FROM THE PAGE: An Excerpt from Baba’s Gift

Baba’s Gift is a radiant celebration of a Persian father’s love of family, from his boyhood in Iran to his new life in America.

Baba enchants his six daughters with his stories, transporting them to his childhood in Iran as they play on the flowering vines of the Persian carpet in California. He tells the story of a determined young man who comes to the United States, the challenges of leaving his Persian family, and the unfolding of his new American life.

This picture book is written in the voice of two daughters telling the story of their Baba (“father” in Farsi).  It weaves together the love of two countries with the love of family.

A perfect read-aloud for parents, grandparents, and teachers, the story inspires curiosity about other cultures and connection between generations.

Baba’s Gift–full of delight, tenderness, and vibrant illustrations by award-winning Persian illustrator Elaheh Taherian–sparkles with the beauty of love and family around the world.

Read an excerpt below:

I call my dad Baba. Baba means “dad” in Farsi.

 

Baba gave my five sisters and me middle names from his homeland: Shereen for “sweetness,” Roshan for “light,” Parvanah for “butterfly,” Shaheen for “princess,” and Farine after Baba—whose name is Fariborz. I am Maheen. Maheen for “moon.”

 

My sisters and I look up at the moon from our home in California.

 

Baba says, “This same moon illuminated my nights when I was a boy in Iran.”

 

Baba dances with us on the intricate patterns and flowering vines of our Persian carpet. He lifts us each up and twirls us until we are dizzy. Then he sets us down and we feel like we are floating.

 

“Baba, what did your home in Iran look like?” I ask.

 

He traces the swirling indigo and pomegranate colors of the carpet with his fingers and says, “My childhood home had gardens that looked like this.”

 

My sisters and I imagine ourselves in fragrant gardens of jasmine and roses, skipping between mulberry trees.

 

Baba says, “The gardens connected my family’s houses. Every neighbor was an aunt or an uncle, a niece or a nephew, a cousin or a second cousin.”

 

On warm summer nights, Baba says his family would enjoy dinner outside, eating dishes like saffron rice and joojeh kebabs, drinking tea with sugar cubes, and telling stories.

Look inside Baba’s Gift