![If You See a Bluebird by Bahram Rahman illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard](https://islamicschoollibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_0083.jpg?w=142)
If You See a Bluebird by Bahram Rahman illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
![](https://islamicschoollibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2023/09/img_0083.jpg?w=142)
This cultural picture book shows life of an Afghan family before fleeing the country and after. In the flashbacks the women are wearing hijab, now in the west they are not. I debated if I should do a complete review or just a Muslim in the illustration tag, and ultimately decided to do a review so that I might document what I fear is a new trend. In the last ten years most Afghan books addressed international involvement, the Taliban, and refugees, but seemed to still feature Islam and the characters as Muslim. This book carries the refugee theme, but Islam is seen in the “before” illustrations only. Another recently published book, The Carpet: An Afghan Family Story, similarly contained no Islam, but interestingly also kept it out of the illustrations. Realistically, I know that two books don’t make a trend, but with the change of politics in Afghanistan, I think the OWN voice narratives are important to watch and be aware of. In the past an Afghan book would be conflated with also being an Islamic rep book, and I don’t know if that will continue to be the case. I also don’t know what the take away impression would be upon a kid if they were to pick the book off the shelf. Would they find the head coverings in the unsafe country and the lack of hijabs in the safe country as a message about Islam, would they understand the politics, would they even notice? The sweet story of a boy picking berries with his grandma involves music, wishing on birds, and reflecting on the violence that forced them to leave Afghanistan.
The book starts with Ali and his Nana waking up early to pick blackberries. They don’t want to wake his exhausted parents, and quietly pack a lunch and get on their bikes and head out. The blackberries are not as sweet as the mulberries he remembers from Afghanistan. Suddenly he misses home.
The family left Kabul after soldiers came to their house and they knew it wasn’t safe anymore. He couldn’t bring both of his stuffies and the family left on foot at night. They rode a bus and waited behind a fence before they boarded a plane.
Back in the present the two eat their picnic, when a bluebird arrives, Nana tells Ali to make a wish before it flies away. Nana says all her wishes have come true: the family is safe and together. Ali is whisked back to sitting beneath the mulberry tree with his parents laughing and his toys around, he wishes for home. Nana explains that home is not a place, it is the love you have. The book concludes with Ali appreciating his loving family and his new “home.”