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P is for Palestine: A Palestine Alphabet Book
The paper-back edition of the best-selling 'P is for Palestine,' now has a revised Appendix at the back of the book with a few new titles (such as Hebron etc) and includes all the Arabic names, as they are written in the original language and how the Arabic incl. a few other words are best pronounced in English (simply transcribed). World's first-ever English-language ABC story book about Palestine is told in simple rhythmic rhyme with stunning illustrations to act as an educational, colorful, empowering reference for children, showcasing the geography, the beauty and strength of Palestinian culture. Anyone who has ever been to Palestine (to some also known as the Holy Land) or who has Palestinian friends, colleagues, or neighbors knows that this proud nation, located on the western-most point of Asia, not that many nautical miles away from Cyprus, Alexandria (Egypt) and Greece, is at the center of our world. It is home to the sweetest oranges, most intricate embroideries, great dance moves (Dabkeh), fertile olive groves, and sunniest people! Inspired by Palestinian people's own rich history in the literary and visual arts, specifically by children's authors and illustrators such as Naji al-Ali (1938 - 1987), Ghassan Kanafani (1936 - 1972), and Mohieddin El Labbad (1940 - 2010) among others, P is for Palestine was first launched in November 2017 as the first title in 'Dr. Bashi's' Diverse Children's Books Series.' Its sequel 'Counting Up the Olive Tree: A Palestine Number Book,' written by the same author and illustrated by the gifted American artist Nabi H. Ali was published as paper-back in June, 2019 and should become available here on amazon in August, 2019. "'P is for Palestine' is exactly the kind of positive reinforcement needed by children whose identity is constantly under attack." --Dr. Yousef Munayyer, Executive Director of The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)..
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
66 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
1 person is currently reading
120 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 28, 2024
Antisemitic indoctrination. Pure trash.
October 27, 2024
Tragic that Intifada which represents the intentional attempt to genocide the Jewish people and the murder of 1000s of Israelis (post the complete withdrawal of IDF from Gaza btw) would ever be sold anywhere in the West. As a culture and a country, whitewashing terrorism and teaching our children that Intifada is anything other than intentional murder of civilians. These books are what are used to brainwash young Palestinians to become martyrs. Almost every letter in this book represents another lie about Israel and the former Palestinian Mandate
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2024
A book against erasure in an era where settler colonialism and apartheid should be over, but is not.
to-buy
November 25, 2017[Saturday, November 25, 2017] I added this book here after watching a video about it. Would love to read people's reviews about it.
April 12, 2025
An admirable attempt that falls short and may be problematic for some libraries. There have been demonstrations against this book. This is a review of the revised and updated edition in 2024.
An A-Z picture book about things in/about "Palestine", such as Arabic, Dabkeh, Gaza, and Palestine. Each letter begins with a featured word that is set within a brief poem clarifying its significance. Backmatter includes a 4-page glossary of terms that explains more about each term in the book and a few bonus terms, biographies about the author and illustrator, and soft advertisements and endorsements for this book & its publisher and a full page ad for the book's counting counterpart, Counting up the Olive Tree: A Palestine number book.
Bashi, an Iranian-Swedish scholar from Iran and now living in New York, has written what some may find interesting entre into Palestine, while others may feel some of her word choices are antisemitic (ex. intifada has come to mean an uprising and violence against Israel; the image shows a wall made of barbed wire). Personally, I found a couple of places featured in the text problematic, as they do not lie within the bounds of the West Bank or Gaza (i.e. Jerusalem and Nazareth) although they are located in the area known as "Palestine" pre-1948. It makes me wonder how many other inaccuracies today or things "not quite right today" are to be found within the book. The poems themselves are adequate, but not remarkable for their brilliance. I would have liked a map of Israel and the State of Palestine to visually show the relationship between the two. There is no acknowledgement of Israel or its existence in the book.
The artwork by Iranian Golrokh Nafisi (note: not Palestinian) is probably the best part of the book, although it is not quite accurate in its presentation. The illustrations (digitally created?) are bight and colorful, showing a diverse group of children flying in the air and meet a young girl (ostensibly Palestinian) with short curly black hair who leads them to Palestine. (Interestingly enough these children disappear after a few letters and the focus stays on the Palestinian girl until the Y image, when two of the children reappear.) In each 2-page spread, the girl has on a different dress. (Passage of time???) Readers will see families together, intergenerational gatherings, some women wearing hijabs and traditional dress while others are in western dress with no hijab, different types of architecture to be seen, and foods to be eaten. I was very surprised to see two pages dedicated to Christian concepts (Christmas, Jesus), although 10% of the region are Christian and this areis the birthplace of Christianity. There is nothing specific about either the Muslim faith or Judaism within the book.
Palestinian children need to be able to see themselves in children's books, just as other children need to see them as they live today. From a 2024 Academy Award-winning documentary I watched (No Other Land - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30953759 ), this book does not visually reflect the same reality of life in contemporary Palestine. Although well-intended, this one falls flat. Most libraies can skip this book and wait until something better comes along.
Buy only if you have a Palestinian community and are looking for books for children to see themselves.
An A-Z picture book about things in/about "Palestine", such as Arabic, Dabkeh, Gaza, and Palestine. Each letter begins with a featured word that is set within a brief poem clarifying its significance. Backmatter includes a 4-page glossary of terms that explains more about each term in the book and a few bonus terms, biographies about the author and illustrator, and soft advertisements and endorsements for this book & its publisher and a full page ad for the book's counting counterpart, Counting up the Olive Tree: A Palestine number book.
Bashi, an Iranian-Swedish scholar from Iran and now living in New York, has written what some may find interesting entre into Palestine, while others may feel some of her word choices are antisemitic (ex. intifada has come to mean an uprising and violence against Israel; the image shows a wall made of barbed wire). Personally, I found a couple of places featured in the text problematic, as they do not lie within the bounds of the West Bank or Gaza (i.e. Jerusalem and Nazareth) although they are located in the area known as "Palestine" pre-1948. It makes me wonder how many other inaccuracies today or things "not quite right today" are to be found within the book. The poems themselves are adequate, but not remarkable for their brilliance. I would have liked a map of Israel and the State of Palestine to visually show the relationship between the two. There is no acknowledgement of Israel or its existence in the book.
The artwork by Iranian Golrokh Nafisi (note: not Palestinian) is probably the best part of the book, although it is not quite accurate in its presentation. The illustrations (digitally created?) are bight and colorful, showing a diverse group of children flying in the air and meet a young girl (ostensibly Palestinian) with short curly black hair who leads them to Palestine. (Interestingly enough these children disappear after a few letters and the focus stays on the Palestinian girl until the Y image, when two of the children reappear.) In each 2-page spread, the girl has on a different dress. (Passage of time???) Readers will see families together, intergenerational gatherings, some women wearing hijabs and traditional dress while others are in western dress with no hijab, different types of architecture to be seen, and foods to be eaten. I was very surprised to see two pages dedicated to Christian concepts (Christmas, Jesus), although 10% of the region are Christian and this areis the birthplace of Christianity. There is nothing specific about either the Muslim faith or Judaism within the book.
Palestinian children need to be able to see themselves in children's books, just as other children need to see them as they live today. From a 2024 Academy Award-winning documentary I watched (No Other Land - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30953759 ), this book does not visually reflect the same reality of life in contemporary Palestine. Although well-intended, this one falls flat. Most libraies can skip this book and wait until something better comes along.
Buy only if you have a Palestinian community and are looking for books for children to see themselves.
Read
April 1, 2024I was surprised to realize the author of this book wasn't Palestinian (she was born in Iran and grew up in Iran and Sweden; the illustrator is also Iranian). I was also disappointed that this book wasn't better.
The rhymes are sometimes stretched -- and sometimes we don't bother with rhyme, opting for alliteration. And sometimes the text just feels strange -- like, "N is for Nazareth, or En-Nasra in Arabic. / Nestled in the North / with narrow lanes . . . / Sundays are its noisiest days!" The illustrations shows kids walking on a stone gate outside a church (or a cluster of churches?), and the Appendix is not very helpful about why Sundays are its noisiest days -- the prevalence of churches which presumably ring bells, I guess? [The Appendix says: "Nazareth" (Arabic: النَّاصِرَة; an-Nasrah) is the name of a large city in northern Palestine. It is the historic childhood hometown of Jesus Christ with many monasteries and churches as well as Muslim holy shrines." Yes, I noticed that the transliteration of the Arabic is different in the Appendix versus the main text of the book.]
I do appreciate that the Appendix gives further explanation (as well as pronunciation) of many of the words.
The illustrations are generally lovely, though the first couple illustrations have background children who look very strange.
The rhymes are sometimes stretched -- and sometimes we don't bother with rhyme, opting for alliteration. And sometimes the text just feels strange -- like, "N is for Nazareth, or En-Nasra in Arabic. / Nestled in the North / with narrow lanes . . . / Sundays are its noisiest days!" The illustrations shows kids walking on a stone gate outside a church (or a cluster of churches?), and the Appendix is not very helpful about why Sundays are its noisiest days -- the prevalence of churches which presumably ring bells, I guess? [The Appendix says: "Nazareth" (Arabic: النَّاصِرَة; an-Nasrah) is the name of a large city in northern Palestine. It is the historic childhood hometown of Jesus Christ with many monasteries and churches as well as Muslim holy shrines." Yes, I noticed that the transliteration of the Arabic is different in the Appendix versus the main text of the book.]
I do appreciate that the Appendix gives further explanation (as well as pronunciation) of many of the words.
The illustrations are generally lovely, though the first couple illustrations have background children who look very strange.
February 6, 2024
Sungguh cara yang manis dalam memperkenalkan alfabet kepada anak-anak dengan menggunakan serba-serbi informasi tentang Palestina. Kurasa aku akan membacanya ulang nanti biar lebih kenal dengan budaya Palestina.
Aku "membaca" buku ini di channel ini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZKCT...
Aku "membaca" buku ini di channel ini: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZKCT...
February 18, 2025
Disappointing , even though I didn’t expect much.
October 31, 2024
Can there be any better way to teach the kiddies that I is for Intifada (sorry if that's a spoiler)? And isn't B for the Burka in her future? Or if not, D is for Dead?
Hurry and get your copy; apparently they're sold out at a lot of places, but the campus bookstores probably have them on backorder. Apparently I is also for Idiot.
Hurry and get your copy; apparently they're sold out at a lot of places, but the campus bookstores probably have them on backorder. Apparently I is also for Idiot.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews