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Daniel and Ismail
A one-of-a-kind, uplifting picture book about a Jewish boy and a Palestinian boy who bond on the soccer field―translated into English, Hebrew, and Arabic.
Daniel and Ismail, one Jewish and the other Palestinian, don’t know each other yet, but they have more in common than they know. They live in the same city and have the same birthday, and this year they get the same a traditional scarf―for Daniel a tallit and for Ismail a keffiyeh―and a soccer ball. Taking their gifts out for a spin, they meet by chance on a soccer field, and they soon begin to play together and show off the tricks they can do.
They get so absorbed in the fun that they lose track of time and mix up their Daniel picks up Ismail's keffiyeh and Ismail takes Daniel's tallit. When they get home and discover their mistake, their parents are shocked and angry, asking the boys if they realize who wears those things. That night, Daniel and Ismail have nightmares about what they have seen on the news and heard from adults about the other group. But the next day, they find each other in the park and get back to what really having fun and playing the game they both love.
Daniel and Ismail is a remarkable multilingual picture book that confronts the very adult conflicts that kids around the world face, and shows us that different cultures, religions, societies, and languages can all share the same page.
Daniel and Ismail, one Jewish and the other Palestinian, don’t know each other yet, but they have more in common than they know. They live in the same city and have the same birthday, and this year they get the same a traditional scarf―for Daniel a tallit and for Ismail a keffiyeh―and a soccer ball. Taking their gifts out for a spin, they meet by chance on a soccer field, and they soon begin to play together and show off the tricks they can do.
They get so absorbed in the fun that they lose track of time and mix up their Daniel picks up Ismail's keffiyeh and Ismail takes Daniel's tallit. When they get home and discover their mistake, their parents are shocked and angry, asking the boys if they realize who wears those things. That night, Daniel and Ismail have nightmares about what they have seen on the news and heard from adults about the other group. But the next day, they find each other in the park and get back to what really having fun and playing the game they both love.
Daniel and Ismail is a remarkable multilingual picture book that confronts the very adult conflicts that kids around the world face, and shows us that different cultures, religions, societies, and languages can all share the same page.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published August 20, 2019
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 9, 2019
This is a beautifully written story is about two boys who share the same birthday. They both get a soccer ball and also a special gift to wear on their shoulders. Daniel got a tallit, and Ismail got a keffiyeh. The book is read from right to left, with text in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. The story is about a Jewish boy and a Palestinian boy who meet, play, and then accidentally take each other’s gifts home. Their accidental swap triggers stares, shouts, and mean words from adults. The next day, they swap gifts and get back to what matters to them, playing soccer together. Ages 6-12
December 17, 2019
Daniel and Ismail is a story that discusses religion, culture, and friendship in Hebrew, Aramaic and English.This book is a much needed book for parents to read to their children. It is current. We are divided more than we are unified. I truly believe it should be discussed between parents and children where parents might ask their children what they think of the book. Then, I suggest parents should listen to truly hear, and learn from their children so we can understand that foundational-ally children don’t hate, judge or separate themselves from other children that are different.
September 4, 2019
A beautiful story of friendship crossing cultural divides and a great conversation starter about loving others.
October 28, 2019
Written in Hebrew, ARabic, and English
January 15, 2024
The bright and beautiful book opens left-to-right as Hebrew and Arabic books do, but this also has the same text in English on each page.
The text is brief, describing how Daniel (Jewish) and Ismail (Palestinian) live in the same city, happen to have the same birthday, and both receive a soccer ball and a shawl/scarf as gifts.
They each kick their own ball down the street and end up in a park, where they meet for the first time, and play together. They use their scarves to mark the goal, and play until it is so dark they can no longer see the difference between Daniel's tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) and Ismail's keffiyeh (the scarf symbolic of Palestinian self-determination) - and they take home the other's.
In the light of their two homes, their parents shout; "Where did you get that? Do you know what it means?" "Do you know who uses those?" The book does not provide the parents' explanations at this point, but that night both boyts have nightmares about what they've seen on the news and what their adults have said.
Miraculously, both boys return to the park, trade their scarves back, first sigh with relief, and then express empathy for the other; "It is difficult to be you!" "If you knew what my people say about your people!" ...and then they play soccer, and this time are joined by several other children. That night, instead of nightmares, they dream of soccer.
The illustrations are full-bleed bright color, boldly monochromatic for each scene, but alternating between green, blue, and orange, with people appearing as simple black drawings with skin as white as the page. They are absorbing and captivating - graphically clear and simple, but still showing strong emotions as the joy of receiving gifts and playing soccer gives way to grief about their communities' discord, and then dismay about how it affects their game. When that ultimately gives way to renewed joy at a fresh, inclusive soccer game, more children appear with more colors and grins - and finally the satisfied smiles of their common dreams of soccer - in stick figures where all human beings are simple and united.
Perhaps because we adults are feeling so desperate for relief right now, because nations and governments are so far away from global empathic connection right now, this final scene and common dreams brought me to tears. For me, I'm not sure if it is joy at renewed hope or despair at lost hope, but certainly moving and meaningful. Although time has run out for so many children in Palestine at this moment (today is Day 101 of Israel's bombing of Gaza), it can't be too late for all future children.
Apparently, not enough American, Israeli, & Palestinian parents have been able to teach cross-cultural respect and empathy to their children up to this moment - not enough to influence their leaders. But we librarians and teachers can't give up, can we? I am glad this is available in the United States - so sorry I missed getting it at my own library in 2019 when it came out in English, or 2016, when it was first available in Spanish. The children who might have read it in kindergarten in 2016 will be 18 in 2029. Will they go into the military? Will they refuse?
Who will teach them to look for their common ground, their shared values, their higher selves? I think this book helps in that effort.
[Flaws: I do wish there was a little more explanation about the facts of apartheid - that the Jewish people and Arab people in Israel do not live in the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools, or have many opportunities to meet. A quibble: the pages where each boy walks home in the dark shows suspicious neighbors - but if it is so dark the boys can't see their scarves, how do the neighbors see them? Better for that scene to happen on their way back to the park in the morning.]
The brief curriculum vitae of the contributors is worth reading! In summary; the author and illustrator are Chilean; the translators are all cross-national, multi-lingual, and prolific in their fields of either journalism, non-fiction writing, and/or teaching, in countries including Chile, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, and Jordan.
These credentials demonstrate how seriously the publisher takes this topic, and to underline the point, they declare: "We believe it is essential to teach our kids to place themselves in the shoes of others beyond their communities, and instill in them a lifelong curiosity about the world and their place in it."
What stuns me is that the common humanity that this book celebrates is a real fact of life - and yet, the nonprofit organizations that have tried to just get Jewish and Palestinian children to play soccer together seem to be in the minority, struggle for funding, and have been marginalized and attacked by the Israeli government.
The text is brief, describing how Daniel (Jewish) and Ismail (Palestinian) live in the same city, happen to have the same birthday, and both receive a soccer ball and a shawl/scarf as gifts.
They each kick their own ball down the street and end up in a park, where they meet for the first time, and play together. They use their scarves to mark the goal, and play until it is so dark they can no longer see the difference between Daniel's tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) and Ismail's keffiyeh (the scarf symbolic of Palestinian self-determination) - and they take home the other's.
In the light of their two homes, their parents shout; "Where did you get that? Do you know what it means?" "Do you know who uses those?" The book does not provide the parents' explanations at this point, but that night both boyts have nightmares about what they've seen on the news and what their adults have said.
Miraculously, both boys return to the park, trade their scarves back, first sigh with relief, and then express empathy for the other; "It is difficult to be you!" "If you knew what my people say about your people!" ...and then they play soccer, and this time are joined by several other children. That night, instead of nightmares, they dream of soccer.
The illustrations are full-bleed bright color, boldly monochromatic for each scene, but alternating between green, blue, and orange, with people appearing as simple black drawings with skin as white as the page. They are absorbing and captivating - graphically clear and simple, but still showing strong emotions as the joy of receiving gifts and playing soccer gives way to grief about their communities' discord, and then dismay about how it affects their game. When that ultimately gives way to renewed joy at a fresh, inclusive soccer game, more children appear with more colors and grins - and finally the satisfied smiles of their common dreams of soccer - in stick figures where all human beings are simple and united.
Perhaps because we adults are feeling so desperate for relief right now, because nations and governments are so far away from global empathic connection right now, this final scene and common dreams brought me to tears. For me, I'm not sure if it is joy at renewed hope or despair at lost hope, but certainly moving and meaningful. Although time has run out for so many children in Palestine at this moment (today is Day 101 of Israel's bombing of Gaza), it can't be too late for all future children.
Apparently, not enough American, Israeli, & Palestinian parents have been able to teach cross-cultural respect and empathy to their children up to this moment - not enough to influence their leaders. But we librarians and teachers can't give up, can we? I am glad this is available in the United States - so sorry I missed getting it at my own library in 2019 when it came out in English, or 2016, when it was first available in Spanish. The children who might have read it in kindergarten in 2016 will be 18 in 2029. Will they go into the military? Will they refuse?
Who will teach them to look for their common ground, their shared values, their higher selves? I think this book helps in that effort.
[Flaws: I do wish there was a little more explanation about the facts of apartheid - that the Jewish people and Arab people in Israel do not live in the same neighborhoods, go to the same schools, or have many opportunities to meet. A quibble: the pages where each boy walks home in the dark shows suspicious neighbors - but if it is so dark the boys can't see their scarves, how do the neighbors see them? Better for that scene to happen on their way back to the park in the morning.]
The brief curriculum vitae of the contributors is worth reading! In summary; the author and illustrator are Chilean; the translators are all cross-national, multi-lingual, and prolific in their fields of either journalism, non-fiction writing, and/or teaching, in countries including Chile, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, and Jordan.
These credentials demonstrate how seriously the publisher takes this topic, and to underline the point, they declare: "We believe it is essential to teach our kids to place themselves in the shoes of others beyond their communities, and instill in them a lifelong curiosity about the world and their place in it."
What stuns me is that the common humanity that this book celebrates is a real fact of life - and yet, the nonprofit organizations that have tried to just get Jewish and Palestinian children to play soccer together seem to be in the minority, struggle for funding, and have been marginalized and attacked by the Israeli government.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2021
Trilingual, Acceptance, Soccer - Daniel and Ismail live in the same town and share the same birthday. They even get the same birthday gift from their parents - a soccer ball. Daniel is Jewish and Ismail is Palestinian. They meet at the park and kick their new presents around. When it is time to go home for the night, a mix-up happens that leads to a greater understanding between the two boys.
The book is formatted in the Hebrew and Arabic way and reads from right to left and has text in Arabic, Hebrew and English. I like it for older elementary aged students. It is thought provoking and could lead to some meaningful and thoughtful conversation.
The book is formatted in the Hebrew and Arabic way and reads from right to left and has text in Arabic, Hebrew and English. I like it for older elementary aged students. It is thought provoking and could lead to some meaningful and thoughtful conversation.
November 19, 2021
What a cool book, I have never read a book that is translated in 3 different languages. This book is about two boys who live in the same town but do not know each other until they both get the same birthday present and go to the park to play with it. The two boys have a lot in common despite their different cultures. Daniel is Jewish and Ismail is Palestinian so their families have a lot to say of the other when they accidentally mix up their tallit and keffiyeh. At the end of the story the two boys switch their presents back and begin playing soccer and others around the park join in.
October 23, 2025
Star rating: *****
Date: 2019
Award: Outstanding International Book
Genre: Fiction
This book tells the story of two young boys, bonded by the love of soccer, and pushing aside their national/religious differences. When their parents find out, they aren't happy, but the boys don't let this stop them from enjoying soccer together. I think this story can show students that even if we have differences, we still have similar interests, and we can be friends with other people. I really liked this book, I thought it was a good way to bring kids together.
Date: 2019
Award: Outstanding International Book
Genre: Fiction
This book tells the story of two young boys, bonded by the love of soccer, and pushing aside their national/religious differences. When their parents find out, they aren't happy, but the boys don't let this stop them from enjoying soccer together. I think this story can show students that even if we have differences, we still have similar interests, and we can be friends with other people. I really liked this book, I thought it was a good way to bring kids together.
Want to read
July 1, 2019Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews