Arab Fairy Tale Feasts is the latest title in the highly-praised Fairy Tale Feasts Collection, a creative series that folds enchanting folk tales into cookbooks of kid-friendly recipes.

KARIM ALRAWI was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He went to school in England and after graduation he worked as a writer at several theatres including the Royal Court Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Returning to Egypt he taught in the theatre department of the American University in Cairo. After his plays were banned by the Egyptian state censor, he became active in the newly formed Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. This eventually led to his arrest and interrogation by state security officers.

After re-joining his family in Canada he taught at the University of Victoria and later was a resident writer at theatres in the US. After a period as editor-in-chief of Arabica, a cultural and current affairs magazine for the Arab-American community, Alrawi supervised aid and development projects (funded by USAID and CIDA) in North Africa and South Asia. He was in the Middle East during the 2011 Arab uprisings.

He has an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and was an International Writing Fellow at the University of Iowa. Book of Sands is his first novel. It won the inaugural HarperCollins/UBC Prize for Best New Fiction.

Karim Alrawi's profile page

NAHID KAZEMIis an artist, illustrator and graphic designer with a master’s degree in painting from Tehran’s University of Art. She has published more than sixty children’s books and has received awards for her illustrations in Iran as well as nominations for the Governor General’s Award and the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her recent publications include I’m Glad That You’re Happy, which she wrote and illustrated, and Over the Rooftops, Under the Moon by JonArno Lawson. She has also taught art and has exhibited her work in Iran, France, Italy, the UK, Lebanon and Serbia. Nahid lives in Montreal.

Nahid Kazemi's profile page

Sobhi Al-Zobaidi is an independent filmmaker, University lecturer, and co-owner of Canada's first Palestinian restaurant for traditional Palestinian dishes, Tamam. Born and raised in Palestine, he now lives in Vancouver with his wife and two daughters.

Sobhi Zobaidi's profile page

Tamam Al-Zobaidi is co-owner of Canada's first Palestinian restaurant for traditional Palestinian dishes, Tamam. Born and raised in Palestine, she now lives in Vancouver with her husband and two daughters.

Tamam Zobaidi's profile page

• Nominated, Forest of Reading Yellow Cedar Award

“A very attractive book with utterly charming illustrations...executed in a gentle, soft-edged, deceptively simple style...The design of the book is stunning...(and) he stories are...skillfully told, deceptively simple...enough for us to know we are in the hands of a master storyteller.”

The British Columbia Review

"Ostensibly for children aged 5 – 12, master storyteller Karim Alrawi of Vancouver has collaborated with illustrator Nahid Kazemi to produce Arab Fairy Tale Feasts (Tradewind $29.95), the third in a series following Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts (Tradewind, 2013) and Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts (Tradewind, 2015), which blend stories, recipes, fun facts and anecdotes from diverse cultures. Adults will enjoy this book too."

BC Bookworld

"These tales beg to be read and discussed; the many and varied recipes will be fun for classroom use or for families to share.”

School Library Journal

“(The stories) draw on the rich storytelling traditions of Arab peoples . . . (and) Kazemi’s largely unlined, stylized illustrations employ a folkloric sensibility. Ages 8–12.”

Publisher's Weekly