• Age: 11 to 13
• Grade: 6 to 8
• Reading age: 11 to 13

An Artist's Journey emphasises the values of loyalty and belonging to one's homeland, speaking to teens in an eloquent and beautiful language while raising contemporary issues of immigration and problems faced by expatriates, as well as the value of art and cultural integration. It is a captivating story told by an enlightened grandmother in the Hakawati style. She uses sound effects, masks and drawing tools while nar­rating the tale. Told from the perspective of small and colourful birds, the story is a miniature example of desired civic life in the Arab Islamic so­cieties based on the values of justice, equality, respect for the supremacy of law, tolerance, love, cooperation, national identity, and defending the homeland. This book encourages educators to teach in different ways, such as using art to engage children to pursue knowledge, acquire life skills and develop their intelligence.

Professor of Education Sciences at the Higher Institute for Applied Studies in Humanities in Sbeitla, Tunisia, Mizouni Bannani won the Re­gional Creativity Prize for Child Literature in Kasserine in 1999 and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2021. He has published two collections of short stories titled Humma Al Ardh (The Fever of the Earth) and Mawawil Aaed men Dhefat Al Nar (Mawawil of the One who Returned from the Shore of Fire) in addition to a novel Doroob Al Hawan (Paths of Humiliation). He has also published a collection of literary works for chil­dren and teens, including Sorah Laysat Kalswar (A Picture Like No Other), Turab Al Watab (The Soil of the Homeland), Rehlat Fannan (An Artist's Journey) and several others. Bannani works as a liter­ary and artistic consultant at Al Moanasah Publishing House in Tunisia.

Mizouni Bannani's profile page

Nouha Homad has had a career as university professor teaching English and comparative literature, and French and Spanish language and literature. She is a writer, editor, certified freelance translator and artist. Syrian by birth and parentage, Homad grew up in Paris, Madrid, Rome, Cairo, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, and Damascus absorbing languages and cultural experiences along the way. She has since lived in Beirut, Amman, Washington DC, Tripoli, Aberystwyth and London, and Montreal among other places, and this has continued to enrich and influence her cosmopolitan vision. She lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Nouha Homad's profile page