Baba, What Does My Name Mean?

Baba, What Does My Name Mean? is an Islamic audiobook for young children about Saamidah, a Palestinian refugee girl who asks her father what her name means, and dreams her way across the homeland of her family.

Her friends at school asked, and Saamidah only knew that her name was Arabic. At bedtime her baba explains: it means one who is patient, persistent and perseveres. He gives her the key from his necklace, a sign of her family's right to return to their old home, and a white dove of peace takes her on a journey.

They ride bicycles around Ariha, one of the oldest cities in the world, and visit Al-Quds, with the golden Dome of the Rock at Al-Aqsa and sesame bread sold in the old souk. In Nablus she eats knafeh and washes with olive oil soap. In Yafa, the Bride of the Sea, where her family comes from, she hears Baba's funny childhood stories. She sees the port of Haifa and Mount Carmel, sails from Akka and dances the dabke, learns to weave a carpet in Gaza, watches a parade in Bethlehem, and watches a glassblower in Al-Khalil, near the Ibrahimi Mosque. At the end Baba gives her a keffiyeh cape and a hand-stitched thobe from Yafa.

When she wakes, Saamidah says she loves Palestine, and Baba promises to tell her one day why she is a refugee. The book celebrates Palestinian culture, food and crafts, and the patience in a child's name. It is written by Rifk Ebeid and illustrated by Lamaa Jawhari, takes about 11 minutes and is music-free.