My Father's Shop

by Satomi Ichikawa

There is a rug in his fathers shop that Mustafa loves. (It has a hole in it, so you can put it over your head and still see out.) No one else wants the rug, though lots of tourists visit the shop. His father always welcomes them"Bienvenue"and offers them tea"O cha wa ikaga desu ka?" Mustafas father would like him to know some words in other languages too, and he tells Mustafa that he may have the rug if he agrees to learn. But after the first lesson, Mustafa is so bored he runs out of the shop (with the carpet on his head). Ending up at the market, he finds a very different way of learning foreign languages....and of getting tourists to visit his fathers shop.

Genres: Picture Books, Africa, Animals, Morocco, Childrens, Cultural, The World

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

"When Satomi Ichikawa decided she would like to illustrate books for children, she visited a bookstore in London and copied down the names and addresses of publishers. She then simply walked to the address that seemed the closest, her rough sketches in hand. Today, she is known the world over as a celebrated illustrator and accomplished storyteller, and there are more than 50 books that bear the Satomi Ichikawa name. Born in Japan, Ms. Ichikawa traveled to Paris as a young woman and has lived there for over thirty years. However, her inspiration comes from all over the world. She loves traveling to other countries, where she sketches the countryside and gets to know the people of the villages and cities where she stays. But Ms. Ichikawa always come back to Paris, where she feels the beauty of everyday life enriches her work. The Luxembourg Gardens is one of her favorite places to watch the children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents who gather there to enjoy its beautiful scenery. The recipient of several awards for her artwork, Ms. Ichikawa is the illustrator of the popular Tanya books and the best-selling You Are My I Love You. "She also has over twenty of her own books for young people, including the Nora series, The First Bear in Africa "and My Pig Amarillo.

Reviews

[Imanewreader ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

beaucoup trop precieux !
cet album m'a rappelé l'époque où je jouais avec les tapis de ma grand-mère.
l'histoire est courte mais drôle et les dessins magnifiques !

[Tova · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty cute. I am biased because the little boys name is Mustafa. Not the best but still cute. But I was hoping for a little more.

[Mendell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Father's Shop Morocco by Satomi Ichikawa is a great little picture to begin introducing the concept of diversity to students. It's set in Morocco and features a little boy named Mustafa who works with his dad in his carpet shop. One day he stumbles across a rug he likes with a hole in it that's good for playing. His father says he can have the rug if he agrees to learn a new language. The story ends with little Mustafa running around a market with a rooster learning different ways to grow in different languages from tourists. In the end, Mustafa brings tons of business to his father's shop from tourist in the area. What I love most about this book is that it features different languages and cultures. I think this is a great introduction for students to talk about how it's set in a northern African country, but that father is speaking french. I recommend the book for grades K - 2nd.

[MotherofReaders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute and simple story about a Moroccan family that sells rugs in a tourist area. I liked that it is accessible to very young children, it somehow conveys the feeling of visiting in a foreign country, and it covers the concept of there being multiple languages aside from the one (or few) you might understand. The story also conveyed a universality or connection between these different cultures.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

How will Mustafa's father entice his boy to start learning some languages? And how could a wholey (not holy)... How could a wholey rug help to solve this problem?

Enchanting story and enchanting illustrations -- they're exceptional all around!

Moreover, the happy, happy ending is well earned. Yet still surprising, desu ka? (Isn't it?)

FIVE STARS from a grateful Goodreader. Thanks for the words and the pictures, Ichikawa-san. Satomi, what a unique talent you are!

[Alejandra Vasquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book for ages four to seven. Community and imagination are key themes talk about in the book. I picked this book because it has a heartwarming story line and can have cause for discussion after. I would like to include this in my classroom because it shows how shops can form relationships with the local neighborhoods. This great to help students learn how to greet people nicely and respectfully.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little story about a boy whose father owns a carpet shop. He is thrilled to get a carpet of his own but in exchange his father asks him to learn some foreign languages. It's an interesting twist to see how he does this! A cute and colorful story.

[Laila Taji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story.

I like stories that show how we are more a like than different.

The illustrations had diverse characters. It could have used one more page to increase its diversity with an additional African country sharing its language.

[Christelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super livre pour les enfants découvert à la bibliothèque. Une histoire très belle et en plus très drôle à raconter en faisant tous les bruits du coq

[RWaggoner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book about a boy learning foreign languages. Clever ending. Wish a pronunciation guide was included in the text.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about tourists and various languages!

[Jenny Hartfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story highlighting how even our animal sounds are different from culture to culture and language to language. Lovely artwork.

#passportaroundtheworld #morocco

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Father’s Shop by author/illustrator Satomi Ichikawa, is set in a Morroccon rug shop, where Mustafa’s father sells rugs to tourists. One day finds a beautiful but damaged rug in his father’s shop. Mustafa’s father agreed to give him the damaged rug (since it could not be sold) if Mustafa would learn some foreign phrases to help sell rugs to the tourists. As Mustafa runs through the marketplace showing off his new possession, the rug attracts the attention of a rooster, who follows Mustafa and begins to crow, encouraged by Mustafa’s call of “Kho Kho Hou Houuu!” the rooster’s sound in Morocco. This gets the attention of several foreign tourists who offer to Mustafa the sound the rooster makes in their countries: Co-co-ri-co in French, Qui-qui-ri-qui in Spanish, Cock-a-doodle-doo in English and Koke-ko-kooo in Japanese. All the tourists follow Mustafa and the rooster back the rug shop, for presumably a profitable day in rug sales. This is a cute and enjoyable story, but without much depth or description of Moroccan culture – in fact, it somewhat like the experience a one-day tourist might have of a Moroccan marketplace – walk through, see some sights, drink some tea, take a few pictures, buy a souvenir rug. The illustrations of the marketplace provide a little bit more, and it is interesting to see Ichikawa’s illustrations depicting the mix of tourists with native Moroccans.

I am reminded somewhat of Linda Sue Park’s book for pre-schoolers, Mung Mung; A Fold Out Book of Animal Sounds, which asks children to guess the animal by the sound it makes (in a language other than English).

[Amy Stipp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was set in Morocco, but written in France. The little boy and his father sell rugs. One of the rugs has a hole in it. The boy got to keep the run and he put it on his head and ran through the bazaar. A chicken followed him. As he ran the tourists from different parts of the world stopped and said how the chicken makes it's noise in their language. The boy returns to his father followed by a host of tourist customers from all over the world.
The only thing I didn't like about this story was that the boys father told him not to leave the shop and he did. There didn't seem to be any repercussions for his disobedience. Instead, the father was thrilled that his son returned with customers. So my question is, what's more important, customers that could potentially (but not guarantee) sales, or teaching your boy to be obedient? Did the positive result of his disobedience negate consequences for his disobedience?

[Nicoll Blomquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A boy is at work one day with his father, who owns a Carpet Shop. The boy falls in love with a particular rug and his father lets him keep it because it has a hole in it. The boy put it on immediately and pretends he is brightly colored rooster. As he runs through the booths in the marketplace he runs into people from all around the world. Through his mime acting travelers shout back to him the rooster sound in their own language. These unsuspecting travelers find themselves in the rug shop ready to spend some money. The boy proudly shares with his father the new languages he can speak and both business and pride are booming.

This is a wonderful book for young children. They are made aware of different people in the world and the many languages spoken among them. They also come to learn that some things are universal.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book and HAD to check it out because my boyfriend was recently deployed to Morocco with the Marine Corps. He read it with me and he pointed out parts in the book that made him think of what he saw and experienced. It was really neat!

In this book, Mustafa's dad owns a shop where he sells carpets. One day, Mustafa found a rug with a hole in it and asked his dad if he could have it. The dad agreed that he could have it if he would learn some foreign language words because it was so important to their business to be able to speak many other languages. Mustafa agreed and left the shop wearing the rug. He ran into many tourists of various ethnicities and he learned the sounds that a rooster makes in five different languages.

I would use this book to teach diversity.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mustafa promises to learn foreign languages, if his father will give him a beautiful carpet with a hole in it. He visits the market in his carpet and learns the ways in which roosters crow in five different languages. He returns triumphant to the shop with the five tourist families in tow.

This book would be appropriate to share as a read aloud with children between two and five years old. Children may enjoy trying the different rooster sounds. It also provides an important lesson about diversity. It would be appropriate to help children develop vocabulary and narrative skills.

[Najat Ahdaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Father's Shop is a book about a young Moroccan boy, Mustafa, whose father owns a beautiful carpet shop. Mustafa's father encourages Mustafa that he should learn some words in foreign languages because he stresses that in their business it is vital to know different languages. As his father starts to teach him some words, Mustafa runs into the town and gets his own lesson in learning foreign languages. This is a cute story for children, it sends a message that no matter your ethnicity, you can all come together as one and have a good time.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful entrance into a Moroccan marketplace through the eyes of a young boy whose father sells rugs. Customers from different countries make it essential that the vendors be adept in speaking multiple, which the father is intent on making happen for his son, and which his son inadvertently accomplishes. Ichikawa's skill in capturing his character's postures, facial expressions, and distinctiveness makes this an enjoyably diverse reading and viewing.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy helps out his dad in his rug shop. His father encourages him to learn different phrases in all sorts of languages to help out the tourists, but the little boy is not interested.

He is given a rug with a hole in it. As he dashes through the city with the rug over his head, he is compared to a rooster and many people from all over tell him how rooster crow in their country.

Fun illustrations - colorful.

[Tanika]

Mustafa’s father has a shop in Morocco where he sells beautiful carpets. His father gave him a beautiful carpet, which attracted a rooster. From all the tourist and visitors he learned rooster in five different languages. This story is great for students and teachers to share something from their background; maybe a word or a thing that can be shared with the rest of the class.

[Becky Helmink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated book by Ichikawa that teaches 5 different languages to a young boy whose father sells rugs in Morocco. The city scenes show some cultural differences and the languages used show the similarities of the Moroccan people to the tourists who are shopping there. Enjoy your brief journey in this African country.

[Abbi Kraus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The little boy in this book is a good example of someone who just wants to have fun. Through his playfulness, he unexpectedly brings tourists into his father's shop. This is a fun book for any occasion.

[Denicemarcell]

Kane/Miller was correct in their recommend of this really fun book.

[Sarah]

week three

[raccoon reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

How cute! Cockadoodledo! I've always loved learning how others hear animals cries in their own language. Very interesting!

[Luisa]

Anthony enjoyed it. Its a cute book.

[Garrett Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome book with a rarely seen in children's literature cultural background! This book could used to show how different cultures may view the same ideas.

[Anh Lê · Rating 5 out of 5]

Đẹp, nội dung siêu dễ thương

[Leen Turki]

My Father’s Shop is a realistic fictional book about a boy named Mustafa and his father owning a shop and trying to attract tourists. In this book Mustafa’s dad tries to teach his different languages, and Mustafa ends up learning it in his own unique way. The book provides an interesting plot and will be interesting to read to lower elementary children. The visuals give an accurate description of morocco, and the way the people dress. The colors and illustrations are another reason why this book will be interesting to read to children. The book has characters from all around the world who speak different languages, like French, Spanish, English, and Japanese. The way each culture says the sound a rooster makes shows the diversity of all the languages around the world. The author Satomi Ichikawa was born in Japan and moved to Paris in 1971, but there seems to be no negative stereotypes displayed in the book.