Hilwa's Gifts
$27.62
- Hardcover
40 pages
- Release Date
1 April 2025
Summary
“Combining a centuries-old practice with the story about a Palestinian family and their relationship to the land make Hilwa’s Gifts an absolute treasure.” —Booklist (starred review)
A heartwarming picture-book debut brings a tradition many thousands of years old—harvesting and pressing olives into oil—vividly to life, showing how customs unite us across time and space.
Ali has arrived in Palestine for a visit just in time for the olive harvest. His gr…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781536229424 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1536229423 |
| Author: | Safa Suleiman, Anait Semirdzhyan |
| Publisher: | Candlewick Press,U.S. |
| Imprint: | Candlewick Press,U.S. |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 40 |
| Release Date: | 1 April 2025 |
| Weight: | 493g |
| Dimensions: | 267mm x 259mm x 9mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
Combining a centuries-old practice with the story about a Palestinian family and their relationship to the land make Hilwa’s Gifts an absolute treasure.
—Booklist (starred review)
Suleiman’s happy childhood memories come alive in this heartwarming story of tradition passed down through generations. Semirdzhyan’s earth-toned, digitally created illustrations capture the family affair that is the olive season… An authentic and heartfelt celebration of family and nature.
—Kirkus Reviews
This is a quietly buoyant story about family, food, and tradition, and the ending is especially heartwarming… Delicate linework and soft, watercolor-like dappling give the book an overall cozy feel, and the earthy tones are well suited to the breezy, warm setting. Pair with Odeh’s A Map for Falasteen (BCCB 10⁄24) for a celebration of Palestinian culture and how traditions can bring a family closer despite geographical distance.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
A variety of framing choices keep the visual pacing lively, leading to an intergenerational family picnic that, amid the bounty, proves “the greatest gift.”
—Publishers Weekly
A gentle story about intergenerational bonds and the significance of olive trees to Palestinians as both sustenance and a metaphor representing closeness to the land.
—The Horn Book
About The Author
Safa Suleiman
Safa Suleiman is a Palestinian American educator with more than twenty years of experience in undergraduate and elementary school pedagogy. She now focuses on writing and teaching through storytelling centering the Palestinian and the American Muslim communities. Hilwa’s Gifts is her first book. She lives with her family in Colorado on the homeland of the Ute Nation.
Anait Semirdzhyan is the illustrator of Just Us by Molly Beth Griffin, Bábo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day by Astrid Kamalyan, The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale by Aya Khalil, and many other acclaimed books for children. Born in Kazakhstan and raised in Armenia, she now lives in the Seattle area with her husband and twin daughters.
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