It's taken me sometime to decide how I could best help children and parents by writing about the use of children's books in the face of Desert Storm. So long, in fact, that at this publication, the Gulf war is in its final phases. After visiting a student author's fair this week and seeing how war was the predominant theme in their books, I wondered when this will be over for our children. Now in this time of peace, perhaps the jobs of parents and teachers are to help our children find peace with what has happened. I still think the most important thing parents can do now is to listen to their children and give them the information they desire. I doubt they will ask about what war is or what peace is, but they may want to know about the place far away where Americans have been fighting for freedom.
I was horrified to find how few books had been written about the Middle East (as were many bookstore owners and librarians I spoke with) I have found a few fiction and non-fiction titles and am happy to share those titles with you, so that you may communicate them with children who desire them.
One way to understand a place whose geography and culture are alien to ours is through non-fiction titles. Antony Kamm's The Story of Islam describes the religion, architecture, history, art, music, and science of Iraq. Ages 7-12. (Cambridge University Press, 1976)
Seymour Simon's Deserts. (Morrow, 1990) and Norman Barrett's Deserts (Watts, 1989) include good color photographs to give a sense of what it must feel like to be surrounded by these land forms. The latter has probably more the types of deserts that describe the Middle East, but both have spectacular photography and straight-forward text that explain what deserts are like.
Lastly, I think American youth wonder about Middle Eastern youth. David Abodaher's Youth in the Middle East: Voices of Despair is a book that focuses on how the young are caught in the middle of political and religious turmoil and how it affects their lives. For American youth who have been deeply influenced by the Gulf War, it is staggering to see how war is so present in Middle Eastern adolescents. Specific backgrounds of the troubles in Palestine, Lebannon, Israel and Egypt are discussed in terms of politics and history. Black and white photographs of children in war and at a peace are explicit in portraying the text. Ages 9-12. (Watts, 1990)
Few are the fiction books that feature settings and characters from the Middle East, but the three I like best give a strong sense of how people are effected by their world.
Though it is difficult for Sue Alexander's heroine, Nadia, the Willful to lose her brother, almost more painful is her father's edict that his son's name shall never again be mentioned. The whole Bedouin tribe is consumed with sadness until Nadia begins to bring her brother back to life through memories. Finally even her father sees the truth of Nadia's words and even changes Nadia's name to Nadia, the Wise. This is a story that may bring a lump to your throat, not only because of subject sensitivity, but because Sue Alexander has given us real characters with very real emotions. A secondary gift we are given is Ms. Alexander's view of a rarely portrayed culture. Lloyd Bloom's illustrations are a feeling accompaniment to an already stunning story and a true sense of what nomadic life in the desert feels like. Ages 5-8. (Pantheon, 1983)
Heide and Gilliland's The Day of Ahmed's Secret, tells the story of a young Egyptian boy who is a city-dweller working to support his poor family. Ted Lewin's illustrations are filled with deserts, camels, Islamic architecture, and the sights of a Middle Eastern city. As we Ahmed carry bottles of fuel up and down narrow stairways, we feel the poverty of his life and the excitement of a city filled with sounds and smells foreign to our experience. And we get to know Ahmed too a bit, he is a boy who has struggled to learn to write his name and as he proudly shows his family the Arabic letters, the reader triumphs with him! Ages 5-9. (Lothrop, 1990)
Former UPI correspondent, Suzanne Fisher Staples was moved by the courage of the Cholistan Desert nomads to create Newberry-honor book, Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind. Young adult readers will be fascinated by the dramatic and alien world of Shabanu's nomadic camel-raising family. She has grown up in a strongly intimate family and loves the beauty of desert and the animals she cares for. Now, she views with confusion her changing life knowing that her oldest sister Phulan's arranged marriage heralds her own coming of age and the end of her freedom. Shabanu comforts herself with the knowledge that she is fairly pleased with her own intended husband. In a shocking turn-around, her dreams are taken from her and she must bravely face the disappointing realities of her life. The rounded characters and stark truths bring to life a very foreign culture and make a thoughtful reader stop in disbelief and re-examine the boundaries and cruelties of a cultures that before seemed far-removed. Ages 12 to adult. (Knopf, 1989)
Children whose parents are far away in the Persian Gulf, may be comforted by reading of other children who have had a parent go to war. By amazing serendipity, there have been two books released in the last year about fathers who have gone off to war. My Daddy Was a Soldier: A World War II Story written and illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray tells about a daughter-father relationship that is missing when Jeannie's father is sent to the Pacific. In a series of simply-stated, clearly-told events, we see the effect of war on those left at home. Victory Gardens, Spam, rationing are described in a way that young readers can easily understand. Readers see the difficulties and the spirit shown by women and children. But most important of all, Ms. Ray allows us to really feel the sorrow of a Christmas without a father, the fears a child has during war and the joys of homecoming. All is done honestly, authentically and without sentimentality. Ages 6-10. (Holiday House, 1990)
In Jane Yolen's All Those Secrets in the World, the perspective of the child is much younger. Four-year-old Janie delights in the one hundred butterfly kisses and the excitement of her father's send-off to war on a giant ship. Two years later, he slips more quietly back into her life. He greets her with the same hundred butterfly kisses and the world pauses for a bit and in their warmth all is a perfect harmony. Leslie Baker's illustrations are in a 1940's style, but the way she portrays human emotions are timeless! A perfect book for now, to celebrate homecoming and the reuniting of family. Ages 4-8. (Little Brown, 1991)
Minnie and Ginger: A Twentieth Century Romance by Barry Smith, tells the story of two next door neighbors who marry. The story describes their working hard, falling in love, having children but the majority of the book tells of the experiences of war. When "something dreadful" happens and Ginger must go off to fight in WW I facing fears until finally there is a joyous homecoming. This book is good perspective of one of wars children are least familiar with. Ages 4-8. (Clarkson Potter, 1990)