In 2018, a study from the Cooperative Children’s Book Center revealed just how severe the lack of diversity in children's literature still was. Children from diverse backgrounds were not only collectively represented less than white children (50% vs. 23% of narratives), but also collectively represented less than animals & non-human main characters (27% vs 23% of narratives). Responding to this, librarians and educators pushed for children to look to books as windows and mirrors.
Books that are windows help a child to see into the lived experiences of people from backgrounds unlike their own. These narrative windows are an engaging tool in teaching children to approach different cultures with an openness of understanding and empathy.
Books that are mirrors help a child feel seen and like their own lived experiences are worthy and reflected back at them, such as a child who uses a wheelchair reading a story where the protagonist also has a wheelchair, like in Marshmallow & Jordan.
How can books help debunk myths and stereotypes and instead humanize people?
It's difficult to know how to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine with the children in our lives. These windows and mirrors are some of the best tools we have, when it comes to explaining the devastating events happening in the middle east.
Raising children with empathy for people from Arab heritage and a deeper understanding of their cultures is a key point to many of the texts recommended below, as well as giving Arab children a mirror in which to see themselves. Anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment has been widely normalized, but we can empower the children in our lives by deconstructing these biases and respecting Arab history, art, literature, and culinary heritage.
Below, you will find a list of books for different age groups that honor Palestinian people and history from a child's perspective and urge the reader to continue talking about Palestine.
Let these books be a window or a rare mirror for the children and young adults in your life.
Ages up to 5 years
by Hannah Moushabeck
Moushabeck recalls the vibrant stories of Palestine that her father would tell of times before he had to flee to the US at a young age after the Nakba. Includes archival photos of her family in Palestine circa 1940s.
by Aya Ghanameh
A story of land and displacement at a Palestinian refugee camp in 1967. A young girl who has grown to love harvesting olive oil with her mother struggles to leave her trees.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
A book on the Palestinian diaspora experience through the eyes of a young girl meeting her grandmother in Palestine for the first time. The two have to create their own language to learn about each other.
by Rifk Ebeid
Saamidah, a young Palestinian refugee, learns about what her name means, not only through its definition but through a story connecting her to her family's homeland. This book celebrates resilience, oral tradition, and the determination to return.
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Ages 9–13
by Reem Kassis and Noha Eilouti
A spread of culture, food, dance, music, poetry, and literature on Palestine with illustrations and text.
by Elizabeth Laird
A story of a twelve-year-old boy living in Ramallah during times of strict curfew and occupation who still finds a way to play football with his friends.
by Sonia Nimr
With a flight of fantasy, a Palestinian girl travels to the past in a magical quest to save the world.
by Iasmin Omar At
Nayra is at her limit with the bullying she's experiencing at school when she lets a djinn through her laptop. Will she finally be able to finish out school and celebrate Ramadan in peace?
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Ages 13+
by Nora Lester Murad
With a hint of magical realism, Ida finds herself in an alternative timeline when she eats an old olive from her beloved aunt's village near Jerusalem, a timeline where her parents had never left Palestine.
by Nadia Shammas and Sara Alfageeh
A young teen grapples with her dream of becoming a squire when she realizes that, in order to advance in the squadron, she will actually be attacking people she shares a heritage with as part of a larger imperialist goal.
by Ibtisam Barakat
A remembering of Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War and the discovery of an unexpected joy in writing.
by Ibtisam Barakat
Her continued story of letting her love of writing grow as she writes letters to pen pals across the world.
by Ahed Tamimi
Memoir from the iconic Palestinian activist who was jailed at only sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
A finalist for the 2002 National Book Award in Young People's Literature, this collection of poems highlights the increased anti-Arab hostility in the US post-2001, the importance of family ties, and life in Jerusalem and the West Bank.