Aya Khalil
Aya Khalil is a freelance journalist and educator who has taught at all levels from preschool to college. Her debut picture book, The Arabic Quilt, is based on events from her childhood when she immigrated at the age of one to the U.S. from Egypt with her parents and siblings. She currently resides with her husband and their three children in Toledo, Ohio.
All Books By Aya Khalil
The Arabic Quilt
- By: Aya Khalil
- Narrator: Full Cast
- Length: 12 minutes
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media
- Publish date: February 04, 2020
- Language: English
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4.43(759 ratings)
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. The 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.
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