Summary
Salma wants to make her busy and exhausted mother happy again. Since they moved from Syria to Canada Salma hasn’t seen her mother laugh and she’s determined to change that. With the support of her new friends, other immigrants, she makes a Syrian dish, foul shami, to surprise her mom. Things go wrong when making it but her new friends help her to fix them, her mother is happy with her effort but reminds Salma, she is what makes her happy. Salma is then able to see the beauty in her new home.
Theme(s):
Family, Traditions, Friendship
Personal Response
This was such a sweet book. It’s very relatable to try to make something perfect for someone because you know how much it will mean to that person and then everything isn’t going as planned. Salma was frustrated with the mistakes she made but she persevered with the help of her friends. In the end the mistakes actually helped to make her mom laugh. Her mom was also able to see how worried her daughter was and so she helped to reassure Salma that she is what makes her happy.
Teaching Ideas
For social studies students can start an inquiry project by looking up recipes from their own culture and other cultures and compare them. Students can delve into the geography and agriculture to compare the different foods that are more abundant or available in different countries. As an SEL activity students can make a connection to Salma by discussing and writing about a time when everything seemed as if it was going wrong and how they were able to overcome it.
Recommended Reading Level
Grade 02, Grade 03, Grade 04, Grade 05, Grade 06
