Hasna Elbaamrani, Lisa Boersen and Annelies Vandenbosch
A Thousand and One Purple Djellabas
A clever mix of culturally specific and universal elements.
Esmaa goes with her parents, brothers and sister to visit family in Morocco. Their suitcases are full of chocolate and jars of peanut butter. When they arrive in Morocco, they also receive some gifts: Esmaa gets a pair of pretty slippers, and her mother is given a purple djellaba. Wearing their new outfits, they head straight for the market.
In this book, Lisa Boersen and Hasna Elbaamrani cleverly mix culturally specific elements with something that is familiar to children and adults all over the world: Esmaa loses her mum at the market. Water carriers, acrobats, a fortune teller and a man with a monkey come to the rescue with a clever plan. As a result, Esmaa doesn’t find her mum – her mum finds her.
Annelies Vandenbosch has drawn the bustle of the north African market with vivid and evocative details and in lots of shades of purple. The Griffel Jury awarded a Vlag en Wimpel to this sunny tale.
