Category Archives: recommended

Review: سلسلة السمكة الذهبية from دار السلوى and the Daily جدول قراءتي

Most of the leveled “easy readers” that I’ve come across, in Arabic, have been translations of reading series from English or French. This often means that—even with “level one” books—the vocabulary used in the books isn’t so “easy” at all. Continue reading

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A Little (No, Big!) Literary Triumph

Last year Magrudy’s bookstores announced that the popularity of Arabic books was rising, and claimed that Arabic titles now accounted for “nearly 20 per cent” of its sales in the UAE. The flipside to that statement is, of course, that the vast majority of sales are of foreign-language titles. Reading in Arabic is not, it is fair to say, the region’s favourite pastime. Continue reading

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فرحانة تتكلم وتتكلم and the Importance of ‘Dialogic Reading’

Recently, the Huffington Post published an essay by Maxwell King and Michael Robb, Ph.D about one of the important ways we can help our children learn.

Talking. Continue reading

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Favorites of 2010: Books to Help Emerging Readers

There are a number of publishers who have out leveled readers or other books geared to help emerging Arabic-language readers. Lebanon’s Asala, for instance, has out a series. My seven-year-old and also I enjoy the leveled readers from Dar el Shorouk, although he prefers the “Clifford” books for easy reading. Continue reading

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More Suggestions from My 2-Year-Old on Starting a Preschool Arabic Library

Sometimes children who are not interested in a range of children’s books intended for their age-group will be motivated to listen to stories about movie and TV characters…. Continue reading

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Join the Buzoor Community: أحب العربي

The Buzoor online community is live! Continue reading

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Stories and Art: Inspired by عزيزة و غلام القمر and ألوان الدّكان

Last night, my seven-year-old and I were reading عزيزة و غلام القمر (Bloomsbury Qatar, 2010) for the first time. Although it was written and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, who penned the Blue Kangaroo books my son dearly loved when … Continue reading

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Ramadan Audio Books: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

I have written before about the importance of audio books (in Arabic), particularly for reluctant readers. Now, in celebration of Ramadan and childhood memories, Zeinobia has posted (and promises to continue posting!) a radio story from 1,001 Nights. The first … Continue reading

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Two Special Books for Ramadan

عندما دق الباب When the Doorbell Rang, By Taghreed Najjar Najjar writes here, on Alsalwa Publishing, about the inspiration for her Ramadan book, for ages 6-10 and available for purchase online. About the book: On the first day of Ramadan … Continue reading

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Celebrate Pioneer Arabic Children’s Author Kamel Kilani, Download Many of His Stories Free

Baheyya had a gorgeous post yesterday about pioneer children’s book author Kamel Kilani (1897-1959). The post begins with her delightful re-telling of a tale from 1,001 Nights, and goes on to tell the Egyptian Kilani’s story. She says: His passion … Continue reading

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