Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad

Author/Illustrator: James Rumford

Plot Summary: A young boy growing up in Baghdad during the war in 2003 describes his love for calligraphy and the Arabic language. His descriptions of writing and the forming of letters are woven in to metaphors for different aspects of life - his grandfather's name, his sister's name and the words for war and peace. His mother compares his love of writing to Yakut, a famous calligrapher from Baghdad The collage, cut-out design used for the illustrations is graphic and interesting adding another level of depth to the story.

Comments: There are many different elements to this book which make it very useful in the classroom. It could a foundation for lessons on the Iraq War, war in general, calligraphy and language, and Arab and Islamic culture. I'm not sure it would be an appropriate book for students under second grade. It would be a great book to use in the context of "social justice" but that is not explicitly stated in any standard and I'm not sure it is necessarily promoted in public school. Perhaps under the auspices of Expeditionary Learning or in the International Baccalaureate program.

Extensions:
1. For fourth(or fifth) grade students, the students would listen to the book as a read aloud with the intention of writing a composition about the messages in the book. The teacher could lead a short discussion about what those messages might be or wait until after the students have done their writing and then have them share their ideas. The teacher could prompt the students with some of the key words or to further differentiate instruction, the assignment could focus on specific questions ranging from What did you like about the book? or what was your favorite part of the book? to What were the primary messages the book was trying to communicate?

2. This book could also be used as part of a collaborative effort with the art teacher who would teach the students to write calligraphy. The art teacher could either teach calligraphy using the English language or teach simple Arabic words as taken from the book. Or, another idea would be teach the students to use calligraphy to write the word "Peace" in a number of different scripts - Japanese, English, Arabic, Hebrew, etc. The book would be read aloud to introduce the lesson with a discussion of how many different cultures use calligraphy.

3. For younger students, second and third grade, the book could be used as a read aloud and especially in a school with Arab-speaking children or children whose parents are from Arab-speaking countries.

Themes/keywords: Calligraphy, Arabic, Iraq War, 2003., Baghdad, Iraq, Iraq

Age/Reading Level: Interest Level K-3, ATOS - 3.8; Follett - 5.6; Lexile - 830

Standards:

ELA4LSV2 (could also apply to 5th grade)The student listens to and views various forms of text and media in order to gather and share information, persuade others, and express and understand ideas.

ELA4R1 (could also apply to 5th grade) The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational texts.

SS7G8
The student will describe the diverse cultures of the people who live in Southwest Asia (Middle East)

Expeditionary Learning Design Principle: Diversity and Inclusion

Publisher's Info: Roaring Brook Press, 2008

ISBN-13: 978-1-59643-276-5
ISBN-10: 1-59643-276-4

Awards/Review Sources:

School Library Journal starred 04/01/08	Publishers Weekly starred 03/10/08
Booklist 04/15/08	Horn Book 10/01/08
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 04/01/08	Kirkus Review 02/15/08
Library Media Connection 04/01/08	Wilson's Children 01/01/09

Charlotte Zolotow Honor Books 2009 Jane Addams Book Award 2009 - Honor Notable Books for a Global Society 2009 Notable Children's Books 2009 - Middle Readers

Genre/Dewey: Fiction; Easy/Everybody

Websites:
http://2009bookclubblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/silent-music-story-of-baghdad.html - Review with additional ideas for extensions.

Notes for Booktalk:

Vocabulary: calligraphy