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Children's Fiction Diversity & Multicultural

La fille couleur lilas

by (author) Ibtisam Barakat

illustrated by Sinan Hallaq

translated by Leïla Tahir

Publisher
Bookland Press
Initial publish date
May 2024
Category
Diversity & Multicultural, Girls & Women, Adolescence
Recommended Age
6 to 9
Recommended Grade
1 to 4
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781772312218
    Publish Date
    May 2024
    List Price
    $16.95

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Description

La fille couleur lilas is a beautifully illustrated story relating the departure of Palestinian artist and educator, Tamam Al-Akhal, from her homeland, Jaffa. It portrays Tamam as a young girl who dreams about returning to her home, which she has been away from for 70 years, since the Palestinian exodus. Tamam discovers that she is talented in drawing, so she uses her imagination to draw her house in her mind. She decides one night to visit it, only to find another girl there, who won't allow her inside and shuts the door in her face. Engulfed in sadness, Tamam sits outside and starts drawing her house on a piece of paper. As she does so, she notices that the colors of her house have escaped and followed her; the girl attempts to return the colors but in vain. Soon the house becomes pale and dull, like the nondescript hues of bare trees in the winter. Upon Tamam's departure, she leaves the entire place drenched in the color of lilac.

About the authors

Ibtisam Barakat is a bilingual Palestinian-American poet, artist, translator, educator and the author of the critically acclaimed memoirs, Tasting the Sky, a Palestinian Childhood (FSG/2007) and Balcony on the Moon, Coming of Age in Palestine (FSG/Macmillan 2016). The two memoirs combined won more than thirty awards and honors, including the International Reading Association's best book award, the Middle East Council's best book award, and the Arab-American Museum's best book award. Her Arabic language books include The Letter Ta' Escapes, which won the Euro-Mediterranean Anna Lindh Foundation's best book award for children's books in Arabic. Her most recent books include The Jar that became a Galaxy, which was the title for Palestine's national reading campaign in 2019 and The Lilac Girl, which won the 2020 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Children's Literature.

Ibtisam Barakat's profile page

Sinan Hallaq's profile page

Leïla Tahir, diplômée en langue et littérature arabes et en traduction, a traduit de l'arabe Ramallah, mon amour de Mahmoud Abou Hashhash (avec Emma Aubin, éd. Galaade), Presqu'île arabe de Salwa Al-Neimi (éd. Robert Laffont) et L'affaissement du temps et la mort du sens d'Ala Hlehel in Un royaume d'olives et de cendres (éd. Robert Laffont). Elle pense depuis longtemps qu'il n'y a pas d'âge pour lire des contes et des livres pour enfants.

Leïla Tahir's profile page

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