I Am A Woolly Hat by Salma Korayte and Betania Zacarias, retold by Vivian French (Children's, 5 years +, 10E/10E)

September 2013, Orion Children's, 64 full colour pages, Paperback, Review copy

Themes: love, friends, family, cats, colours, clothes, scents, food,

 

Summary from Orion

Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey.

Basma has been wondering a lot about love. What is it like? Does it have a shape or a colour or a taste? Is it like a coat or a jumper or a shawl? Or is it like a warm woolly hat?

Nayuleska's thoughts

I chose this book purely because the title intrigued me and the cover made me smile. Love is a complex concept, as the narrator find out. She finds love means different things to different people, that it can't be fully explained simply. To understand love is to experience how friends and family treat you. I enjoyed watching the narrator visit each family member and define love as they portrayed it. 

The illustrations feel warm and fuzzy, just like love can feel. I liked the cat by a tipped over basket with balls of yarn on the acknowledgement page, the slightly see through bird wings, the weird looking storage area for clothes, how most of the characters wore traditional Islamic head coverings and in keeping with some Islamic tradition rarely had a full view of their face,.

For more from Vivian check out her website. 

Suggested read

Vivian has retold an Islamic themed story, My Own Special Way (Children's, 5 years +, 10/10E)