Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine

by Hannah Moushabeck, Reem Madooh (Illustrator)

Overview

As bedtime approaches, three young girls eagerly await the return of their father who tells them stories of a faraway homeland—Palestine. Through their father's memories, the Old City of Jerusalem comes to life: the sounds of juice vendors beating rhythms with brass cups, the smell of argileh drifting through windows, and the sight of doves flapping their wings toward home. These daughters of the diaspora feel love for a place they have never been, a home they cannot visit. But, as their father’s story comes to an end, they know that through his memories, they will always return.
 
A Palestinian family celebrates the stories of their homeland in this moving autobiographical picture book debut by Hannah Moushabeck. With heartfelt illustrations by Reem Madooh, this story is a love letter to home, to family, and to the persisting hope of people that transcends borders.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781797225913
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	03/28/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	396,099
File size:	22 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Hannah Moushabeck is a second-generation Palestinian American author, editor, and marketer who was raised in a family of booksellers and publishers in Western Massachusetts and England. Born in Brooklyn into Interlink Publishing, a family-run independent publishing house, she learned the power of literature at a young age. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine is her first picture book. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.
Reem Madooh is an illustrator from Kuwait with an MA in Children's Book Illustration. She is an avid picture book collector and loves narrative storytelling and incorporating a dreamlike atmosphere into her art. As a child, she enjoyed listening to stories of the old days from her parents and grandparents. She also loves za'atar and makes sure to have some every day. Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine is her first picture book. She lives in Kuwait.

Editorial Reviews

01/30/2023

Moushabeck makes her picture book debut with a quietly moving intergenerational reminiscence of a family’s homeland, a place the narrator has “never been.” The story opens on three sisters of Palestinian descent who treasure their father’s bedtime stories of visiting his grandparents in the Old City of Jerusalem. His sensate accounts—accompanied by crisp, distilled digital illustrations from Madooh, also making her debut—bring to life the city’s sights and sounds. He tells of beloved relatives (his sido, “a stern-looking, tarboosh-wearing, argileh-puffing, mustachioed man”), a drumming juice vendor who “played beautiful, intricate rhythms, using brass cups and saucers,” the buzz of the family’s café, and the homing pigeons Sido cares for, who instinctively understand “this is their home.” The final scene returns to the present, showing the girls’ family in a relaxed, happy mealtime preparation. But just outside the kitchen sits a key to the family’s ancestral East Jerusalem home; it’s an ever-present reminder both that “the ending of this story is not a happy one” and of their “hope of return.” Though the vividly rendered lines don’t contextualize the history behind the telling, the title’s emotionally layered conclusion offers a strong jumping-off point for further discussion. Back matter includes a glossary of Arabic words and an author’s note. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Moushabeck's text combined with Madooh's illustrations thoughtfully showcase dignity, joy, and resistance along with profound senses of loss and love of community.” — Shelf Awareness, starred review

“In Hannah Moushabeck’s “Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine,” a Palestinian father refashions memories of his youth in the Old City of Jerusalem into bedtime stories for his daughters.

. . . These are titles I want my own child exposed to. And I want non-Jewish families to read books that represent our full humanity, in all our particular Jewish vulnerability and joy.” — New York Times

2023 New England Book Award Winner

2023 New England Book Award Winner

2023 New England Book Award Winner

“... [A] stirring tale with details that evoke the senses. A beautiful tale of family, love for a lost homeland, and remembrance.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-12-24
Three siblings of Palestinian descent listen to their father’s bedtime story about a homeland they’ve never seen.

Their father tells them how, as a child, he visited his grandparents Teta Maria and Sido Abu Michel in the Old City of Jerusalem. He began his day by eating ka’ak, his favorite breakfast, and afterward he went to the family cafe with his Sido. Moushabeck vividly describes the streets of East Jerusalem—the many languages spoken, the “colorful vendors” selling “everything from olive oil soap with rose water and heaping bags of za’atar to gold jewelry and embroidered textiles,” and “the chanting of the muazzin’s call to prayer mixed with the ringing of church bells.” The day ends with Sido releasing the family’s pigeons and telling the young boy they won’t fly off—“This is their home.” The story turns poignant as readers learn this was the last time the children’s father saw Palestine, yet the siblings are filled with hope at the possibility of a return one day. Madooh’s loose, earth-toned illustrations pair well with Moushabeck’s words and capture both the characters’ joy and sadness. The author doesn’t offer much context as to why the family cannot return to their homeland—caregivers or educators may need to fill in some gaps. Still, it’s a stirring tale with details that evoke the senses. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A beautiful tale of family, love for a lost homeland, and remembrance. (glossary of Arabic words) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews