Did you know Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize United States independence?
Did you know one of the world’s oldest universities started in Morocco?
My husband is Moroccan and my children are very proud of their Moroccan heritage. It’s a country very dear to our hearts and we consider it our second home.I was planning on making a unit study about Morocco since we recently visited. I decided it would be a fun idea to share books that we’ve enjoyed.
5 Children’s Books About Morocco
Naseem’s Journey by Anjuli Farmay (Me)
Yep, you read that right! I’m the author of Naseem’s Journey, a children’s book about a young boy who discovers Morocco for the first time. He visits family, tries new food, makes new friends, and even learns the traditional Amazigh/Berber dance. This book was inspired by my children’s first experience in their father’s homeland. My book is full of details about Telouet, a village in the Atlas Mountains.
I even made a detailed flip-through of my book. Check it out!
Mirror by Jeannie Baker
My children enjoyed this book because it showed a child’s life in the Atlas Mountains. The Atlas Mountains are very familiar to them because we always visit their grandparents in Ouarzazate, located in the Atlas Mountains.
The description from Amazon says, “Somewhere in Sydney, Australia, a boy and his family wake up, eat breakfast, and head out for a busy day of shopping. Meanwhile, in a small village in Morocco, a boy and his family go through their own morning routines and set out to a bustling market. In this ingenious, wordless picture book, readers are invited to compare, page by page, the activities and surroundings of children in two different cultures. Their lives may at first seem quite unalike, but a closer look reveals that there are many things, some unexpected, that connect them as well. Designed to be read side by side — one from the left and the other from the right — these intriguing stories are told entirely through richly detailed collage illustrations.” ( Amazon description)
Solar Story: How One Community Lives Alongside the World’s Biggest Solar Plant by Allan Drummond
We noticed that a lot of people use solar energy in Morocco. We also noticed that Morocco has a lot of eco-friendly practices. “Allan Drummond tells the story of the largest solar plant in the world, the Noor Solar Power Plant in Morocco’s Sahara Desert, in Solar Story―by relating it to the everyday life of a schoolgirl in a small village next to the plant.” ( Amazon description)
One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World’s Oldest University by Mariam Quarishi
Although Fatima al-Fihri was Tunisian, she is very important to Moroccan history because she built one of the world’s oldest universities located in Fes, Morocco. Most people have no idea that one of the world’s oldest universities was started by a Muslim and African woman. My children are very proud of this fact.
“Fatima al-Fihri loved to learn. She wanted to know everything, like how birds flew, why the sky was blue, and how flowers grew. But more than anything, she wanted a school for all, where anyone could study and become whatever they wanted, like teachers, scientists, and doctors. As she grew older, Fatima carried her one wish inside her, through good times and bad. Fueled by her faith and her determination, she worked hard to make her one wish come true. For over a thousand years, Fatima’s one wish—her school—served students and scholars from around the globe, and it continues to do so today!”( Amazon description)
Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 by James Rumford
Ibn Battuta was a 14th- century Moroccan explorer from Tangier whose expeditions took him further than any other traveler of his time. He traveled for nearly 30 years and traveled to most countries in the Islamic world. He also explored West Africa, Europe, and Asia. His distance was even more than Marco Polo! My oldest son found his story fascinating because airplanes didn’t exist back then. He always mentions that he wonders what it felt like to travel by sea in the old days.
“James Rumford, himself a world traveler, has retold Ibn Battuta’s story in words and pictures, adding the element of ancient Arab maps—maps as colorful and evocative as a Persian miniature, as intricate and mysterious as a tiled Moroccan wall. Into this arabesque of pictures and maps is woven the story not just of a traveler in a world long gone but of a man on his journey through life.” ( Amazon description)
