Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Debbie Dingell issued a congressional resolution for this awareness month to be nationally recognized. National Arab American Heritage Month recognizes the lives and heritage of Arab American people. April is National Arab American Heritage Month Plus, read on to the end for more classroom resources. This article will provide a list of children’s books-both picture books and chapter books-written by Arab American authors, that are excellent for highlighting the voices, history, and contributions of Arab American people.
Teaching about Arab American people and history in your classroom can both help Arab American students feel seen and also help build community for Arab American families in your classroom. This approach is the Windows and Mirrors framework, used by Waterford in all of its early learning lessons and activities. They also need “window” stories that let them peek into lives and experiences that may be different from their own, which help students develop empathy and broaden their perspectives. They need “mirror” stories that reflect their own experiences, which lead to a sense of belonging in their classroom and communities. I want them to see their names and Arabic names in my books.Children benefit from two types of stories in their lives. I love happy stories that have Arab characters as well as authentic immigrant stories. I want to continue writing stories so my kids and other Arab kids can see themselves.
“I have gotten so many messages from parents and teachers about how excited kids were to see themselves in THE ARABIC QUILT, especially Arab kids. How will Muslim children see themselves in your stories? She’s also a DV Mentor 2022 and co-founder of Kidlit in Color. She immigrated from Egypt to the United States when she was young and currently lives with her partner and three children in Northwest Ohio. Aya holds a master’s degree in Education and works as a freelance journalist, whose articles have been featured in The Huffington Post and The Christian Science Monitor, among other publications. Aya Khalil is the award-winning author of The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story, which is an NCTE’s Charlotte Huck Award Recommended Book and a 2021 Arab American Book Award among other honors, Our World: Egypt (October 2022), The Night Before Eid: A Muslim Family Story (2023) and The Banned Books Bake Sale: A Protest Story (2023).
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