Sitti's Secrets

Title: Sitti’s Secrets
Author: Nye, Naomi Shihab
Illustrator: Carpenter, Nancy
Publisher and Date: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1994
Genre: Picture Book, Multicultural
Age Range: K-3rd

Summary:
This is the story a young girl and her grandmother. She and her grandmother live very far apart; she lives in the United States, while her grandmother lives in Palestine. When it is time for her to go to bed, her Grandmother is just getting up. During the story, she recounts her very first visit to her grandmother’s home in Palestine. She talks about the difference in their languages, but how this allowed them to come up with their own special language. She called her grandmother, Sitti, which means Grandmother in Arabic, and her grandmother called her Habibi which means darling. During her visit, she and her grandmother were inseparable; they got milk from a real cow, watched men pick lentils in the field, made meals together, and combed her Grandmother’s long, striped hair. Her Grandmother’s hair was usually hidden under a scarf, so when her Grandmother let her see and fix it, she felt like she knew a secret. When it was time for her and her father to leave, everyone cried and hugged and her Grandmother gave her a beautiful handmade purse. When she returned to the United States she wrote a letter to the President telling him about her Grandmother and asking for peace. (I think it is important to touch on the continuing conflict between Isreal and Palestine.)

Response:
This is such a touching story! Every child should have a great relationship with their grandmother. I love how they were both able to share parts of their culture with each other even though they didn’t speak the same language. Sitti showed her Habibi how she hangs the laundry out to dry on the rooftop and how the women walk to get water in the afternoon. She teaches her how to make bread and how to serve lemonade with the fruit grown on her own lemon tree. A Grandmother’s love and life lessons are universal and timeless. This is a common thread that ties readers to this unique and heartfelt tale. I had such a great relationship with my Grandmother; she taught me how to make my coffee the “right” way, to make Spaghetti, and to make up beds and fluff pillows. I love the way Nancy Carpenter states this in her illustrator’s note. She say, “What I discovered in my research….is a culture so very different from my own, with traditions that go back hundreds of years. Mona’s Sitti, especially comes form a time and a place where people have been wearing the same style of clothes, eating the same food, planting the same crops, and living on the same land for centuries. I live in a culture where people get a new spring wardrobe every year, change their hairstyle every few months, and eat various ethnic foods every night of the week. What I CAN relate to in this story is universal-enjoying a sunny day and lemonade, playing games with friends, loving the smell of fresh baked bread, and knowing the special bond between Grandparent and child.” This is such an important mindset to have; we need to look for similarities, not differences when we encounter someone who is a different nationality from our own. We are more alike than we may think. Also make sure to pay special attention to the illustrations in this book. They are beautifully painted to reveal the true colors of the desert and to depict the closeness of a grandparent-grandchild bond.


Teaching Ideas:
This would be a great book to read with Kindergarteners when they are studying about families. They can see that families come in all shapes, sizes, and nationalities. Another great idea would be to have students read Sitti’s Secrets and then write five similarities that they share with her. This would be a good way to show the universality of this tale.