Customer Reviews

The Roses in My Carpets

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think this is a great book for encouraging discussion of diversity in the classroom.

In the school where I teach a lot of the children come from refugee backgrounds and this story was something they could really relate to. But the other kids could relate to it too.

The imagery is powerful and the kids loved it.

"It's always the same. The jets scream overhead." is the powerful first line of this story that resonates even more forcefully in the wake of the September 11th attacks. The Roses in My Carpets is a masterful tale of a young Afghan refugee by Toronto writer Rukhsana Khan. It is based on a true story, that of the author's foster child in Peshawar, Pakistan. With the unfolding of historical events, it is probably destined to be a classic.

Spare, grim and unsentimental, the story is a beautifully woven narrative of a young fatherless refugee boy caring for his mother and sister in a war-torn world. Symbolic of the loss of identity suffered by refugees, the boy remains nameless throughout the story. Movingly, he struggles to survive with his family within the sombre parameters that govern his universe. Escape finally arrives when he goes to his job as an apprentice carpet weaver. There he makes sure "there are plenty of roses in my carpets". As the story ends, hope surfaces in the young boy's dream of finding "a space, the size of a carpet, where the bombs cannot touch us."

Ronald Himler's watercolour and pencil drawings look overwhelmingly familiar with the images that now flood our homes through television. I have read Roses to my four year old many times and she appreciated the opportunity to comprehend the devastating effect of war on families. I would highly recommend it to other parents and teachers.

This is a great story for any age group. My eight year old son read this book and learned more about current events than the news could have ever taught him. I used this book in my tenth grade class room when we did a unit on picture books and changing the world and my students were prompted to plan a school wide "tolerance / compassion" day so that others could learn more about people around the world.

Dealing with refugee children i must say this is a great book, it realy captures the heartache of the afgahni experience.

I am apalled this book is touted as appropriate for eight-year-old children. It is far too explicit for that age group. Jets screaming overhead dropping bombs, killing his father, the boy dreaming of being hit and dying, his sister hit by a truck her legs broken. The fact he lives in a mud hut and eats only a small portion of bread and water everyday almost seems cheerful in comparison. Then, the boy talks about the significance of each color in the rug he is weaving "white for the shroud we wrapped my father's body in"..."Red is the color of the blood of martyrs." Finally, never mind using the story as any sort of a springboard to illustrate giving and helping others less fortunate. The boy states his carpet weaving training is made possible by someone far away "a sponsor." And they even took his picture. Then he goes on to say that once he learns the trade he will be able to hold his head high for the sake of his father...who would never have taken aid from a sponsor.

The author of this book was able to capture just the right amount of truth for children. She is an excellent writer, and her book brought me to tears!