My Name Was Hussein - Hardcover

Kyuchukov, Hristo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1563979640 ISBN 13: 9781563979644

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press, 2004

Synopsis

Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction

About this title

About the Author:

Hristo is a leading figure in the advancement of human rights for Romani children. He works at the Institute for Educational Policy in Budapest, Hungary, where he is an education fellow. He has also taught at a university in Bulgaria. He has a Ph.D. in linguistics as well as a Ph.D. in education. Who am I? "I am a small child in a big body."

From Booklist:

Gr. 1-3. Hussein, who looks about eight years old, lives happily in a Bulgarian village. He enjoys visiting his grandparents, celebrating Muslim holidays, and living in the midst of his loving, extended family. Midway through the story, though, the army arrives and forbids the villagers to speak their language, Romani, in the streets; go outside at night; or pray at the mosque. A policeman destroys the family's identity cards, which are reissued only after they have chosen Christian names. Illustrating the story are clean, expressive ink drawings washed with watercolors in shades of gray and warmed with brighter colors. Both story and illustrations provide a stark contrast between the child's initial contentment within his family and village and the unhappiness that Hussein, his family, and his whole community feel when the shadow of persecution falls over them. In the appended author's note, Kyuchukov explains that when he lived in Bulgaria in the mid-1980s, the Bulgarian government persecuted minorities and insisted that the one million Muslims living there choose Christian names. Until then, the author's name was Hussein. Written from a child's perspective in simple language and short sentences, this unusual picture book does an excellent job of showing the personal cost of political oppression in terms that are accessible. This book may be disturbing to preschoolers. Still, parents and teachers of older children may welcome the chance to introduce the story of Hussein, a Muslim boy whose joys, comforts, concerns, and fears are universal though firmly set in a particular place and time. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1563979640
• ISBN 13: 9781563979644
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32