Everything Grows in Jiddo's Garden

by Jenan Matari, Aya Ghanameh (Illustrator)

Overview

Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden is the story of a young Palestinian girl and her Jiddo—her Grandpa!

Jiddo’s garden is a wonder. In it grows so many amazing things—to see, smell, and taste. But helping him to tend the garden teaches this young girl about even more than fig trees. It gives her a chance to discover just who she is.

Many years ago, like so many Palestinians, her family was forced to leave their homeland. But Jiddo shows her how, until they can return, tending a garden can connect them to home—and to each other!

This heartwarming debut picture book by Jenan Matari explores themes of displacement, belonging, and an enduring connection to the land. With stunning illustrations by Aya Ghanameh, it’s a poignant celebration of love, identity and hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623716110
Publisher:	Interlink Publishing Group Inc
Publication date:	09/16/2025
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.50(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	3 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jenan A. Matari is an award-winning Palestinian American writer. She is founder of Zaytoun Publicity, a public relations agency that platforms underrepresented voices, challenges stereotypes, and platforms the richness of diverse cultures. Through her popular social media presence, she shares stories about Palestinian heritage and experienceses. Through her engaging work, she has amassed a global audience of 400K followers and partnered with notable influencers and activists from around the world. Find her on Instagram @jenanmatari and TikTok @jenan.matari.

Aya Ghanameh is a Palestinian illustrator, writer, and designer currently based in New York City. Her work moves away from state-centric ways of thinking to center the voices of ordinary people in historical and political narratives. Her debut children’s picture book was the bestseller These Olive Trees. She is also illustrator of Dear Muslim Child.

Editorial Reviews

Everything Grows in Jiddo’s Garden is the children’s book I wish my father had been able to give to me as a child. Each Palestinian plants the seed of Palestine in their children and tends to it knowing that the youth will carry the seed with them until they can plant it in the soil of their homeland again. Thank you Jenan for this book and for speaking to the little girl in me, who still holds the seed of Palestine in my heart.

Alana Hadid

My friend. My friend! Jenan writes from a place deep within that we all share—a place where love is so abundant it can never stop growing. This story reminds us that when we nurture and tend to that love, no distance or challenge can ever diminish the strength of our hearts. It is a book I will cherish for the rest of my life, a powerful reflection of the beauty in our own stories and everything we hold dear. All I can say is, thank you. Thank you for your courage and authenticity. Thank you for the za’atar from your grandfather’s garden that now grows in my own.

Diane Guerrero

"A thriving garden is likened to the indomitable spirit of Palestinian refugees in this heartfelt picture book. A girl loves to help her jiddo in his garden; he tells her about the garden his father had before their land was taken ... Despite these circumstances, “the home rooted in his heart” sprouts hope."

Foreword Reviews

"A poignant tale that voices the hopes and heartaches of many diasporic Palestinians."

Kirkus Reviews

2025-05-16
A child forges a connection to a far-off homeland.

Looking through an old photo album, the young protagonist gazes at an image of the family’s home in Palestine. Though the child has never been there, “I can taste its sweetness in my Jiddo’s rows of green.” Jiddo (Grandfather) grows sour plums, plump tomatoes, and crunchy cucumbers, as well as figs from a tree he raised—his favorite taste of home. Jiddo’s father taught him to grow food and care for the land—a tradition that goes back generations. Like many other Palestinian families, Jiddo and his loved ones were forced to leave their home. “Our land was taken from us,” he says. “Our family had to flee.” But Palestine stays rooted in his heart, and as the family tends to the garden, Jiddo nurses the dream that one day they’ll return. Expressed in simple, child-friendly prose, the story explores themes of belonging, forced displacement, and the deep connection that many Palestinians have to the land and to the food they grow on it. Ghanameh’s verdant illustrations feature expressive characters and traditional Palestinian symbols of hope and solidarity such as strawberries, watermelon, and keys. In an author’s note, Matari explains that her book was inspired by her own grandfather, who in 1948 was expelled during the Nakba and eventually relocated to Jordan.

A poignant tale that voices the hopes and heartaches of many diasporic Palestinians. (glossary, author’s note)(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews