The Salt Princess (Everlasting Tales #2)

Retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

Translated by Humera Syed

Harper (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-332471-8

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2025 

 

Folktales tell us a lot about a culture and people, yet many have commonalities across cultures and people. The Salt Princess, a story which Anoosha Syed humbly presents as a retelling, but illustrated by her, is one such folktale from Pakistan, told with a unique flair with the message that true happiness comes from being one's self.

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

In the Kingdom of Zammartud, the king had four daughters. Though her older sisters were "as lovely and bright" as their father hoped of his daughters, Amal was less so. Princess Amal loved pranks and making her sisters laugh. But, when her father asked his daughters how they loved him, her sisters compared their love for him to sweets like sugar, honey and sherbet. However, he is not pleased with Princess Amal's answer: "I love you like salt."

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

In a rage at comparing him to something as common as salt, the king banishes Princess Amal. She knows she had misspoken but now she is alone in the woods.

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

She is rescued by Prince Arsalan who hears her story and takes her to his kingdom. He appreciates her spirit and humour and, after a year had passed, he asks her to marry him. But that proposal reminds Amal of the absence of her family and the riff with her father. Being the clever woman she is, Amal devises a plan.

 

Prince Arsalan invites the king to a banquet where he is treated to countless sweet treats. Soon enough he realizes he would appreciate something other than desserts but even those dishes are lacking in flavour. It is only when a cloaked Amal gives him a humble farmer's dish of spinach seasoned with salt that his palate is satisfied. With that, Amal reveals herself and explains her love for him is as pure and valuable as the salt in that dish.

From The Salt Princess, retold and illustrated by Anoosha Syed

The tale in The Salt Princess will seem familiar with other stories in which a child is banished by a father who does not appreciate their self-expression. That parent has to come to realize the virtue and originality of being an individual and to look beyond the obvious. In her retelling, Anoosha Syed, a Pakistani Canadian artist, gives life to a tale she'd heard as a child and blankets it in the colour and culture of her heritage.

 

The story is told in words but also through the glow of Anoosha Syed's artwork. The illustrations begin bright and colourful, playful like Amal's mischievous pranks and spirited nature. But, as her story progresses, taking her into a forest, beautiful as it is, it becomes dark and foreboding. Then when she meets the prince, the artwork becomes comforting in tones of pinks and turquoise. And throughout the story, the artwork is rich in details in both the lushness of the shapes and vibrancy of its colours.

 

As with all folktales which entertain while teaching, The Salt Princess reminds us that perceptions of others may be misconstrued and inappropriately compel us to fit in by being untrue to ourselves. Thankfully, Princess Amal is a clever woman and true to herself and finds a way to prove to her father that her love for him is just as true, even if different.

Every Day is Malala Day

by Rosemary McCarney with Plan International

Second Story Press

978-1-927583-31-9

32 pp.

Ages 7-12

March, 2014

Malala Yousafzai's story is an inspirational one.  This 15-year-old girl was shot in the head by the Taliban for speaking out for the rights of all girls to receive an education.  Her drive for justice was not diminished by her injury but, instead, drew global attention and accolades, all modestly accepted by this young woman.  After the United Nations declared July 12, 2013 Malala Day, Plan International produced a film (Dear Malala) depicting girls writing to Malala and sharing their appreciation and support for her endeavours for all girls.  Photographs of girls from many countries (countries identified in each photo) are captioned with the girls' poignant words and messages to Malala.  These are the words we all need to hear and take to heart.

Dedicated to the "other 65 million girls in the world today who are neither in primary school nor secondary school" (pg. 32), Every Day is Malala Day stands up for girls everywhere, acknowledging their rights, their trials, their strengths and their hopes for a world in which education is for all. It is a stunningly beautiful book in its captivating photographs of hopeful girls and their simple words, appended with Malala Yousafzai's brilliant speech at the United Nations. 

The telling of Malala's story, through the news or videos, is a difficult one and most presentations of this story do not consider the needs of a youthful audience, the very audience for whom Malala struggles.  THIS is the story that every child, every parent, every teacher and every school administer should be reading. And reading again.  Every Day is Malala Day recognizes the tragedy of Malala's rise to the world stage but the far greater story is the impact it has had on children and others to join her in her crusade.  The young women whose words appear on the pages of this book pound with hope and admiration and the determination to carry her message forward.  The power of  Malala's story as told by Rosemary McCarney with Plan International has the candour and honour of its righteous message.

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Dear Malala, the Plan International video upon which Every Day is Malala Day is based, can be viewed on the Plan International channel on YouTube.  I've attached it here for readers perusal.  It is a powerful video.

Uploaded by Plan International on June 26, 2013 to YouTube.

An Infidel in Paradise

by S. J. Laidlaw

Tundra Books

978-1-77049-304-9

311 pp.

Ages 12+

February, 2013

in·fi·del
noun \ˈin-fə-dəl, -fə-ˌdel\
1 : one who is not a Christian or who opposes Christianity
2 a : an unbeliever with respect to a particular religion b : one who acknowledges no religious belief
3 : a disbeliever in something specified or understood

Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infidel on May 8, 2013

Under this definition of infidel, just about anyone could be called an infidel.  Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, agnostics - all could be considered infidels by another group.  Yet the scathing judgement that is leveled against sixteen-year-old Emma as a Canadian teen forced to live in Islamabad, Pakistan is especially outrageous; she doesn't want to be there anymore than anyone else wants her there.

After her dad takes off with the family maid from their posting in Manila, Emma Grey's family (older brother Vince, younger sister Mandy and Mom) relocate to Pakistan for her mother's job, running the consular section of the Canadian embassy. Though embassy children are used to moving around a lot, the whole "make-new-friends and learn-to-fit-in" process required to make lifetolerable seems more problematic for Emma this time, probably because of her father's absence and mother's absorption in her work and obliviousness to her children's needs.  Emma is resentful of her mother for forcing them to move (this was a weak effort to make Dad choose between his family and new partner), and for expecting more of Emma specifically, including mothering eight-year-old Mandy.  Not surprising that Emma is brutally honest when asked by a new classmate, Mustapha Khan, how she is enjoying Pakistan.

"Well," I begin, feeling the familiar anger wakening like a beast inside me, "there's not a single mall, movie theater, or Caramel Frappuccino within a thousand miles, but there are huge poisonous reptiles, beggars on every street corner and all the atmosphere of a maximum-security penitentiary.  I'm just surprised there's not more tourism." (pg. 21-22)

 Ouch.  Not the way to make friends and influence people apparently.  Although she is quickly welcomed by Angie, a girl from the American compound, and introduced to her friends, Leeza, Jazzy and Tahira, Emma's candour and insistence on personal freedom place her at odds with several students, including Aisha, Mustapha's wealthy "promised" one, and Faarooq, protective and strict brother of Tahira.

All conflict is compounded when Mustapha continues to pay attention to Emma, much to Aisha's irritation, and Emma and Mustapha are thrown into a drama group with Faarooq and another boy Ali to produce a skit about conflict, first focusing on a racist American girl (hint?) and then on a Pakistani boy who likes a Canadian girl.  And, although Emma enlists Angie's help to avoid being alone with Mustapha, knowing that she is attracted to him, she and Mustapha are repeatedly thrown together, sometimes because he chooses to be with her and sometimes because he wants to be kind.  It all makes for much cultural and romantic confusion.

I can't imagine the transient lifestyle of foreign service families and the particular skills that the children must need to navigate new lives successfully.  Couple that with divorced parents and living with a workaholic mother and in a tenuous political-religious situation, and you've got all the makings of a disaster.  S. J. Laidlaw thankfully has given Emma the wicked sense of humour, common sense and heart to find a way to help Mandy and herself, as well as carve a niche for themselves in their new world.  She finds a source of wisdom, recognizing the value in the kind and comforting Mr. Akbar, and has enough insight to recognize her own flaws and address them as she can.

S. J. Laidlaw could have imbued "An Infidel in Paradise" with the same resentment that is implied in the scathing indictment of "Infidel!" leveled against Emma but she does not.  Instead, she plays with the idea that the safety of "inside", whether it be the compound, one's comfort zone or culture, and the danger of "outside" is not always the case.  It has more to do with perception and broaching that transition with caution in an effort to make both territories manageable.  Even Emma is able to find herself accepting her new life as "An Infidel in Paradise."