The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil

The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil


Kanzi is a young girl starting her first day of school in a new town. This would be uncomfortable for any girl, but Kanzi is Egyptian-American and her culture and food are very different from her classmates'. Kids at school tease Kanzi about their differences, but her teacher, Mrs. Haugen, comes up with a way to include Kanzi's culture in a lesson and this leads to acceptance of Kanzi and other students with different cultural backgrounds; not just tolerance, but an embracing of other cultures, which is the America we long for.

I absolutely adored this book and legitimately cried when reading it. Yes, it is a children's book, but its emotional impact goes beyond that. I also loved that the book has a small glossary of Arabic words in the back (I just wish pronunciations had been included!). The artwork by Anait Semirdzhyan is also stunning.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone with small children. This would be a fantastic edition to any home library or elementary classroom.

Thanks to Aya Khalil, Anait Semirdzhyan, Myrick Marketing & Media, Tilbury House Publishers, and NetGalley for a free e-copy of The Arabic Quilt in exchange for an honest review.

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