The One & Only Googoosh: Iran's Beloved Superstar

by Azadeh Westergaard, Azadeh Westergaard (Illustrator)

Overview

A celebration of one of Iran’s most iconic musical artists.

The legendary Iranian singer and actress Googoosh (born Faegheh Atashin) made her stage debut at age two while performing alongside her acrobat father. By the time she reached adulthood, she was widely considered to be Iran's first superstar. Googoosh was in the prime of her career and on the brink of international stardom, but after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, she was silenced and disappeared from public life for over twenty years. However, her fans did not forget her. And as they sought refuge around the globe, they found ways to keep her music alive.

Azadeh Westergaard has crafted an unforgettable love letter to the home she once knew in Iran and to the woman who was and still is a cultural icon—a dazzling performer known as the one and only Googoosh.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593114636
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	11/12/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.88(w) x 10.81(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Azadeh Westergaard received her BA from Harvard College and MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the author of A Life Electric: The Story of Nikola Tesla. Originally from Iran, she grew up in the United States and now lives in New York City with her husband and three boys. Visit her at AHWestergaard.com.

Editorial Reviews

A Bank Street College of Education 2025 Flora Stieglitz Straus Award Winner
An ALSC 2025 Notable Children’s Book
Winner of the 2025 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

★ "Westergaard’s highly dimensional collage work, patterned and embellished with block prints, brush pens, and colored pencil, leans into portraiture and stage scenes in this ode to a beloved figure—'our one and only/ Googoosh.'" —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "More than just a loving tribute to one particular singer, this is a rich concoction of immigrant yearning . . . A radiant love letter to a treasured artist—and to a long gone way of life." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Complex and painstaking illustrations—tea-dyed paper, block prints of hand-carved stamps, brush pens, colored pencils, and collages of paper and cardboard—showcase the art as a clear labor of love. The text is lyrically and sensorialy evocative, conveying devotion to country and pain of separation." —The Horn Book, starred review

"This picture-book biography offers loving tribute, not only to Googoosh’s career but to pre-revolutionary Iran, as the author shares childhood memories of favorite foods, sights, and sounds, including dancing and singing with friends to Googoosh’s latest releases. This is a lovely celebration on an iconic performer." —Booklist

"Enticing glimpses of both a country’s troubled history and of a cultural icon who will be new to most young audiences." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

★ 2024-09-14
An adoring, wistful diaspora remembers the single-named Iranian singer Googoosh.

Collages of painted cut paper create funky and nostalgic visions of pre-1979 Iran as Googoosh first takes the stage at age 2 with her acrobat father. The young performer appears surrounded by textured rose petals, resplendent in pomegranate red. As other children play and go to school, her star rises, capturing the heart of a nation with her resonant voice: “Like the snowcapped peaks of the Alborz Mountains, / you were everywhere we turned.” Westergaard lovingly brings to life this childhood narrative of Iran, relying on a warm palette and layered paper shapes and melodic text that praises the deliciousness of “warm babari bread” and “salted boiled beets.” Two stark full-spread illustrations nearly sapped of color depict the moment everything changed, with a man holding up a sign in front of a vast crowd that reads “انقلاب” (“inqilāb,” or “revolution” in Farsi)—and then an empty stage with dark curtains closed. “The sound of a woman’s singing voice— / outlawed.” Many people, including Googoosh’s fans, leave the country, “scattering across the world / like wild, windblown poppies.” Even while acknowledging great sadness, however, the story exudes joy in the way displaced Iranians preserve their memories and culture. More than just a loving tribute to one particular singer, this is a rich concoction of immigrant yearning.

A radiant love letter to a treasured artist—and to a long-gone way of life. (author’s note, more about Googoosh, sources, photograph)(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews