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The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story

Aya Khalil, (i) Anait Semirdzhyan

Picture Book

Realistic Fiction, Family, School

February 18th, 2020

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.


This authentic story with beautiful illustrations includes a glossary of Arabic words and a presentation of Arabic letters with their phonetic English equivalents.

The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story
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