Javaherbin, Mina. My Father’s House. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2024.
Many years ago, Muslims and Jews lived peacefully together in Iran. When Cyrus the Great, in 539 BCE, said the Jewish people, who had been taken into captivity in Babylon, could return to Judea, many returned. But some decided to stay in the Persian Empire and over 2,000 years later, a sizeable Jewish community still thrived in the city of Isfahan. In this autobiographical picture book, little Mina visits the city with her father, chats with her father’s friend David, enjoys a picnic, explores a mosque, and returns to her father’s childhood home to share a meal with her grandmother. She falls asleep thinking of her father’s words: keep exploring and learning for the whole world is your home. Gently cheerful illustrations by Lindsey Yankey and a lengthy author’s note and glossary help to create a heart-warming and hopeful story highly recommended for readers – and listeners – 5 to 12 years old.Â
