{"id":4435,"date":"2017-09-03T00:01:47","date_gmt":"2017-09-03T06:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4435"},"modified":"2017-09-03T09:05:12","modified_gmt":"2017-09-03T15:05:12","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-550-featuring-mehrdokht-amini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4435","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #550: Featuring Mehrdokht Amini"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
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“Say it with me: Yo soy Muslim.
Our prayers were here before any borders were.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
 

\nToday, I’ve got some illustrations from Mark Gonzales’s Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Salaam Reads\/Simon & Schuster, August 2017), illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini<\/a><\/strong>. The Booklist<\/em> reviews says it’s a book that “invites readers into a sacred space.” I love that and how eloquently it captures this book about identity. <\/p>\n

This is a loving prayer from Gonzales, a Latino and Muslim poet, to his daughter. Heartfelt and tender, it’s a set of words that expresses pride in cultural and religious heritage, while simultaneously preparing his child for whispers and stares: “[T]here will come a day when some people in the world will not smile at you.” This moment, which comes at the beginning of the book, actually serves as the launching point for her father’s expression of pride in their cultural identity: “On that day,” he tells his daughter, “tell them this: Yo soy Muslim. I am from Allah, angels, and a place almost as old as time. I speak Spanish, Arabic, and dreams. …<\/em>” <\/p>\n

The father celebrates, lyrically, the girl’s mother; the rest of the family (including ancestors); their ancient religion (“Our prayers were here before any borders were”); and more. The brightly-colored, patterned illustrations feature the wide-eyed girl exploring her world and culture, and several spreads include her father. How about we let some artwork do the talking? <\/p>\n


\n
 

\n<\/a>
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“It has been said, if you climb a tree
to the very top and laugh, your smile will touch the sky.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
“There are questions this world will ask. What are you? And
where are you from?”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
“And there will come a day when some people in the world
will not smile at you.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
“One that day tell them this: <\/em>Yo soy Muslim. I am from Allah, angels,
and a place almost as old as time. I speak Spanish, Arabic, and dreams.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/center>
\n
 

\nYO SOY MUSLIM: A FATHER’S LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER. Copyright \u00a9 2017 by Mark Gonzales. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2017 by Mehrdokht Amini. Illustrations reproduced by permission of the publisher, Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
<\/center><\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> Seeing Americans rally to help the folks in Houston. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Dean Dinners. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> Pizza and brownies with friends. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Surprise mail and James Marshall buttons. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Pie. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> I’m traveling to Boston this week (for work) and … <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> … I’m going to meet author-illustrator Claire Nivola<\/a><\/strong>. (Bucket-list item for me.)<\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Say it with me: Yo soy Muslim.Our prayers were here before any borders were.”(Click to enlarge spread)   Today, I’ve got some illustrations from Mark Gonzales’s Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter (Salaam Reads\/Simon & Schuster, August 2017), illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The Booklist reviews says it’s a book that “invites readers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}