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Having lived in Southern Texas for five months, I found it to be a unique culture– even very different than other parts of the state. We pass the country trekked the previous day and on to a series of caves, the home of a family of nomads. Ivy and Clara didn’t really pick up much of the different culture, same life aspect but their interest in the pictures more than made up for it. And then she has to collect water from the well, milk the cow, find and collect eggs and bake bread for breakfast. We see that in the context of strikingly different lifestyles, remotely different countries, landscapes, differences of clothing and all, the families are essentially the same.

There is usually a mixture of Arabic and Berber people, nomads, Jews, southern desert people and immigrants from sub Saharan countries … and a variety of shades of skin colour, some very black and some in comparison, quite fair. Consequently I decided to make a special trip to Taznakht, to try and understand the basic design and symbols underlying their carpets, which it seems the women in the Valley of Roses have been much influenced by. During my visit, and through the eldest son of the family (another Lahcen who could speak fairly good English and who interpreted for me) I explained the idea of the book and the evolving story. I think I liked the idea and the set-up more than the actual artwork and story portrayed, but it is a great idea and a very cool set-up, so it's definitely worth checking out :-) Also, I'm not sure I've encountered any books told with Arabic and English (as I have seen with some Spanish-and-English side-by-side books) so that makes this a great addition to multilingual homes and schools.And further on (closer to the Dades Valley) Lassan takes me to another series of caves, where an extended nomadic family are currently living, their hens and sheep are in another cave close by. It’s the hottest day so far and its very hard work pedaling up and down the mountain road of tiny stones.

I ride until I reach a high point overlooking two Kasbahs like two islands in a sea of green beside the river. And although they have been extinct in North Africa since the beginning of the last century, lions once prowled the Berber lands and were admired for their strength and majesty and so the lion’s paw remains a popular weaving motif. In this lesson, we will explore images of the families' journeys through the landscapes of Australia and Morocco.Nevertheless, I do hope to encourage children to be enriched and curious, rather than fearful of cultural difference and to see the ‘stranger’ as most probably, in the ways that really matter, not a stranger at all. Most Berber families have, set into the thick mud wall of their main room, a shelf or alcove in which they place their most prized possessions. Contacts I made on my first trip to Morocco arranged a family home stay, allowing me to spend some weeks with a Berber family, living in an area of particular interest to me. There were no words to actually tell you what was going on and I think that a book like this that was very important because it is good for kids to understand and realize that there are kids just like them living their lives in different parts of the world, but somehow their daily lives are very similar.

The moon standing out allows for the reader to make the connection that the moon appears wherever you are on Earth. Her collages are fascinating in their detail, and I found myself wondering at times, how she created this or that effect. If you are under 16, please obtain your parent/guardian’s permission before submitting or ask your parent/guardian to submit on your behalf. Every now and then a picture book comes to my attention that I have to share with all of you, raising a family in two or more different cultures.Having kids thinking of that on their own I believe will open them to thinking about life outside themselves and what they are used to. By placing the narratives side by side, opening toward each other, she highlights their similarities.

Maybe I walked 5-6 km before reaching the souk, by which time I could see paths in every direction, with other people and mules heading there too. Lassan (the only one in Boutaghrar who can speak a touch of English) agrees to be my guide for the day.I shout out and sign to ask if I’m going the right way and she walks down to me and invites me to her home for tea. One of them wades across the river to me, when I sign to her I am headed for Agouti, she beckons I should remove my shoes and socks, she then takes my hand and steers me around the rock face.