The Middle East Book Award winner and Governor General’s
Literary Award finalist inspired by Kabul, Afghanistan’s first library bus is
now in paperback!
It is still
dark in Kabul, Afghanistan when the library bus rumbles out of the city. There
are no bus seats—instead there are chairs and tables and shelves of books. And
there are no passengers—instead there is Pari, who is nervously starting her
first day as Mama’s library helper. Pari stands tall to hand out notebooks and
pencils at the villages and the refugee camp, but she feels intimidated. The
girls they visit are learning to write English from Mama. Pari can’t even read
or write in Farsi yet. But next year she will go to school and learn all there
is to know. And she is so lucky. Not long ago, Mama tells her, girls were not
allowed to read at all.
Author Bahram
Rahman grew up in Afghanistan during years of civil war and the restrictive
Taliban regime of 1996–2001. He wrote The Library Bus to tell new
generations about the struggles of women who, like his own sisters,
were forbidden to learn. Brought to life by the pensive and captivating art of
award-winning illustrator Gabrielle Grimard, The Library Bus is a
celebration of literacy, ingenuity, and the strength of women and girls
demanding a future for themselves.
Don’t miss A Sky-Blue Bench, also by Bahram Rahman
- ALA Schneider Family Book Award Honor Winner
“A timely, eye-opening portrait of resilience, community, and
hope.”—Kirkus Reviews ★ Starred Review
Bahram Rahman was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and grew up during the civil war and the Taliban regime. He earned a medical degree at Kabul Medical University and a master’s degree in public policy at the University of Erfurt, Germany, while also working as an activist in Afghanistan in the areas of gender equality and youth political participation. Bahram came to Canada as a refugee in 2012, and today he is a senior policy advisor at the Ministry of Health in Ontario. His first picture book, Governor General’s Literary Award finalist The Library Bus, was praised by the New York Times for documenting the barriers to education experienced by girls in war-torn countries and their resilience and ingenuity in overcoming them. His Fall 2021 picture book A Sky-Blue Bench has received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, which calls it “a timely, eye-opening portrait of resilience, community, and hope.”
Gabrielle Grimard transformed her love of design into a career in illustration over the course of her studies at Concordia University and the University of Quebec. In 2018, Gabrielle’s picture book Stolen Words won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Book Award. Not My Girl was a USBBY Outstanding International Book. Her creativity has been applied to children’s publishing, advertising, and educational contexts.
