The Roses in My Carpets

When a young boy, his mother, and his sister arrive at a refugee camp to escape the war in Afghanistan, he finds some comfort in the beauty of the carpets he is learning to weave.

Grade 2-3-A young Afghan describes his grim life in the refugee camp where he lives with his mother and younger sister. Their food is bread and water or tea; their hut is made of mud. His father was killed in the war while plowing the field. The child's only joy is learning to weave carpets, into which he incorporates intricate rose patterns. One day his sister is hit by a truck. That night, after learning that she will survive, he dreams of jets crossing the sky and dropping bombs, but unlike his earlier nightmares of suffering a direct hit, he now dreams that the three find a space "the size of a carpet" where no bombs can strike. Within the space are roses. The restrained watercolor illustrations skillfully convey both the physical setting and emotional impact of the story. However, the plot is thin, the text is somewhat flat, and young readers will long for more details about this boy's life. The book's best use may be by teachers, pairing it with Florence Parry Heide's more richly woven Sami and the Time of the Troubles (Clarion, 1992).
Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This realistic story follows a day in the life of a young Afghani refugee who takes solace in the beautiful carpets he weaves. In a recurring nightmare, the boy narrator flees with his mother and younger sister, Maha, from the bomber planes that killed his father, then awakes to find himself in a safe but impoverished camp. At dawn, a muezzin calls him to prayer; he then attends school, followed by another call to prayer and finally goes off to his long-awaited practice of carpet weaving. For him, weaving is a skill that ensures "my family will never go hungry" and an outlet that allows him to create a world of color and beauty ("Everything in camp is a dirty brown, so I do not use brown anywhere in my carpets"). When Maha is injured by a truck, the boy must set aside his weaving to come to his family's aid. Khan hints at the boy's powerful emotions in spare prose, and handles her difficult subject matter sensitively. Himler (Fly Away Home) paints the family with dignity and warmth, enveloping them in earth-colored, rosy tones and the details of daily life. Readers will appreciate the candor of author and artist in their depiction of refugee life and the family's hope in the midst of such conflict; however, they will need an adult's help to explain some of its larger themes. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.