Abdul’s Story
by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
illustrated by Tiffany Rose
Salaam Reads (Simon & Schuster), 2022. 36 pages.
Review written April 20, 2022, from a library book
I usually don’t choose to review picture books that were clearly written to tell a message, but this one came with a story that warmed my heart.
Abdul is a kid who loves to tell stories. But he has trouble trying to write them down. His letters don’t like to stay in straight lines, and sometimes they get turned around. He ends up erasing so much, his pages look like a big smudge. Plus, the stories he reads in books don’t sound much like the stories he tells. He decided his stories aren’t meant to be written down.
But then an author came to his school named Mr. Muhammad. He looked a lot like Abdul. And he read a story about a community that sounds a lot like Abdul’s.
But when Mr. Muhammad encouraged the children to write, Abdul erased so much, trying to make it look right, that he tore a hole in the paper with his eraser.
A moment of truth comes when Mr. Muhammad shows Abdul his own notebook — messy as can be, with nothing in straight lines.
Mr. Mohammed encourages Abdul to fill a messy page without erasing and then look for a story inside it. I like this description of the process:
Over the next few days, Abdul rewrote a less messy mess, then an even less messy mess. He smiled when he read his story to himself.
Abdul still has lots of doubt when it’s time to turn the story in, because he knows there are still mistakes.
But when the writer comes back, he likes Abdul’s story so much, he reads it to the class.
I love the way the book ends, as this is where it won my heart:
When they returned to their writing, Abdul whispered to Mr. Muhammad, “What about my mistakes?”
“Writers make mistakes. We’ll work on them.”
As they worked, Abdul thought:
Some people are writers, and I am one of them.
Yes, it’s a message book. But what a great message to give to kids!
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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