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Ruler of the Courtyard
Between the mean chickens in the yard pecking her feet and the snake that has snuck into her bathhouse, Saba knows she has got a busy day ahead of her trying to get things back to normal, in a story set in Pakistan.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 24, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 19, 2017
Overcoming Saba the chicken to walk free in the courtyard.
September 21, 2016
Ruler of the Courtyard is about a young girl, Saba, who lives on a farm and is afraid of chickens and of snakes. When Saba finds a snake, she must face her fear of snakes and trap it all by herself and once she does she finds the courage to face her other fear: chickens. I think this book definitely has the ability to inspire kids to be brave and face their fears of any sort. When Saba learns that the snake is actually a rope, she is inspired to face her fear of chickens because she realizes that like the snake, the chickens might not actually be as bad as she thinks. I do think the book was rather short and could have gone on to be about Saba’s other fears beyond just animals. On the cover of this book it says that it is set in Pakistan, but its setting is never explicitly mentioned and the book could really have been set anywhere for it to have happened. Therefore while its setting is diverse, it does not show much diversity beyond Saba’s skin color in the illustrations. It could serve as a window however to bring kids together and show them that no matter what your skin color is, all kids have fears. It also contributes to diversity in children’s literature because there are not many picture books out there set in Pakistan and while it does not teach the reader anything about the country it at least familiarizes them with it and starts a potentially educational conversation.
May 9, 2020
Read at story time at the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC in July 2012.
February 12, 2014
A young girl who is afraid to cross the courtyard because of her fear of chickens, has to face her fears when she encounters a "snake" in the bathhouse.
July 18, 2016
A picture book about overcoming fear. These are not my favorite illustrations by R. Gregory Christie - though, I do love how he illustrates the snake.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews