A Kid's Guide to Arab American History

More Than 50 Activities

Yvonne Wakim Dennis, Maha Addasi

• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN:
  9781613740200
• Edition: 1

Many Americans, educators included, mistakenly believe all Arabs share the same culture, language, and religion, and have only recently begun immigrating to the United States. A Kid's Guide to Arab American History dispels these and other stereotypes and provides a contemporary as well as historical look at the people and experiences that have shaped Arab American culture. Each chapter focuses on a different group of Arab Americans including those of Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Iraqi, and Yemeni descent and features more than 50 fun activities that highlight their distinct arts, games, clothing, and food. Kids will love dancing the dabke, constructing a derbekke drum, playing a game of senet, making hummus, creating an arabesque design, and crafting an Egyptian-style cuff bracelet. Along the way they will learn to count in Kurdish, pick up a few Syrian words for family members, learn a Yemeni saying, and speak a little Iraqi. Short biographies of notable Arab Americans, including actor and philanthropist Danny Thomas, singer Paula Abdul, artist Helen Zughaib, and activist Ralph Nader, demonstrate a wide variety of careers and contributions.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Note to Readers
• Time Line
• Introduction
• 1 Who Are Arab Americans
• 2 Lebanese Americans
• 3 Syrian Americans
• 4 Palestinian and Jordanian Americans
• 5 Egyptian Americans
• 6 Iraqi Americans
• 7 Yemeni Americans
• 8 Arab Americans From the African Continent: Moroccan, Tunisian, Algerian, and Libyan Americans
• 9 Arab Americans From Arabian Gulf Countries: Saudi, Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Qatari, Emirati, and Omani Americans
• 10 From Admiral to Zero: Celebrate the Arabic Heritage of America
• Resources
• Index