The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story

by Aya Khalil, Anait Semirdzhyan (Illustrator)

Overview

Children's Africana Book Award (CABA) 2021 Honor 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780884487548
Publisher:	Tilbury House Publishers
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	75,728
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Aya Khalil is a freelance journalist and blogger who has taught at all levels from preschool to college. The Arabic Quilt is based on events from her childhood, when she immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt with her parents and siblings. She lives in Toledo,
Ohio, with her husband, Abdalrahman, and their two children.

Anait Semirdzhyan grew up in a multicultural family and lived in several countries with diverse cultures before settling in the Seattle area with her husband and twin daughters. Her illustrations begin as pencil sketches on cold-press watercolor paper. She then inks the outlines, paints with watercolors, and scans the illustrations in order to edit them in Photoshop. She is the illustrator of The Arabic Quilt and other works that can be viewed at www.anaitsart.com.

Interviews

Interview with Aya Khalil

Q1: Why did you write this book? I wrote this book because I want kids to see themselves in stories. It’s based on true stories growing up as an Egyptian-American.

Q2: Even though the title has immigrant in it, I think it’s for everyone! I think kids and adults (first, second, third generation) can relate to it!

Q3: Are you Kanzi? It is based on true events from my own childhood when I immigrated to the US from Egypt. I had a teacher in elementary school who created the same project that’s in the book. I just reached out to tell her this and she was so surprised!

Q4: I love that you made Kanzi with dark skin and dark curly hair. How did you decide on her look? It was important for the main character to not be white as only 31 percent of books feature a child of color and that’s way too low! There’s lots of curly haired girls and boys in my own family as well.

From muslimskidlit.com 2/21/2020

https://muslimsinkidlit.com/arabic-quilt-picture-book-review-interview-aya-khalil-author/

Editorial Reviews

"SLJ Starred Review — A timely, heartwarming story with expressive, vibrant illustrations that complement the text. This story will boost immigrant children’s morale and teach others to be more open-minded."

Noureen Qadir-Jafar

"Is it possible that a kid’s book can make a grown person cry? Yes, most definitely, because I did while reading Aya Khalil’s debut picture book The Arabic Quilt- An Immigrant Story. The term “children’s book” is misleading. They should generally just be called books, because it’s stories like these that deserve a larger audience than only the market it’s being targeted to.

The Arabic Quilt is an endearing story of little Kanzi’s first day of 3rd grade in the U.S. She recently immigrated with her family from Egypt and doesn’t want any extra attention on her than is necessary.Whether you are a new immigrant or several generations removed, this story will especially be felt by families where the parents: speak a different language, dress in traditional clothes or send ethnic food for lunch. Or, like me, all of the above. Hence, the waterworks.

Even though my kids are not immigrants to the U.S., and neither am I, this scene has played out before with my own children at their school. Once, after seeing me dressed in hijab, my daughter got asked, “Why does your mom wear that?” “Does she have hair?” It is so hard for children to just want to belong and find their place, without their classmates making it harder.

"

Isra - Muslims in Kid Lit

"One of the Eighteen 2020 Children's Books You'll Want on Your Reading List This Year"

Abi Berwager Schreier - Romper

"In the end, Kanzi’s most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one."

Goodreads

★ 03/01/2020

K-Gr 2—Kanzi, a young Egyptian immigrant, is nervous about looking different on the first day of her new school. When Kanzi's classmates tease her about her native language, her teacher helps Kanzi and her classmates learn the value of being bilingual and the beauty of being different through a creative class project: a paper collage quilt with all the students' names written on it in Arabic. The story highlights the role of a supportive and creative teacher and the importance of instilling acceptance in children. "My mom says we should only speak English," says Molly, one of the students. In response, the teacher writes the words algebra, coffee, lemon, and sugar on the board as an example to show the students how many languages share the same origin and that "knowing different languages will make the world a friendlier place." The story ends with a powerful poem with a compelling message of taking pride in one's mother tongue. The author includes a glossary of Arabic words with phonetics and their meaning in English. VERDICT A timely, heartwarming story with expressive, vibrant illustrations that complement the text. This story will boost immigrant children's morale and teach others to be more open-minded.—Noureen Qadir-Jafar, Syosset Library, NY

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