Ali lives in Baghdad and is passionate about learning to write Arabic. For him the calligraphy is not just about communication but also about the beauty of the characters and what they represent. He likes other things, too, especially soccer, but the letters are what he loves most of all. “Writing a long sentence is like watching a soccer player in slow motion as he kicks the ball across the field, as I leave a trail of dots and loops behind me.” Ali’s hero is Yakut, a famous calligrapher who lived in Baghdad eight hundred years ago. Then, as now, there was a war in Baghdad. And like Yakut, Ali writes to “fill my mind with peace.” Beautifully designed and written, James Rumford’s picture book is grounded in both small details—of Ali’s home and family—and big ideas. Above all is Ali’s knowledge that there are easy words and hard ones, and “peace”— salam —is one of the hard ones to get right. Arabic characters grace the pages of the book, incorporated into illustrations inspired by pictures taken in Iraq by photographers and American service personnel. Honor Book, 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 7–10)

WHEN BOMBS BEGIN TO FALL, Ali drowns out the sould of war with a pen. Like other children living in Baghdad, Ali loves soccer, music and dancing, but most of all, he loves the ancient art of calligraphy. When bombs begin to fall on his city, Ali turns to his pen, writing sweeping and gliding words to the silent music that drowns out the war all around him. Gorgeously illustrated with collage, pencil and charcoal drawings and, of course, exquisite calligraphy, this timely and yet universal story celebrates art and history but also offers young children a way to understand all they see and hear on the news. Silent Music is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.