In celebration of ¥ Arab American Heritage Month this April, we’ve curated a selection of ¥ award-winning books, book rationales, and classroom resources and lesson plans to uplift Arab American history, culture, scholarship, and literature.
On April 30 at 7:00 p.m. ET, ¥ members are invited to join English Language Arts Teacher Educators (ELATE) for an online event, “From Egypt to Palestine: Celebrating Arab Heritage in Teaching and Teacher Education,” with author Hannah Moushabeck and Dr. Sawsan Jaber. Members will learn about Arab regions in the world, gain practical strategies for integrating Arab and Palestinian literature, and access booklists to expand their text sets and curricula. Learn more and register.
Books Recognized by ¥’s Children’s Book and Poetry Awards
by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
This title was named one of ¥’s 2025 Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
This title was a 2023 ¥ Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children Recommended Book. See the associated ¥ book rationale.
by Mona Damluji
This title was named one of ¥’s 2022 Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels.
by Aya Khalil; illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan
This title was a 2021 ¥ Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children Recommended Book. See the associated ¥ book rationale.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
This title was named one of ¥’s 2021 Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
This title was named one of ¥’s 2015 Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels.
¥ Book Rationales
¥’s book rationales are available to members only. Not a member? .
These Olive Trees: A Palestinian Family’s Story by Aya Ghanameh (grades preK–2)
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (grades 4–7)
Classroom Resources and Lesson Plans from
This article provides information to help elementary teachers learn about the Arab culture, select books about Arabs and Arab Americans, and use this literature to promote cultural awareness and improve comprehension.
(grades 3–5)
Awareness and true understanding of other cultures can create the desire to take action. In this lesson, students learn about Palestinian Arabs.
(grades 6–8)
Adapted from Sheryl L. Finkle and Tamara J. Lilly’s Middle Ground: Exploring Selected Literature from and about the Middle East, this variation on traditional literature circles exposes students to a variety of young adult fiction from and about the Middle East.
(grades 6–8)
Engage middle school students in a meaningful study of the lives of students from across the globe through the use of contemporary nonfiction and fiction.
(grades 9–12)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and assess the impact of visual elements on their comprehension of the beginning of the story, while exploring the recent history of the Middle East as presented by Satrapi.