Children's Book Suggestions | Middle Eastern & North African Picture Books

Celebrate Middle Eastern & North African Heritage Month with these picture books featured in the monthly scavenger hunt! (For older readers, we have a Middle Eastern & North African Heritage Month list.)

Updated March 9, 2024
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Malala's magic pencil
Yousafzai, Malala
Paper Book
Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Malala Yousafzai's first picture book, inspired by her own childhood. Malala's first picture book will inspire young readers everywhere to find the magic all around them. As a child in Pakistan, Malala...
Golden domes and silver lanterns : a Muslim book of colors
Khan, Hena.
Paper Book
Magnificently capturing the colorful world of Islam for the youngest readers, this breathtaking and informative picture book celebrates Islam's beauty and traditions. From a red prayer rug to a blue hijab, everyday colors are given special meaning as young readers learn about clothing, food, and...
Room for everyone
Khan, Naaz
Paper Book
A young boy on a crowded bus discovers that, after some wiggles and giggles, there's room for everyone in this lighthearted rhyming picture book set in Zanzibar. The dala dala rumbles and roars as Musa and Dada drive off to the shore--but the bus stops for multiple detours: "Do...
Big red lollipop
Khan, Rukhsana
Paper Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Century Rubina has been invited to her first birthday party, and her mother, Ami, insists that she bring her little sister along. Rubina is mortified, but she can't convince Ami that you just don't bring your younger sister to your...
The proudest blue : a story of hijab and family
Muhammad, Ibtihaj
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!   A powerful, vibrantly illustrated story about the first day of school--and two sisters on one's first day of hijab--by Olympic medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad.   With...
My name is Bana
Alabed, Bana
Paper Book
A poignant picture book memoir from Bana Alabed, the seven-year-old Syrian girl from Aleppo whose messages to the world have turned her into a global symbol and advocate for refugee rights. "I just want to live without fear." --Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 12, 2016 ...
The cat man of Aleppo
Latham, Irene
Paper Book
The Caldecott Honor-winning true story of Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, who in the midst of the Syrian Civil War courageously offered safe haven to Aleppo's abandoned cats.   Aleppo's city center no longer echoes with the rich, exciting sounds of copper-pot pounding and...

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