I鈥檝e been looking for books that teach the boys about animals and that might tie in to the Egyptian Ministry of Education curriculum in various ways.
I think the Weekly Reader translations of the 賮賷 丨丿賷賯丞 丕賱丨賷賵丕賳 series, published by Dar al Farouq, are all right. Nothing to write home about, but they have some decent information, nice photos, and straightforward prose. (What do animals eat, where do they live, how do they interact.)
Although there isn鈥檛 really much information about animals, I also like 賮乇丨丕賳丞 賵丨丿賷賯丞 亘丿賵賳 丨賷賵丕賳丕鬲 , by Rania Hussein Amin, for the way it teaches children that animals also have inner lives and desires.
There is also a book where Bakkar goes to the zoo (亘賰丕乇 賮賷 丨丿賷賯丞 丕賱丨賷賵丕賳) available free on the International Digital Children鈥檚 Library, although Bakkar doesn鈥檛 learn much about animals beyond that Hasouna shouldn鈥檛 pester them.
So I was pleased to find 賮賷 氐賮賳丕 囟賮丿毓, written by 鬲睾乇賷丿 丕賱賳噩丕乇 and illustrated by 賲賳丕賱 丨丿丕丿賷賳, a book that both examines the life-cycle of a frog and has a compelling story around it. (My two-year-old really likes the part where the frog is on the teacher鈥檚 head.)
The story begins when Basel and Rana discover some frog鈥檚 eggs, and bring them in to their teacher. She is, as a good teacher should be, delighted. She explains to them how the 亘賷囟 will become 兀亘丕 匕賳賷亘丞 and later a 囟賮丿毓. And so he does.
But the frog is not really happy with his life under glass, and one day鈥攚hen the children forget to re-place the lid properly鈥攈e jumps out among the toys and books. And, if you lift the flap at the end, you鈥檒l find out his fate.
One of things I really like about the illustrations in this book is that, in the classroom, all the books and posters and blocks are in Arabic, not English. Plus, look at that sweet little frog jumping for freedom.