Motherhood, a Literary Starter Kit

Diwan Al-Umumah (Office of Motherhood), edited by Rana Al-Tonsi

This collection of poems and essays, curated by Egyptian poet Rana Al-Tonsi, brings together works by 17 women writers, each focused on their personal experiences with motherhood. The collection includes work by poets and novelists from across the region as they grapple with motherhood in different ways, from the wit of Palestinian writer Maya Abu Al-Hayat to the tenderness of Iraqi poet and essayist Manal Al-Sheikh. This is a look at motherhood that doesn’t put mothers on an impossible pedestal, but rather face-to-face with the reader.

The Anthology of Motherhood, edited by Rachel Piercey and Emma Wright

This second anthology also underlines that there is no one “correct” way of being a mother. The Anthology of Motherhood brings together a wide range of short poems by poets with varying life experiences and views of motherhood. Most of the poems are brief and straightforward, yet narrated with an eye-opening freshness. Each can be read in a single sitting: between diaper changes, nursing sessions, or during the grace of a fifteen-minute nap.

Aswat al Abjaddyah (Sounds of the Alphabet), by Nadine Touma and Lara Assouad

Alphabet books are important to all tiny readers, and there is a wide variety in both Arabic and English. I have a sentimental attachment to Walid Taher’s sweet and funny Horoufy Al-Gamila (My Beautiful Letters), since it’s what I read with my own children, but Nadine Touma’s Aswat al Abjaddyah is a singular classic. The Arabic letters here are printed in the award-winning “Tabati” script created by Lara Assouad, and each letter leads to an active verb that uses a sound that echoes its meaning, such as where the playful T sound is the taktaka of a ticking clock.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert

This classic by the author of the beloved Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is a warm and musical delight, and it’s hard not to dance a little while reading it aloud. It begins with “A told B and B told C, I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree,” and each verse is punctuated with a separate “chicka chicka boom boom.” I am not sure how many thousands of times I read-sang this book to my children, night after night, but I’m not tired of it yet.

Ayna Ada’ak (Where Do I Put You?), by Fatima Sharafeddine, illustrated by Fereshteh Najafi

One thing that’s essential for bedtime reading is repetition and familiarity. This means both a book that repeats certain phrases over and over (in this case, while trying to fit an elephant into small spaces) and a book that will hold a child’s attention, night after night. Where Do I Put You shows us the parts of an elephant, one at a time, as a girl tries to fit her friend into increasingly improbable places. Throughout it all, the elephant is simply too big—until the girl realizes an elephant is the perfect size to fit in her heart. 

Goodnight, Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann

This is another book that balances humor and repetition. In it, a zookeeper goes around and says goodnight to various animals in a zoo. But when he comes to the gorilla, the gorilla manages to steal his keys. At this point, the gorilla looks directly at the child who’s reading and puts a finger to his lips, urging the child to keep his secret. The gorilla then lets loose a bunch of other animals, who follow the zookeeper home, after which his wife must bring them all back to their cages. The book keeps a child’s nighttime attention with both sweet simplicity and gentle humor.