This Ramadan, neither Malak nor her Teta will be fasting\u2014Malak\u2019s too young, and Teta\u2019s on a new medication. So they decide to find another way to make the holy month special. Malak asks her grandmother to show her how to prepare iftar, the meal eaten to break the fast each evening. But what to cook? Their Palestinian family\u2019s favorite meal\u2014makloubeh! The dish contains layers of meat, rice, and fried vegetables, but everyone prefers a different kind. Malak\u2019s grandfather likes eggplant makloubeh best, while her mom\u2019s favorite is cauliflower. As the ingredient list grows, Malak worries: \u201cWhat if everything doesn\u2019t go together?\u201d But, as Teta points out, \u201cEvery makloubeh is unique\u2026Just like each family.\u201d Soon, the meal is nearly ready, and Malak\u2019s uncle places a tray over the simmering pot and, per tradition, flips it upside down before serving it (indeed, makloubeh is Arabic for \u201cupside down\u201d). While many children\u2019s stories about Ramadan emphasize fasting, this charming tale, rooted in the author\u2019s own experiences, notably shifts focus to the iftar. Issa\u2019s cozy, digital illustrations exude familial warmth and feature deeply meaningful threads of cultural identity such as the traditional Palestinian thobe, keffiyeh, olives, and keys hanging on the wall, symbolizing the right of return.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This Ramadan, neither Malak nor her Teta will be fasting\u2014Malak\u2019s too young, and Teta\u2019s on a new medication. So they decide to find another way to make the holy month special. Malak asks her grandmother to show her how to prepare iftar, the meal eaten to break the fast each evening. But what to cook? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}