Overview:
I am an Arab and This is My Country ("أنا عربي وهذا وطني") is a book dedicated to educate young children aged 6 – 12 years, with basic information about individual countries of the Arab World. With its simple text, interesting and enjoyable graphics it is bound to create an interest and awareness within the targeted age group. I am an Arab and This is My Country ("أنا عربي وهذا وطني") has a factual simple form and has been compiled to introduce the Arab World to young readers.

From the Author:
I have been working on creating a basic concept for young readers, with a primary aim to allow them to enjoy Arabic books. This has mainly been triggered by my experience in developing my three children’s literary appreciation of Arabic language books. I have been developing story lines for simple books for young readers and have had my first two books published in Beirut.
As a mother, I often feel that most of our young children have an identity problem, which partly stems from a lack of modern Arabic language stories with appeal to this age group. I am an Arab and This is My Country ("أنا عربي وهذا وطني") addresses this gap, and is a compilation of various educational aspects of our Arab World, in simple text and illustrated in modern graphics and characters.

Objective of I am an Arab and This is My Country ("أنا عربي وهذا وطني"):
I have witnessed the gradual development of I am an Arab and This is My Country ("أنا عربي وهذا وطني") over the past 2 years. I went through extensive research. Most of it involved a wide-range of internet research and I was also able to get local embassies in Amman to answer outstanding questions. This project's main focal point is to develop an understanding of heritage and culture. The young readers will have an opportunity to learn basic facts in a fun and interesting manner. The book will be a great opportunity in supporting fundamental attachment with roots, which seems obsolete nowadays.

The book is a simple guideline of the 22 Arab countries. Each country has an overall brief description about it.

A quick glimpse of each nation is discussed within 6 points:

1. The country's official name, capital city, national flag and its population count
2. History
3. Culture
4. 3 important sites in the country
5. Traditional cuisine
6. Monetary currency

Additionally, two pages dedicated to each country with the text will include:

• A map of the country
• The national traditional clothing (depicted by either a little boy or girl wearing it)
• Illustrations from each country (e.g. a significant landmark, building site, etc.)

In addition, the book includes:

• A dedication page and a page with a word of appreciation to everyone that helped me put the book together
• A page for a poem by poet Fakhri Al Barudi
  
• A content page
  
• A reference page

Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, was also one of the members of the Prophet's household. The Prophet took him into his care when he was only 5 years old and gave him an excellent upbringing. And from then onwards, he remained with the Prophet's daughter Fatima after the migration to Medinah. In fact, he was so close to the Prophet, that once the Prophet said to him, "You are of me and I of you." This closeness, however, entailed great responsibility along with constantly being tested with trying situations.

“Ayat Jamilah/Beautiful Signs”: a Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents is the second book in Eastern Washington University Press' This Little Light of Mine series. A young adult/adult crossover anthology, it draws from not only the core of Islamic spirituality and ethics, the Qur'an, and the traditions (Haddith), but also from the mystical verse, folk tales, and exemplary figures of the Islamic narrative. Unlike any other collection of Islamic stories, Beautiful Signs gathers traditional stories from the farthest reaches of the Muslim world, which stretches from Morocco in the west to Indonesia in the east, and from China in the north to Tanzania in the south. This unique anthology, with its rich and thorough explanatory notes, will be invaluable to anyone wishing to understand, or to teach, geography, world history, or world religions. It will also be treasured by Muslim families and by all parents committed to broadening the lives and values of their children and themselves. Sarah Conover holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado and an MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University. Her first book, Kindness: a Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom and Stories for Children (EWU Press, 2001), won the Skipping Stones Award for Cultural Diversity and was chosen by Booklist as one of the ten best spiritual books for children in 2002. She is also co-author of Daughters of the Desert: Stories of Remarkable Women from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Traditions (Skylight Paths Press, 2003). With her husband and two children, she lives in Spokane, Washington, where she teaches Humanities in the public schools. Freda Crane is an educator who has worked to develop Islamic curriculum on three continents. She received an MA in curriculum from the University of California, Berkeley, and an EdD from the University of Cincinnati. A practicing Muslim for over thirty years, Dr. Crane has developed instructional methods and curriculum for Muslim students in the United States, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Malaysia. For several years she was children's book editor for American Trust Publications, an Islamic publishing house, and she has long been active in the Islamic Society of North America. Dr. Crane lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, Dr. Mohammed Shamma. They have five children and five grandchildren, one of whom is named “Ayah Jamilah” (Beautiful Sign). She is in charge of curriculum development at FADEL, the Foundation for the Advancement and Development of Education and Learning.

We often think that people from a thousand years ago were living in the Dark Ages. But from the 7th century onward in Muslim civilization there were amazing advances and inventions that still influence our everyday lives. People living in the Muslim world saw what the Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Greek, and Romans had discovered and spent the next one thousand years adding new developments and ideas. Inventors created marvels like the elephant water clock, explorers drew detailed maps of the world, women made scientific breakthroughs and founded universities, architects built huge domes larger than anywhere else on earth, astronomers mapped the stars and so much more! This book takes the wining formula of facts, photos, and fun, and applies it to this companion book to the 1001 Inventions exhibit from the Foundation for Science, Technology, and Civilization. Each page is packed with information on this little-known history, but also shows how it still applies to our world today.