About this item
Just as Aria feared, sitting on the floor is so uncomfortable that she can't think about learning at all. She knows that before the war changed many things in Afghanistan, schools like hers had benches for students to sit at. If she had a bench, her leg would not hurt so much. The answer is obvious: she will gather materials, talk to Kaka Najar, the carpenter in the old city, and learn to build a bench for herself. In A Sky-Blue Bench, , author of The Library Bus, returns again to the setting of his homeland, Afghanistan, to reveal the resilience and resolve of young children -- especially young girls -- who face barriers to education. Illustrator imbues Aria with an infectious spunkiness and grit that make her relatable even to readers with a very different school experience.
About the Author
Bahram Rahman was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and grew up during the civil war and the Taliban regime. He earned a medical degree at Kabul Medical University and a master's degree in public policy at the University of Erfurt, Germany, while also working as an activist in Afghanistan in the areas of gender equality and youth political participation. Bahram came to Canada as a refugee in 2012, and today he is a senior policy advisor at the Ministry of Health in Ontario. His first picture book, Governor General's Literary Award finalist , was praised by the for documenting the barriers to education experienced by girls in war-torn countries and their resilience and ingenuity in overcoming them.
