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SAKINA AND THE UNINVITED GUESTS

Name: SAKINA AND THE UNINVITED GUESTS
Author: Zahra Marwan
ISBN: 9781547613427

by Zahra Marwan ; illustrated by Zahra Marwan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2025

A stunningly illustrated celebration of heritage that will require some adult guidance.

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An unexpected museum trip changes the way a girl sees her past.

Tan-skinned, dark-haired Sakina’s plans for spending the morning at the seashore are dashed by a sandstorm. So she and her mother head to the museum, where the bored Sakina observes several statues: “chubby crocodiles filled with papers,” a “blue jaguar guarding the first set of laws ever written,” and “winged lions.” Back home, she realizes that a tiny crocodile, jaguar, and lion have stowed away in her bag. Sakina chases them through the house, only to stumble upon a picture of her grandmother that she’s never before taken the time to examine. The photograph is just the start of a series of reminders that “thousands and thousands of years” exist both within the magical artifacts and within Sakina. Rendered in a gold and pastel palette, the artwork is sumptuous. While the text is lyrical, at times it feels cryptic; Sakina’s discovery that there are poems written on Crocodile’s papers leads to a sudden appreciation of her heritage, though it’s not clear why. Marwan’s author’s note, which discusses the work of 19th-century archeologists and her own experiences visiting institutions such as the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, fills in some gaps, but adults may need to help young readers parse some of the story’s elements. Though it’s never stated where Sakina lives, the backmatter and the use of Arabic imply a Middle Eastern setting.

A stunningly illustrated celebration of heritage that will require some adult guidance. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: April 29, 2025

ISBN: 9781547613427

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SUNFLOWERS
by Zahra Marwan ; illustrated by Zahra Marwan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE STRANGEST FISH
by Katherine Arden ; illustrated by Zahra Marwan

- BOOK REVIEW
WHERE BUTTERFLIES FILL THE SKY
by Zahra Marwan ; illustrated by Zahra Marwan

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)