Zamzam: Two Worlds

2025 Children’s Africana Book Award for Best Picture Book

Zamzam divides his time between his grandparents' homes in New York City in the United States and Alexandria, Egypt. While the two places are different in terms of sights, sounds, and flavors, they share much in common. But the most important thing they share is family love.

Readers are introduced to Zamzam, a young boy who enjoys life with family spread out over thousands of miles. In New York City in the United States, he enjoys playing his guitar while his grandparents clap along, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with his grandmother, and going to Central Park with his grandparents to ride the carousel.

In Alexandria, Egypt, Zamzam sleeps in the same room his gedu (grandpa) slept in as a child, goes to the market with his gedetti (grandma) to buy fresh food, and plays his tabla (drum) for his grandparents.

Zamzam experiences big and little differences with his grandparents in each country but realizes that the most important of these experiences seem the same. His interactions with Grandma and Grandpa in New York City and Gedu and Gedetti in Alexandria are all based on his strong love for his grandparents and the different cultures to which they expose Zamzam.

Author Karen Leggett Abouraya and illustrator Susan L. Roth once again partner to bring a story of family to life using personal memories and stunning collage artwork. Karen Leggett Abouraya shares her son Adam and grandson Zamir's (nicknamed Zamzam) experiences as children visiting their grandparents in different parts of the world. Their experiences, along with the unique collages that Susan L. Roth created by using papers from all over the world, introduce the reader to a modern family dynamic:

• Diverse Backgrounds: Zamzam is growing up in a world where his parents and grandparents come from different ethnic backgrounds. Many children in the United States come from a background where their entire family grew up relatively close to each other, sometimes even in the same town. As people start to leave these towns for various reasons, they begin new lives in different parts of the country and even the world. Suddenly, grandparents, cousins, uncles, and aunts are not just around the corner, they're all over the world!
• Stories to share: Author Karen Leggett Abouraya utilizes her memories of her son Adam and grandson Zamir visiting their respective grandparents as children to show young readers that there are many different stories to tell about family not only in their own hometown, but around the world. Educators have an opportunity to discuss their students' own experiences with family members from around the country or the world and have them compare similarities and differences of their cultures.

Language and customs: The story is filled with many Arabic terms that are collected in a glossary at the back of the book along with a map of the world showing just how far New York City and Alexandria are. Language and geography are important aspects of becoming immersed in a culture. Karen crafts a story that teaches young readers about a different culture using non-English words, different foods, and even instruments to spark interest and further reading.

• Author: Karen Leggett Abouraya
• Illustrator Susan L. Roth
• ISBN: 9781478881957
• Imprint: Reycraft Books
• Ages 5-9
• 40 Pages