Arab Arab All Year Long!

July 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 1 The months of the year provide a tidy framework for this celebration of diasporic Arab culture. Beginning with January, each month is given a two-page spread that introduces a particular tradition, told from a child's point of view. March pokes fun at "Arab Time," the way Arabs are notoriously unpunctual. July brings summer heat that reminds one mother of her childhood in Morocco. In September, three children assemble costumes for a local comic convention--and win first prize as legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum. These 12 vignettes amount to a detailed patchwork of representative food, clothing, music, celebration, art, and history, the sum of which gives a joyfully round impression of the richness and diversity found within Arab culture. Chalabi's colorful artwork presents active, smiling children and families and is careful to represent a wide range of hair, skin tone, and dress and to blend traditional elements with modern ones. Back matter gives more detail to various elements of Arab culture and the meanings behind them. A lovely tribute to an underrepresented ethnic group.

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May 15, 2022
What does being Arab mean? Camper offers 12 charming glimpses into the experience of being Arab in the diaspora, organized across the months of the year and accompanied by heartwarming, loose-lined digital illustrations. Whether "skateboarding in the sun, / or waiting for the bus with our headphones on" or creating a comic to spread awareness of Ramadan at school, the characters are "Arab, Arab, Arab, / the whole year through!" In an author's note, Camper explains that these stories--a family observing a New Year's Eve tradition of spotting stars with Arabic names; children and a grandmother making maamoul; a father playing his doumbek--are drawn from her and her friends' experiences. Supplemented with a glossary, the book doesn't shy away from politics, with references to the Arab Spring and the Palestinian struggle, and avoids universalizing statements about Arab culture. In the glossary, geddo is only "one way to say grandfather in Arabic." And Camper's definition of the hijab is nuanced--she notes that "in the Quran, the Islamic sacred book, God advises both male and female Muslims to dress modestly, and this principle is called hijab. There are many stylish and high-fashion designs for Muslim women's wear." Illustrations portray Arabs with different skin tones, hair colors, and dress styles. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A fun, informative window into the experiences of Arabs in the diaspora. (Picture book. 7-11)

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Starred review from June 1, 2022

PreS-Gr 4-Camper has selected events to reflect the wide variety of "language, culture, and ethnicity" found among those who identify as Arab. The author's note explains that the various stories are based on her own life experiences. Illustrations show children and families in activities throughout the year: creating costumes for a comic convention, cooking together, gathering with friends. Within those familiar activities are details specific to each family, such as painting henna designs on each other's hands during a sleepover, listening to the sounds made by a doumbek drum, or choosing the fillings for maamoul cookies. Another page mentions that "vowels are dots and dashes, hovering like birds around the consonants" in written Arabic with a matching image of words flying out a window. A wide variety of skin tones, hair colors, and clothing styles show "There is no universal definition of who is Arab." Along with the author's note is a glossary, though in the case of the stars with Arabic names-Betelgeuse, Rigel, and Aldebaran, for example-they are shown in Arabic within the illustration. VERDICT A generous and helpful introduction to the richness and variety of what it means to be Arab that will have readers comparing and contrasting scenes with their own family activities.-Suzanne Costner

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