National Arab American Heritage Month takes place in April; and it celebrates Arab American heritage & culture and pays tribute to the contributions of Arab Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans. In April 2021, President Biden and the U.S.Department of State recognized April as National Arab American Heritage Month. The President wrote in his letter commemorating the event, “The Arab American community exemplifies so much of what our country stands for: hard work, resilience, compassion, and generosity… Diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and it is essential that we continue celebrating, promoting, and educating others about the myriad ways that the Arab people have advanced human civilization and contributed to the well-being of our nation.” If you’d like to, you can read the letter here. We have gathered together a list of excellent titles for kids ranging in age from preschoolers to 99+, so enjoy and celebrate!

Picture Books:

Halal Hot Dogs by Susannah Aziz & Parwinder Singh
Preschool – 2nd Grade
Library Catalog

Arab Arab All Year Long by Cathy Camper & Sawson Chalabi
Preschool – 2nd Grade
Library Catalog / Libby

Yo Soy Muslim by Mark Gonzales & Mehrdokht Amini
Preschool – 2nd Grade
Library Catalog

In My Mosque by M. O. Yuksel & Hatem Aly
Preschool – 2nd Grade
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

Chapter Books:

 

Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije
Grades 4-7
Library Catalog / Libby

The Sadiq Adventure Series by Siman Nuurali & Christos Skaltsas
Grades 2-4
Library Catalog / Libby / hoopla

The Turtle of Oman & The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye
Grades 3-7
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

The Magical Reality of Nadia & The Magical Reality of Nadia: Middle School Mischief by Bassem Youssef, Catherine R. Daly & Douglas Holgate
Grades 3-6
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
Grades 4-6
Library Catalog / Libby / hoopla

YA Books:

All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney
Grades 8 and up
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
Grades 6 and up
Library Catalog / Libby

The Next New Syrian Girl by Ream Shukairy
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog / Libby

Adult Fiction

Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jaber
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
Library Catalog / Libby

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
Library Catalog / Libby

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
Library Catalog / Libby

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
Library Catalog / hoopla / Libby

Adult Nonfiction

Don't Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo by Mansoor Adayfi
Library Catalog

The Wild Fox of Yemen: Poems by Threa Almontaser
Library Catalog

Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora by Reem Assil
Library Catalog

Hadha Baladuna: Arab American Narratives of Boundary and Belonging edited by Ghassan Zeineddine, Nabeel Abraham and Sally Howell
Library Catalog / hoopla

The Wrong End of the Table: A Mostly Comic Memoir of a Muslim Arab American Woman Just Trying to Fit In by Ayser Salman
Library Catalog / hoopla