Who Is Malala Yousafzai? - Multi-cultural

(Malala-Picture Source: Google Images)

      Who Is Malala Yousafzai? by Dinah Brown was published in 2015. The author tells the true story of Malala, a young girl born in Pakistan. When Malala was ten years old, the Taliban – a group of fundamentalist Sunni Muslim militants – overtook many of the towns in Pakistan and started to enforce their militant and harsh views (Johns, 2011). One of their beliefs was that girls were not permitted to attend school nor receive an education. Along with her father who was a teacher at her school, Malala voiced her opposition in several ways, eventually becoming personally known. 

      In October 2012, when she was 15 years old, a member of the Taliban entered the school bus and shot Malala in the head. After nine months of hospital care in Pakistan and England, Malala returned to school and settled with her family in England. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2014, the youngest person to ever receive the honor (Brown, 2015).

      This non-fictional biography is a shorter version of the adult book and is written for children between the ages of 8 to 12 years old. It contains many black and white drawn illustrations inside and the front cover has a colorful caricature picture of Malala.

      Who Is Malala Yousafzai? holds several opportunities for classroom activities, such as a history lesson explaining when and why the country of Pakistan was established, and showing illustrations of the schools in the country, as it is vastly different from the United States due to the poverty in the region of Pakistan. Students should recognize that they are privileged to have the opportunity to attend school.

Reader Response Questions:

 1. How many brothers and sisters does Malala have, and did they also attend school with her?

    2. If you were told you could not attend school and receive an education, and your dreams of becoming a doctor, nurse, or scientist could not be achieved, how would you react? Would you be courageous and stand up for your rights when being oppressed?

      This book makes an excellent addition to the elementary grades as it brings the Asian culture and customs, the daily struggles under the militant rule of the Taliban, and determination to receive an education to the awareness of American children.

References

Brown, D. (2015). Who Is Malala Yousafzai? New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

Johns, D. (2011). Who Are The Taliban? Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/afghanistan604/who.html.