Children’s Books Celebrating Arab American Heritage

April is Arab American Heritage Month, a time to honor and celebrate Arab American stories and communities. Books are a great way to share and celebrate a variety of cultures and communities with kids. Here are some books for kids of all ages that honor Arab American heritage—many with food and cooking central to their stories.

Descriptions are courtesy of each book’s official synopsis.

Early Childhood

Birthday Kunafa
Rifk Ebeid
“A unique wordless picture book about Palestine that will fill your imagination and tickle your senses with a hearty dose of Palestinian family, food, and fortitude. To celebrate her birthday, all Amal wants is to bite into the sweetest slice of cheesy kunafa from Nablus Sweets, the best place in town. When her party ends with no kunafa in sight, she comes up with a plan. Will Amal be able to overcome all the obstacles that she must face in order to get her birthday kunafa?”

Breaking Bread with Jiddo
Carrie Maslen
“Baking Bread with Jiddo follows a young girl on her annual visit to her grandfather’s house, where they share a tradition of baking Arabic bread. The story is an ode to family, traditions, and perseverance rooted in the strength and love that’s passed across generations.”

Arab Arab All Year Round!
Cathy Camper
“Yallah! From January to December, join some busy kids as they partake in traditions old and new. There’s so much to do, whether it’s learning to write Arabic or looking at hijab fashion sites while planning costumes for a local comic convention. With details as vivid as the scent of jasmine and honeysuckle perfume (made to remind Mom of Morocco), children bond with friends, honor tradition, and spend loving time with family. Accompanied by buoyant and charming illustrations, this portrait of Arab life and childhood zeal is sure to bring joy all year round. Back matter includes an extensive glossary and notes to enrich the experience for readers of any culture.”

Lailah’s Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story
Reem Faruqi
“Lailah is in a new school in a new country, thousands of miles from her old home, and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won’t understand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom. Lailah solves her problem with help from the school librarian and her teacher and in doing so learns that she can make new friends who respect her beliefs.”

Amira’s Picture Day
Reem Faruqi
“Just the thought of Eid makes Amira warm and tingly inside. From wearing new clothes to handing out goody bags at the mosque, Amira can’t wait for the festivities to begin. But when a flier on the fridge catches her eye, Amira’s stomach goes cold. Not only is it Eid, it’s also school picture day. If she’s not in her class picture, how will her classmates remember her? Won’t her teacher wonder where she is? Though the day’s celebrations at the mosque are everything Amira was dreaming of, her absence at picture day weighs on her. A last-minute idea on the car ride home might just provide the solution to everything in this delightful story from acclaimed author Reem Faruqi, illustrated with vibrant color by Fahmida Azim.”

A Map for Falasteen
Maysa Odeh
“A young Palestinian girl living in diaspora struggles to find her homeland on a map in this gentle and heartfelt picture book. At school, Falasteen and her classmates are tasked with finding their families’ home countries on a map, but no matter how hard she looks, Falasteen can’t find Palestine. Can a place exist if it’s not on a map? Confused, Falasteen turns to her family for answers. Her grandfather, grandmother, and Mama encourage her to see their homeland from a different perspective, and each of their stories helps her understand her people’s history and her own place in the world. Filled with beautiful, inspiring illustrations and thoughtful back matter that outlines key terms and historical moments, this is a story of family, resilience and home always being where the heart is.”

Grade School

Arab Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook
Karim Alrawi
“Award-winning writer and storyteller, Karim Alrawi, draws on his deep knowledge of Arab culture to create original stories that are a feast for young imaginations. Told with intriguing details, the tales take young readers on a delicious cultural journey and invite them to consider an Arab perspective. Each tale symbolically incorporates food and concludes with a traditional recipe, lovingly flavored with colorful folkloric illustrations, making this a literary banquet to savor with family and friends across generations time and again.”

Salma the Syrian Chef
Danny Ramadan
“Newcomer Salma and friends cook up a heartwarming dish to cheer up Mama. All Salma wants is to make her mama smile again. Between English classes, job interviews, and missing Papa back in Syria, Mama always seems busy or sad. A homemade Syrian meal might cheer her up, but Salma doesn’t know the recipe, or what to call the vegetables in English, or where to find the right spices! Luckily, the staff and other newcomers at the Welcome Center are happy to lend a hand—and a sprinkle of sumac. With creativity, determination, and charm, Salma brings her new friends together to show Mama that even though things aren’t perfect, there is cause for hope and celebration. Syrian culture is beautifully represented through the meal Salma prepares and Anna Bron’s vibrant illustrations, while the diverse cast of characters speaks to the power of cultivating community in challenging circumstances.”

Halal Hot Dogs
Susannah Aziz
“Every Friday after Jummah prayer at the masjid, Musa’s family has a special Jummah treat. They take turns picking out what the treat will be, but recently the choices have been . . . interesting. Week one, Mama made molokhia. It’s perfect for sharing, but gives us molokhia teeth for days! Week two, Baba burned the kufte kebabs on the grill. Week three, Seedi made his favorite riz b’haleeb-creamy rice pudding with pistachio sprinkled on top with an unexpected ingredient. Last week, Maryam brought jellybeans. … Finally, it’s Musa’s turn to pick, and he picks his favorite-halal hot dogs! But actually getting to eat this deliciousness turns into a journey riddled with obstacles. Will he ever get his favorite tasty treat?”

Almost Sunset
Wahab Algarmi
“It’s almost sunset, and Hassan has been dreaming about eating since the sun came up. The month of Ramadan has begun, and not eating until sundown intensifies his already busy days full of homework, soccer, and gaming. And since his teachers and friends at school barely understand Ramadan and its traditions, it’s easier to just…not mention it. As the month stretches on, Hassan’s family and community grow closer together. They wake up before sunrise every morning, feast when the sun goes down, and attend mosque in the evenings. Can Hassan balance it all during the hectic holy month—faith, tradition, school, and fun, too?”

Kareem Between
Shifa Saltagi Safadi
“Seventh grade begins, and Kareem’s already fumbled it. His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kid—a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent—around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There’s a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong. Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareem’s mom returns to Syria to help her family but can’t make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness. Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents—and between right and wrong. It’s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.”

The Arabic Quilt
Aya Khalil
“Kanzi’s family has moved from Egypt to America, and on her first day in a new school, what she wants more than anything is to fit in. Maybe that’s why she forgets to take the kofta sandwich her mother has made for her lunch, but that backfires when Mama shows up at school with the sandwich. Mama wears a hijab and calls her daughter Habibti (dear one). When she leaves, the teasing starts. That night, Kanzi wraps herself in the beautiful Arabic quilt her teita (grandma) in Cairo gave her and writes a poem in Arabic about the quilt. Next day her teacher sees the poem and gets the entire class excited about creating a “quilt” (a paper collage) of student names in Arabic. In the end, Kanzi’s most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one.”

Older Kids and Teens

Huda F Cares?
Huda Fahmy
“Huda and her sisters can’t believe it when her parents announce that they’re actually taking a vacation this summer … to DISNEY WORLD! But it’s not quite as perfect as it seems. First Huda has to survive a 24-hour road trip from Michigan to Florida, with her sisters annoying her all the way. And then she can’t help but notice the people staring at her and her family when they pray in public. Back home in Dearborn she and her family blend right in because there are so many other Muslim families, but not so much in Florida and along the way. It’s a vacation of forced (but unexpectedly successful?) sisterly bonding, a complicated new friendship, a bit more independence, and some mixed feelings about her family’s public prayers. Huda is proud of her religion and who she is, but she still sure wishes she didn’t care so much what other people thought.”

Tagging Freedom
Rhonda Roumani
“Kareem Haddad of Damascus, Syria, never dreamed of becoming a graffiti artist. But when a group of boys from another town tag subversive slogans outside their school, and another boy is killed while in custody, Kareem and his friends are inspired to start secretly tagging messages of freedom around their city. Meanwhile, in the United States, his cousin, Samira, has been trying to make her own mark. Anxious to fit in at school, she joins the Spirit Squad where her natural artistic ability attracts the attention of the popular leader. Then Kareem is sent to live with Sam’s family, and their worlds collide. As graffitied messages appear around town and all eyes turn to Kareem, Sam must make a choice: does she shy away to protect her new social status, or does she stand with her cousin?”

Home Is Not a Country
Safia Elhillo
“Nima wishes she were someone else. She doesn’t feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn’t feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn’t different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can’t, and suddenly her only refuge is gone. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen—the name her parents meant to give her at birth—Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows. And the life Nima wishes were someone else’s … is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.”

Not the Girls You’re Looking For
Aminah Mae Safi
“Lulu Saad doesn’t need your advice, thank you very much. She’s got her three best friends and nothing can stop her from conquering the known world. Sure, for half a minute she thought she’d nearly drowned a cute guy at a party, but he was totally faking it. And fine, yes, she caused a scene during Ramadan. It’s all under control. Ish. Except maybe this time she’s done a little more damage than she realizes. And if Lulu can’t find her way out of this mess soon, she’ll have to do more than repair friendships, family alliances, and wet clothing. She’ll have to go looking for herself.”

An Emotion of Great Delight
Tahereh Mafi
“It’s 2003, several months since the US officially declared war on Iraq, and the American political world has evolved. Tensions are high, hate crimes are on the rise, FBI agents are infiltrating local mosques, and the Muslim community is harassed and targeted more than ever. Shadi, who wears hijab, keeps her head down. She’s too busy drowning in her own troubles to find the time to deal with bigots. Shadi is named for joy, but she’s haunted by sorrow. Her brother is dead, her father is dying, her mother is falling apart, and her best friend has mysteriously dropped out of her life. And then, of course, there’s the small matter of her heart—It’s broken. Shadi tries to navigate her crumbling world by soldiering through, saying nothing. She devours her own pain, each day retreating farther and farther inside herself until finally, one day, everything changes. She explodes.”

Here to Stay
Sara Farizan
“What happens when a kid who’s flown under the radar for most of high school gets pulled off the bench to make the winning basket in a varsity playoff game? If his name is Bijan Majidi, life is suddenly high fives in the hallways and invitations to exclusive parties—along with an anonymous photo sent by a school cyberbully that makes Bijan look like a terrorist. The administration says they’ll find and punish the culprit. Bijan wants to pretend it never happened. He’s not ashamed of his Middle Eastern heritage; he just doesn’t want to be a poster child for Islamophobia. Lots of classmates rally around Bijan. Others make it clear they don’t want him or anybody who looks like him at their school. But it’s not always easy to tell your enemies from your friends.”

Know of a book you’d like to see added to this list? Let us know! 

This is an updated post of a blog that was originally published in 2022.