About the Book
Title: My Friend Suhana: A Story of Friendship and Cerebral Palsy
Authors: Shaila Abdullah & Aanyah Abdullah
Publication Date: December 16, 2013
Publisher: Loving Healing Press
Pages: 30
Recommended Ages: 3+
Summary
A simple tale of love and friendship to warm your heart. Award-winning author and designer Shaila Abdullah teams up with her 10-year-old daughter Aanyah to bring you this heartwarming tale of a little girl who forms a close bond with a child with cerebral palsy.
Our Review
This was such a beautiful book. Told in the perspective of a child with a friend who has cerebral palsy, made this so endearing. We learn that although Suhana cannot walk or talk or play the way the other children can, the little girl loves her all the same. She takes time to play with Suhana, to draw her pictures, to show her she is loved. Sometimes Suhana's gets upset and frustrated and the little girl compares Suhana moods to colours. Red for upset, Blue for calm and pink for when she feels loved.
Suhana at seven is just learning to walk and the little girl encourages her all the same, celebrating her achievements.
At the end of the book there is a brief description for children about what cerebral palsy is, which was very succinct, yet understandable for a child.
I enjoyed this book so much from three perspectives. Firstly as a nurse who has worked with children with cerebral palsy, second as a mother of a toddler that I want to grow up to learn compassion for children with disabilities and third as a writer, I am so impressed that a mother and daughter collaborated on this project because they are both truly passionate about raising awareness.
I give this 5 stars and upon reading it to my little G, she said let's read about Suhana again.
To me that is the sign of a truly engaging book.
Purchase
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About the Authors: Shaila Abdullah & Aanyah Abdullah
Shaila Abdullah is an author and designer based in Austin, Texas. She is the author of two books: Saffron Dreams and Beyond the Cayenne Wall. The author has received several awards for her work including the Golden Quill Award, Norumbega Jury Prize for Outstanding Fiction, Patras Bukhari Award for English Language, Reader Views Award, Written Art Award, and a grant from Hobson Foundation.
Aanyah Abdullah is a creative and compassionate 10-year-old, who is drawn to children born with physical and mental disabilities. When she was in second grade, Aanyah along with her mother Shaila, started volunteering out at a local community center where they helped assist special needs children. Later Aanyah wrote an essay about her friendship with a girl in the class who had cerebral palsy. That essay is the inspiration behind My Friend Suhana. Aanyah dreams of establishing a special school for children with disabilities one day. She is known to always stand up for what is right and is-–in her parents’ and teachers’ eyes––a perfect role model for her baby sister.
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My Friend Suhana Blog Tour Schedule (2014)
March 4
March 5March 6
March 7
March 8
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March 10
March 11
* $25 Blog Tour Giveaway *
Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice)
Contest ends: April 2, 11:59 pm, 2014
Open: Internationally
How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the author, Shaila Abdullah & Loving Healing Press and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts about My Friend Suhana in the Blog Tour, Julie. So glad Gigi wanted to read it again and there's so much room for additional discussions and teaching points with this one.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you are are nurse. Impressive. I worked with MRDD when I was younger--first real adult job--and we had a couple of kids with CP. It is so unfair for these kids to have such a disability at such a young age, yet some kids didn't care or think of CP as a problem. Those kids could bring me to tears.
ReplyDeleteI have this book to review. Want to jump it up in the queue after reading your review. Very nice.
Thanks so much for stopping by Sue, yes I am a paediatric nurse, but as you know my love now is writing, he he. This was a really sweet book and told from a lovely child's perspective. I hope you enjoy it Sue and I am so glad you are well and back on the blog. Take care Julie
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