Little Seeds of Promise

“Bloom where you are planted, Maya”

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Genre: Picture Book⁠

Ages: 5-8⁠

Available: my amazon page, link in bio⁠⁠

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What a beautiful and sweet well-written book by @srafibooksabout a young immigrant girl who has moved to a new country.⁠

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Maya appears to be from Pakistan, although the text doesn’t specify that, it says: there for her old home, and here for her new home. This is an example of the soft and kid-spoken language of the book, it genuinely radiates the sweet shyness of Maya and her sadness at leaving her home.⁠

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Like a flower uprooted, Maya feels like her new home (appears to be America) is cold. She remembers how over “there”, she used to hear the watchman’s song and the athan (def something many Muslims miss from Eastern lands) and people calling Asalamu Alaikum. Over there, people danced in the monsoon rains, after which would come flowers. Over there was Nani, and her sweet tender love that only a grandma can give.⁠

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Nani and Maya loved planting flowers together, and praying among them (one of the images shows them standing with their hijabs on their heads and making duaa with their hands up).

Nani gives Maya some flower seeds to plant in her new home.⁠

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Maya holds these seeds and waits, but she is worried about planting them in her new home, here. The seeds symbolize her confidence in a way, and she decides to plant only one…to start putting roots in this new home, and maybe be surrounded by flowers.⁠

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And slowly, like the rain and the sun provide warmth and nourishment, friends provide Maya with friendship and smiles.⁠

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And just like flowers take a while to grow, so did she in her new home.⁠

I like how the book had positive representation of Pakistan, and showed how Maya has so much beauty (flowers) to offer to her new home.

I also liked how the book showed how hard it is to leave your home, which helps kids learn empathy- showing the need for warmth to help new kids bloom.

I like the way Maya bloomed and changed from a shy girl to one who has more confidence in herself at the end. It sweetly transforms the book into one not just about immigration, but about the importance of friends and growing and blooming no matter where you are.

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