Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan and Iqbal: A Brave Boy from Pakistan by Jeanette Winter



Winter, Jeanette  Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan and Iqbal: A Brave Boy from Pakistan Beach Lane (Simon and Schuster), 2014.  $17.99  PICTURE BOOK  Content: PG.  

Malala is a young girl who wants to go to school.  When the Taliban start to threaten her and her classmates, they keep going to school.  One day Malala is shot in the school van by the Taliban and she is rushed to the hospital.  Malala had a long road to recovery, but still speaks out that girls should have the opportunity to receive an education.   

Iqbal is a young boy who speaks out against child labor.  He was enslaved at the age of four so his parents could have money.  He worked many years in a carpet factory, but when he was ten he found out it was illegal to be enslaved, so he told all the boys in this factory.  Iqbal continued to tell people that it was illegal to be enslaved and eventually he was killed for voicing the truth about freedom.   

This is a book that has two sides-one tells Malala’s story and the other side tells Iqbal’s.  Both children were from Pakistan and showed that they could make a difference.  The illustrations are basic and simple, but the reason I put it as PG is because the Taliban feels very menacing throughout and Iqbal is killed (it shows his bike behind a building with a blast of light to symbolize the shot).  This would be a simple introduction to child labor and the fight for education.  

 EL-ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.

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