My Name Is Bana
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- £8.49
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- £8.49
Publisher Description
A poignant picture book memoir from Bana Alabed, the seven-year-old Syrian girl from Aleppo whose messages to the world have turned her into a global symbol and advocate for refugee rights.
“I just want to live without fear.” —Bana Alabed, Twitter, October 12, 2016
When seven-year-old Bana Alabed took to Twitter to describe the horrors she and her family were experiencing in war-torn Syria, her heartrending messages touched the world and gave a voice to millions of innocent children.
Written in Bana’s own words, this picture book offers a uniquely intimate child’s perspective on one of the biggest humanitarian crises in history. Bana has lost her best friend, her school, her home, and her homeland. But she has not lost her hope—for herself and for other children around the world who are victims and refugees of war and deserve better lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When brown-haired, light-skinned Bana asks her mother, who wears a headscarf, about the meaning of her name, her mother explains in Arabic how she and Bana's father wanted Bana to channel the strength of a particular species of Syrian tree. A routine series of explanations follows, centering on various meanings of strength: "It means you use your mighty/ voice to speak up when you see/ something that is wrong or unfair." When war comes to her country, Bana must discover just how strong she can be. Riaz's homey acrylic paintings, finished digitally, mostly eschew the horrors of war, save for a spread of Bana and her family looking distressed and another showing planes flying over a desolate landscape. Richly hued illustrations emphasize simple expressions and dynamism in this hope-filled personal consideration of strength and cultural roots by Alabed, the Syrian youth activist who gained attention on Twitter after posting coverage of the war in Aleppo in 2016. Back matter features a contextualizing author's note. Ages 4–8.
