated.
Read about how Eily, Michael and Peggy push every fibre of their being to stay alive and find a better home. This book is part of a trilogy - the other books in the series are Wildflower Girl and Fields of Home. I haven’t read these, but if you have tell me about them! The book has also been made into a film and study guides are available at O’Brien Press.
Update: We found Wildflower Girl in a little bookshop in Islamabad! It is good… review later in shaa Allah…
3. The Akimbo books by Alexander McCall-Smith
Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe was educated there and in Scotland. A Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, he is a best-selling author of adults’ books but proves that he is equally adept with younger audiences. I was told about his books by a fellow homeschooler who adores books. We went on a hunt and were rewarded with a box set that was in perfect condition!
The set features Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo and the Lions and Akimbo and the Crocodile Man. (There is another book out there Akimbo and the Snakes that we have not read, so if you see it, give me a shout OK?)*
Akimbo is a young, adventurous African boy who lives in a large game reserve where his father is a head ranger. He is passionate about animal conservation and goes through great lengths to protect them. In Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo helps to bring down an elephant poaching ring. In Akimbo and the Lions, he helps to raise a lion cub and becomes attached to it. However he knows that Simba belongs in the wild. It is a heartbreaking moment when he releases Simba. (Oh how Ms M cried!) In Akimbo and the Crocodile Man, our resourceful friend is given the chance to accompany John the Crocodile man who is doing research on a batch of crocodiles. During a trip, John is attacked by an angry croc. It is a race against time as Akimbo braves dangerous waters to get help for his friend. Ms M loved the bit where Akimbo hotwires a truck, drives it and barely misses crashing into a tree!
I loved this series just as much as Ms M did. The descriptions are simple and yet incredibly detailed and will transport you to the beautiful African continent. We finished each book in one sitting and liked the charming black and white illustrations by Peter Bailey. I’d recommend this for both boys and girls who are getting into chapter books.
* Update: We have read Akimbo and the Snakes - nice stuff!
OK more in Part 3 - kids are hankering for breakfast!