Easy Reader Series Series: Ali the Great

I love discovering a new cache of books by an author I already know and trust. I stumbled across an Ali the Great book at the Arlington Library one day, and truly gasped. I love the Yasmin series, and I trust Saadia Faruqi with my reading time, and so why not give a go to these four new easy readers in the “Ali the Great series”

Each book has a sort of pronunciation/glossary guide at the front to Urdu words such as family names, jokes in the back, and details on the core of the store–Eid, for example. This is a really easy series to hand to kids that’s a simple window—allowing non-Urdu speaking, or Pakistani kids, to experience the cultural elements infused into stories they already recognize the structure of: shopping and school stories and holiday parties and siblings and friendships.

Ali the Great and the Market Mishap

This is a really low-stakes but relatable story for kids: Ali and his grandfather and his little brother go to the store (A South Asian Market) and Fateh, the little brother, gets lost. Ali has to find him, and there’s no real peril–it’s just a quick and fast read that’ll make kids be like “yes that’s me”

Ali the Great and the Eid Party Surprise

Chasing Fateh continues in this one, but it’s Eid, so there’s prayer, food, and family all around as Ali figures out how to make Fateh happy. I do appreciate that we never see him upset at Fateh–he simply acknowledges this is what kids are like sometimes. It’s got jokes in the back that are cute, and I loved seeing Yasmin make an appearance as one of Ali’s friends.

Ali the Great and the Dinosaur Mistake

Ali’s class visits a Natural History Museum and his “expert” status on dinosaurs is challenged as they learn together, but Ali learns that learning and being wrong is part of science. It’s fun because some kids will definitely feel a certain way about this sort of story line, but it’s a low-risk entry to museum inquiry, etc.

Ali the Great and the Paper Airplane Flop

Ali makes paper airplanes for his friends, but when they have a contest, he doesn’t win. His plane ally-oops and lands behind him, and Yasmin wins. Disappointed at first, Ali realizes he is a winner amongst his friends because he made the planes and they all got to learn to fly them together.