Tuesday Treasure
"Mama," asks Mustafa, "am I invisible?"
Beginning on the first page - the title page - we see a group of people walking through an empty landscape carrying parcels and suitcases. Even the youngest member of the group has a load to carry. Turn the page and a small boat, possibly overloaded, is battling a wild storm and huge waves. Next page the boat has arrived on a beach and the walking group are now heading towards a city.
"Mustafa and his family traveled a very, very long way to get to their new country."
The new country is strange and Mustafa's dreams are filled with memories of smoke, fire and loud noises. When he wakes, distressed, in the middle of the night his mother shows him the moon and the star.
"Is that the same moon as in our country?' asks Mustafa.
'Yes,' answers his mama, ' the very same moon."
His old country was grey and dry. In this new place Mustafa sees colourful birds, small bushy tailed animals and lots of green trees. In the park he sees beautiful flowers and the "air smells green and cool." He does recognise the ants - they look the same as in his old country. He fills his pockets with tiny treasures to show his mother.
On his next visit to the park, Mustafa sees a girl with a cat. The cat is tied to a ribbon. This seems very strange to Mustafa and he runs home when the girl says some words because he doesn't understand. The next day Mustafa visits the park again. This time he uses a stick to draw scenes from his former life - his house, clouds of smoke and fire, broken trees. The-girl-with-the-cat comes past. She points to the drawings and says something but again Mustafa runs away. The girl picks up another stick and she draws over his pictures - images of flowers, butterflies, stars and her cat. When she finishes the smoke and fire have disappeared.
Over time Mustafa watches the park changing. The trees turn orange and red and he sees a lady feeding the birds and kids heading off for Halloween. One day he hears some music. It is music from his old country. Mustafa stands nearby listening and quietly humming along but no one notices him. That's when he asks his mother the question I posed at the beginning of this post.
The next day, Mustafa see the-girl-with-the-cat again. This time she signals to him to follow. The pair head over to a pond filled with goldfish. Their funny faces make the children laugh. The girl then leads him to the swings.
"Together, they almost reach the treetops.
Together, they almost touch the clouds."
The girl points to herself and says "Ma-ri-a" - "It sounds like music. Happy music."
Mustafa doesn't feel invisible any more.
I read this book in 2019 in a library in Austin Texas and I fell in love with this beautiful story. This book is still in print it was published in 2018 BUT here in Australia it is very expensive. I hope the publisher might consider a paperback reprint - this is a book that SHOULD be in every Primary school library. It is simply perfect. Here is a very comprehensive set of teachers notes from the publisher Groundwood Books. Here is an interview by the Canadian Children's Book Council with Marie-Louise Gay about Mustafa. In this video the mayor of Edmonton reads Mustafa but he sadly misses out the first important pages.
If you are not familiar with the art of Marie-Louise Gay here are some examples of her work.
Her work reminds me of the Australian illustrator Stephen Michael King. You might also like to consider purchasing the Houndsley and Catina series for your library.
I would pair Mustafa with The Colour of Home.
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