Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad

Lovely and unique book celebrating an essential Islamic art form. My only question was, if Yakut was born in either Turkey or Ethiopia, why did they choose to make him so pale? It reeked of the light/white skin obsession that pervades the middle east and poisons the brown majority. If he is Turkish, fine. If he may be Ethiopian, this is just as problematic as the Bilal cartoon/movie. Other than that, it was a very simple and enjoyable book that familiarizes children with a new culture, new circumstances, and habits. I liked that sport and play did not overshadow more worthwhile pursuits (penmanship).

Interesting book. It gave a glimpse into a different world.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. The art work is glorious, with colors like a shrine, plus humorous pictures of a dad shaving and delightedly discovering where his son practiced calligraphy in the steam on the mirror. The drawing of a boy hunched under a blanket with the cat and trying to write by flashlight will tell any child the fear but also perseverance of blackout during war. The story line is inevitable, simple, and profound, and all of us adults need the book as much as (or more than) any 10-year-old.

We came across this book through our Middle East Study from Simply Charlotte Mason, and it was a gem. The art and story were a gentle way to talk about kids dealing with the conflicts in the Middle East.

I work with English Language Learners and some of them can make personal connections to this book. The illustrations are lovely and they notice how the variety of Arabic calligraphy has changed over time.

I love James Rumford's books, illustrating his writing with pictures and flowing words. It introduces young people to the wonderful art of Islamic calligraphy, a worthy addition to every child's library.

Its great when you can find books to share with your kids that give them a different perspective of the world. This book does that.

Kids loved learning about another country culture.

On the surface, this story seems innocent - it is the story of a poor boy in Baghdad, who lives a normal life, plays soccer, spends time with his friends, loves his family, just like Western boys, until, all of a sudden, his city gets caught up in war. The boy tries to find peace within himself in the midst of all the fear, death and destruction surrounding him by practicing his writing skills in Arabic script. He's still learning how to write. At the end of the book, he writes the Arabic words "salam" ("peace") and "harb" ("war"). He claims that it's easier for him to write the word "harb" than the word "salam" - i.e., that it's easier to make war than peace. The book is supposed to elicit in its readers sympathy for this boy and for many of the innocent Iraqi children who died during the attacks on Iraq. This book points the finger of blame at the USA for the war on Iraq - it is a critique of the USA - while Iraq of all blame. The most troubling part of this book, for me, is the ending because it alludes to world divisions in Islam. In Islam, the world is seen as divided into two parts: the House of War (Dar al-Harb) and the House of Peace (Dar us-Salam / Dar al-Islam). All countries that have submitted to Islam, Islamic Sharia law and become Islamic States are seen as being part of the House of Peace (Dar al-Islam). War need not be waged upon them. All countries that are not Islamic, but ruled by secular laws (for example Western countries in Europe and North America), are seen as corrupt. War must be waged upon all countries that are part of Dar al-Harb, until they finally submit to Islam, become Islamic States, and until Sharia Law is imposed upon them. Only then, when they become a part of the House of Peace, will they deserve to be at peace. Until then, the Islamic world must hate them, oppose them and do everything to destroy them. In this Islamic world-view, there will be world peace only if and when the whole world becomes Muslim and if and when all the hell-worthy "kafir" ("infidel") non-Muslims (Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Shintos, Hindus, atheists, etc.) are either converted and made to follow the one and only true path (Islam), subdued and forced to pay the punitive Jizyah tax (in case of Christians and Jews only), or killed (if they don't wish to convert or admit defeat and pay the Jizyah regularly). This is the true allusion in this book - to House of Peace (Islamic nations) vs. the House of War (the rest of the world) - and the hidden message of this book (USA and other Western nations are hurting our Islamic nations - they are very "evil" and with "Sheytan" (or the Devil) - and we must fight them with all our might and wage Jihad, obligatory Holy War, on them, until they are completely destroyed, subdued and overpowered by Islam and until the whole world worships only Allah, is ruled only by Islam and no other system of religion or government, and all other religions are eradicated and disappear from this world. Only then the world will know peace. A very dangerous message, applauding hate towards and war on so-called "kafir" (infidel) nations (Dar al-Harb), hidden in such an innocent-seeming children's book that's supposed to be a critique of war. It is certainly a critique of war on Iraq, but it covertly encourages war on non-Muslim "infidel" and "corrupt" nations (or the Dar al-Harb, to which it alludes in the end). Please see Wikipedia's article "Divisions of the World in Islam" for more information. I, too, feel sorry for all the innocent children who died in the attacks on Iraq, but what about all the innocent children who died on Islamic attacks on Europe during the reign of the Ottoman Empire or all the innocent Christian, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish children who are being killed or enslaved to this day in India and Africa because they are not Muslim? The book does not mention that.