(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard. Young Pari joins her mother on the library bus for the first time. The bus brings books to remote villages and refugee camps "beyond the mountains" of Kabul; Pari's mother also delivers school supplies and teaches English to the girls. Her mother explains that the camps and villages don't have schools--and that, until recently, Afghan girls weren't allowed to get an education. Rahman, who grew up in wartime Afghanistan, states that "all of the characters [in this fictional story] are inspired by the children that I met during my visits to refugee camps and orphanages in Kabul." The reassuring watercolor and digital illustrations help convey Rahman's assertion that "when you are born in war, you are truly unaware of the alternative, peace. War is your normal."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn