Beyond the Secret Garden: Palestinian People in Children’s Books

For the latest in our long-running Beyond the Secret Garden series, Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor look at the representation of Palestinians in children’s literature.

Historical fiction about the crusades, such as G. A. Henty’s The Boy Knight: A Tale of the Crusades (1883), and those set in Palestine during the British Mandate (1918–1948) like Biggles Flies East (1935), generally focus on British characters in Palestine; ‘Arabs’ are the inhabitants of Palestine, and often act as antagonists to the British.  They rarely are given unique identities, and are often are so nondescript that British heroes like Biggles, can easily ‘dress as an Arab’ and move through the land unnoticed.  Palestine, as in many novels set in British imperial holdings, acts as mere background for the (usually) white, male British hero’s exploits.

As of June 2024, the State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 145 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, just over 75% of all UN members. However, this list of states does not include the UK or the US, the two nations where most of the books read by children in the UK are published. In his foreword to Dreams of a Nation: On Palestinian Cinema (2006), Edward Said opined that, ‘the whole history of the Palestinian struggle has to do with the desire to be visible’ (Said 2006: 2). The representation of Palestinians in children’s literature remains contested terrain. A 2007 Books for Keeps article on the The Depiction of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Contemporary Children’s Fiction: by Fouad Moughrabi prompted a letter to the editor from author Lynne Reid Banks. Author and researcher Nora Lester Murad notes that, ‘the erasure of Palestinians from children’s literature pervades all stages of the publishing process. Erasure is apparent in the difficulty of getting books with accurate representation of Palestinians published, the challenges faced by Palestinian authors, soft censorship during the editorial process, in the reluctance of reviewers and booksellers to give visibility to Palestine, and later, after publication, in blatant attacks on Palestinian books, authors, teachers and students’ (Murad 2024).  This may have informed Beverley Naidoo’s decision to employ an allegorical form to write about Palestinians in her 2023 novel Children of the Stone City, in contrast to the real-world setting employed for her earlier book Journey to Joburg that explored life for Black South African children under Apartheid.

Elizabeth Laird’s A Little Piece of Ground (2003) and Michael Morpurgo’s The Kites are Flying (2009) both depict Palestinian boys but the characters have differing attitudes toward the Israelis. Laird made several trips to Ramallah and co-authored the novel with Palestinian author Sonia Nimr (however Nimr is not named on the cover or on ‘about the author’ page – another type of erasure, perhaps). Morpurgo conceived of his book at a peace rally in Hampstead for Palestinian children.  Karim, in Laird’s book, refers to the Israeli army as ‘invaders’ and longs to participate in action to stop them.  Said, in Morpurgo’s book, has lost a brother to the conflict but still tries to befriend an Israeli girl on the other side of wall (the ‘Iron Wall’ built between Israel and Gaza) by sending her homemade kites.  In both books, there is a sense of claustrophobia and voicelessness. Being a child is not enough to ensure safety, as Palestinian children are targets and part of the resistance in both these books.

Palestinian author Ahlam Bsharat’s Code Name: Butterfly (2009; translated by Nancy Roberts in 2016) portrays Butterfly’s (we do not learn the narrator’s real name) coming-of-age story in a Palestinian village.  Like Laird and Morpurgo, Bsharat portrays a sense of claustrophobia and voicelessness. Butterfly observes, ‘This was how I discovered that there was a connection between falling in love, honour and the Israeli occupation. The common denominator…was that all three ended in disaster’ (p58). It is likely that YA readers in the UK will find that they have much in common with the narrator, while also being able to identify how the occupation makes her life very different to theirs. Butterfly’s father is employed to take care of grape vines now owned by Israeli Settlers, he avoids listening to what he terms the ‘Palestinian factions’ on the news, while she goes to school and has to ‘memorise the dates of the massacres the occupiers [have] committed against us’ (p13). Butterfly has many questions which she keeps in a ‘treasure chest’ and which appear in italics throughout the story and range from the occupation and politics, to the facts of life and her physical appearance. She is observant, inquisitive and uncertain; a believable character and a useful narrative technique for telling a story that does not shy away from the harshness of her life – Butterfly recalls friends and family who have been arrested or killed, but does not offer simplistic moral solutions to its readers.

Two recent picture-books depict Palestinian exiles. Homeland; My Father Dreams of Palestine is written by Hannah Moushabeck and illustrated by Reem Madooh (2023). The story of bedtime stories told by the father of three girls are based on Moushabeck’s childhood in Brooklyn.  The ‘Author’s Note’ tells us that on May 15 1948, ‘the day Palestinians call Al-Nakba’ her family left West Jerusalem and took refuge in the Greek Orthodox Monastery in East Jerusalem. Their houses are now ‘occupied by others’. Their father recalls walking through the streets of East Jerusalem, the people, languages, tastes, smells he encountered. ‘…the chanting of the muazzin’s call to prayer mixed with the ringing of church bells and the market vendors singing the praises of pickling cucumbers or prickly pears.’  ‘And there are stories about our homeland, a place we’ve never been.’ The Girl Who Lives Between Two Worlds (Bright Books 2024) features Noor, a girl living in London with her Palestinian Muslim parents, written by Shereen Malherbe and illustrated by Sarah Nesti Willard. When Noor’s family return to Jerusalem; her new friends don’t dress as she does, or play the same games. A relative tells her, ‘Noor, you are the girl who lives between two worlds but you don’t have to choose between them.’

Two further picture books, both about the olive harvest, approach their subject matter in different ways. These Olive Trees (2023) by Aya Ghanameh, a Palestinian illustrator and writer from Amman, Jordan, tells the story of the author’s grandmother. Set in a refugee camp in Nablus, the young Oraib harvests olives with her mother. But in 1967, ‘war has come to their door once more, forcing them to flee’. Before she leaves with her family, Oraib plants an olive pit and vows, ‘One day, when we’re older, I’ll return to you for harvest.’ Olive Harvest in Palestine (2019, Gate) by Wafa Shami, and illustrated by Shaima Farouki (both Palestinian), tells a contemporary tale where Noor and Manal join their family to pick olives before visiting their father’s olive press. The text and images portray a thriving, happy community and make no reference to Israel, the occupation, or conflict.

Thunderbird, (2022), book one of the Thunderbird Trilogy written by Sonia Nimr and translated by M. Lynx Qualey, is set in Ramallah and Jerusalem. Noor’s parents have died and she lives with her grandmother. She learns of the cryptid bird – a phoenix, mentioned in ‘Arab, Greek and Egyptian mythologies’ (p33). Noor becomes aware that she is able to control fire and that only she can ensure that the phoenix regenerates by finding four magical bird feathers. Noor finds herself going back 500 years, and is by a djinn cat and girls who look identical to her. Occupation is referred to in this timeslip tale – Noor passes through a checkpoint and news of shootings in Gaza is mentioned – but it is the fantasy story that takes centre stage.

Indeed, in many of the fiction books the conflict is a backdrop to the story and described from the perspective of a young Palestinian child. This gives readers insight into the lives of Palestinian children, but not necessarily much by way of broader context. (One might argue that that is the not the role of writers of fiction, as much as it is of teachers). In contrast, Rez Aslan’s non-fiction text A Kids Book about Israel and Palestine (2024) attempts to offer young readers a broader historical overview of the conflict. The book is published in the USA and is recommended for readers aged 5 and older. The book does not include images but rather uses text sparingly and creatively. Aslan includes information about the second world war and the Holocaust and writes that, ‘Britain supported Jewish immigration to Palestine and was even open to the idea of establishing within it a separate national home for the Jewish people. But many people who have been living in Palestine for generations are against the idea of dividing the land into two separate states. They wanted a single independent Palestinian state, no longer under British control’ (bold text in original). While it could be argued that this ignores the nineteenth century origins of modern Zionism, it offers some context for children to learn more about the region. The books ends with discussion questions in keeping with opening statement that it ‘is best read together, grownup and kid.’ Further information about Palestinian people can be found in We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition (2023) written by Reem Kassis and illustrated by Noha Eilouti, a full-colour hardback non-fiction text with sections on geography, cultural symbols, creative minds, agriculture, cuisine, performing arts and history and religion. The book shows the diversity of Palestinian people, referring to the conflict at points in the text, while showing Palestinians as people in their own right.

Two middle-grade novels tell very different stories about Palestinians living in the USA. Wishing on the Same Stars (2022) by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman explores the friendship between a Jewish Israeli American and a Christian Palestinian American. Feldman is the daughter of a Christian Palestinian. Nora Lester Murad, herself from a Jewish American family and married to a Palestinian Muslim, views Feldman’s story as implying that ‘Palestinian-Israeli relations are a function of miscommunication or cultural misunderstanding rather than a struggle over land and rights. In other words, Wishing on the Same Stars plays into the erroneous belief that there is something inherently conflictual in the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, perhaps something that is age-old and too complex to understand.’ In contrast, Murad’s own Ida in the Middle (2022) opens with Ida experiencing difficulties at her school where she is recognised as a Muslim, but not a Palestinian. After eating an olive, Ida finds herself switching between two realities; life in the US and life in Palestine. Murad’s book extends the notion of erasure to the choices made in US classrooms. At a picnic for Palestinians in a neighbouring town she hears ‘Nobody even says the word “Palestine” in my school’ and ‘The teachers are afraid to teach about anything related to the Middle East – even if the topic has nothing to do with politics’ (p16).

Karen Sands-O’Connor is Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield. Her books include Children’s Publishing and Black Britain 1965-2015 (Palgrave Macmillan 2017).

Darren Chetty is a teacher, doctoral researcher and writer with research interests in education, philosophy, racism, children’s literature and hip-hop culture. He is a contributor to The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla, and the author, with Jeffrey Boakye, of What Is Masculinity? Why Does It Matter? And Other Big Questions. He tweets at @rapclassroom.

Books Mentioned:

The Boy Knight: A Tale of the Crusades (1883) G.A. Henty

Biggles Flies East (1935) W.E. Johns

Children of the Stone City (2023) Beverley Naidoo, HarperCollins Children’s Books

A Little Piece of Ground Elizabeth Laird and Sonia Nimr, Macmillan Children’s Books

The Kites are Flying Michael Morpurgo, Walker Books

Code Name: Butterfly by Ahlam Bsharat (2009/2016) Neem Tree Press

Homeland – My Father Dreams of Palestine Hannah Moushabeck, illus Reem Madooh, Chronicle Books

The Girl Who Lives Between Two Worlds Shereen Malherbe, illus Sarah Nesti Willard, Bright Books

These Olive Trees (2023) Aya Ghananmeh, Viking Press.

A Kids Book About Israel and Palestine (2024) Reza Aslan, A Kids Book About

Wishing Upon the Same Stars (2022) Jacquetta Nammar Feldman, HarperCollins Children’s Books

We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition (2023) written by Reem Kassis and illustrated by Noha Eilouti, Studio Press

Thunderbird Sonia Nimr, Centre for Middle Eastern Studies

We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition (2023, Studio Press) written by Reem Kassis and illustrated by Noha Eilouti, Bonnier

Ida in the Middle (2022) by Nora Lester Murad, Crocodile Books