The Cat Man Of Aleppo
Unspeakable
All Of A Sudden And Forever
"On his way home from work, Alaa stops the ambulance. Two cats call to him from the branches of an ancient olive tree. Three more peek from a Syrian juniper tree. Alaa's big heart swells with love for them. Bombs may still fall, and his loved ones may never come back to Aleppo. But there is something he can do: he can look after the cats."
In 2012 many people had to flee for their lives from Aleppo due to the arrival of the Syrian Civil War. Refugee families could take only the most basic possessions. Many beloved cats were suddenly homeless.
Alaa Aljaleel, an ambulance driver, loved his home city and was heartbroken when the war arrived. Despite the danger, despite missing his loved ones who fled, he stayed to help his fellow citizens. One day he found a purrrfect way. His story, told in Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha's The Cat Man Of Aleppo, will touch the hearts of cat loving children and parents.
"...Telling the story of the effects of war on people needs to be done, but on animals? They, too, suffer and caring for them illuminates what it means to be human..."
Karim grew up in Damascus and attended college in Aleppo. He can remember its beauty and historical richness. He hopes that Alaa's story can help readers become more compassionate.
I believe that this fine book will help children and adults who bond extremely closely with animal companions to more fully comprehend the horrors of war. It also gives us ways to help.
"Once upon a time on Black Wall Street there were dozens of restaurants and grocery stores.
There were furriers, a pool hall, a bus system, and an auto shop--
nearly two hundreds of businesses in all."
Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District also had churches, a library, and a school system. It was a place where its Black residents could do anything they needed to do without going beyond its boundaries, a place apart from the indignities and dangers of Jim Crow America.
In Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre Carole Boston Weatherford's eloquent text and Floyd Cooper's vivid illustrations take readers back to this thriving community and its deliberate destruction. They show how a mob of enraged whites went on an orgy of shooting, looting, and arson--leaving hundreds of people dead and injured and thousands homeless--and how the police stood aside, not doing a thing to intervene.
For decades there was a serious cover up started by people who felt that the 1921 massacre was not good for Tulsa's image. It was only in this century that the truth began to come out. There's still a lot unknown.
This speaking truth to power narrative is a must acquire for school and public libraries.
One of the challenges of 21st century parenting is the inability to shelter even our youngest children from knowledge of horrific events. I learned this after 9/11. Eugene and I kept the TV news off. I talked to Amber and Katie about what had happened. They were in public school. I was sure though that it would be possible to keep Adam in the dark. He was only four--much too young to be confronted with that kind of real life horror.
The next morning when I picked Adam up at nursery school his teachers told me that he had built two elaborate block towers, crashed a toy plane into them, and explained to his classmates that that was what had happened the day before.
I'm sure that most parents want their children to feel safe and secure. How can they meet this important need while acknowledging the terrible realities they can't shelter them from?
Chris Barton's All Of A Sudden And Forever is a good conversation starter. It talks about the Oklahoma City Bombing, a tragedy that took the lives of 168 people. It acknowledges the awfulness of the event but reminds readers that it was not the end of the story. As he did research for the book Barton talked to survivors, family members of victims, and first responders. He discusses the complexities of their paths forward.
Barton's narrative, however, is rooted in a story of a tree, an elm that had been injured by the bomb. That tree and its descendants, nurtured carefully from seeds collected every spring, have become symbols of healing and hope.
If you want to know how read the book.
On a purrrsonal note, I am now able to volunteer at Orono Public Library and our Community Garden, now known as the Giving Garden, for the first time this summer. I did both on Tuesday. The garden was especially fun. A new recipient family included a little boy who was astounded to see that carrots and beets come out of the ground. We had a great crew. I met someone who is just starting on her PhD in my higher ed program. I brought home some really good veggies. I so prefer fresh to canned. The weather was perfect. We could hear the concert from the library amphitheatre. And, as if that wasn't enough, in the thrift shop dumpster I found over $50 worth of the fancy yarn I prefer to crochet with. Maybe karma? I've started visiting my mother-in-law so she won't be as isolated. She likes to watch me crochet Christmas scarves. (Jules)
I gotta put in a request for the gardeners to put in some nip next summer. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the Giving Garden crew.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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