Exploring Modern Day Iraq -- Global Learning for Kids

As August finishes so does our exploration of Iraq. My first two posts on Iraq have been about ancient Iraq (Golden Age of Baghdad and Exploring Mesopotamia). I will admit when we started reading books about Iraq we had many discussions about war and what was happening. It was not an easy topic for us. (I do not let Hazel watch the news to shelter from some of the horrible things that happen in our world.) We took several reference books out of the library and found most of them talked about the war.

We also took out some picture books and a folktale book.

The picture books also talked about the war. The two about the librarian of Basra talk about how Alia Muhammad Baker took it upon herself to save the books of the library where she worked. The government refused to do anything. With the help of friends and neighbors she managed to save 70% of the books before the library burnt to the ground nine days after. Such an amazing story.

Army Veterinarians Help Ill Tiger Cub By The U.S. Army [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons 

Saving the Baghdad Zoo is about how the army, Iraqi and animal groups joined together to save the animals of the Baghdad Zoo as well as other smaller zoos and collections around Baghdad. It is so interesting to learn how the military took the time and people to help these animals and help reopen the zoo.

Silent Music tells the tale of a boy who loves writing calligraphy and uses this love to get through the scary nights full of bombings around his home in Baghdad. He even shares a bit of history about his idol, Yakut al-Musta'simi who lived in the thirteenth century and is known as a great Arabic calligrapher who lived in Baghdad.

We also read a few of the folktales from A Fistful of Pearls and Other Tales from Iraq. Hazel always loves these kind of collections and I always find it an interesting way to learn about a country and culture.

All of these books helped us learn a bit about the war, life during the war and the recovery from it. They also taught us a bit more about Iraq and the Iraqi people.  This is part of  the Global Learning for Kids series. If you have any posts, lessons, recipes, etc. from or about Iraq, please share them here and be sure to check out the other great posts shared here for a complete look at the country of Iraq!

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