Jemima Shafei-Ongu – författare

A little girl and her family help a lost and confused stranger to find her way home in this moving story about compassion, ageing and identity.They reached a giant lemon tree.The old woman sat up, tapping an urgent finger against the window.'Hay! Hay! Hanna zarr'et ha. Hay!''She's saying that Hanna planted this tree,' Mama said as Dad pulled over.'It's a beautiful tree, shajrah hhelweh,' Mama said to the old woman.When a little girl, Safiya, and her family help Maryam, a lost and confused stranger by the side of the road, to find her way home, they begin to understand who she is and the rich and remarkable life she has lived. Through kind-natured Safiya, we come to see Maryam, a woman who had been made invisible by society because of her ethnicity, race, religion, language, age and now dementia.With Arabic text interspersed throughout, A Lemon for Safiya is a wonderful exploration of language, diversity and culture.'A gentle and respectful story . . . Exquisite illustrations deepen the story by giving insight into a lost past and a distant homeland . . . Empathy and humanity are depicted on every page' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

A creepy-crawly original singalong celebrating spiders, imagination, and the Arab folk dance the dabke It’s a Midnight Creep! All the giants are asleep and the lights are out…Everybody give a shout and SCREEEAM!What do spiders do when we’re asleep? What if they gathered beneath the full moon for a celebration with jumping, dancing, and feasting until dawn? Party along with spiders of all kinds and get inspired to dance the dabke! But shhhh . . .  be careful not to wake the giants sleeping upstairs!Listen, sing, and dance along with audio singalong and video animation accessible via QR codeLearn about the dabke, a communal folk dance from the Arab worldEndnotes provide more information about spiders, the dabke dance and Arab music