Library Bus

The Library Bus is a book about Pari, who is starting her first day as a library helper in Kabul, Afghanistan. Pari is nervous but will go to school next year to learn English. Illustrator Gabrielle Grimards' art transports the reader to Afghanistan in the time after the Taliban's first regime, celebrating literacy, ingenuity, and the strength of women and girls demanding a future for themselves.

Format: Hardback
Length: 32 pages
Publication date: 24 November 2020
Publisher: Pajama Press

Bahram Rahman, the author of "The Library Bus," grew up in Afghanistan during the years of civil war and the restrictive Taliban regime of 1996-2001. Rahman wrote "The Library Bus" to tell the new generations about the struggles of women who, like his own sister, were forbidden to learn.

It is still dark in Kabul, Afghanistan, when the library bus rumbles out of the city. There are no bus seats—instead, there are chairs, tables, and shelves of books. And there are no passengers—instead, there is Pari, nervously starting her first day as Mama's library helper. Pari stands tall to hand out notebooks and pencils at the villages and the refugee camp, but she feels intimidated. The girls they visit are learning to write English from Mama. Pari can't even read or write in Farsi yet. But next year, she will go to school and learn all there is to know. And she is so lucky. Not long ago, Mama tells her, girls were not allowed to read at all.

Award-winning illustrator Gabrielle Grimard's pensive and captivating art transports the reader to Afghanistan in the time after the Taliban's first regime. Her rich landscapes and compelling characters celebrate literacy, ingenuity, and the strength of women and girls demanding a future for themselves.

Weight: 402g
Dimension: 238 x 263 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781772781014