My Name Was Hussein

My Name Was Hussein

Publish Post

My Name Was Hussein

Written by: Hristo Kyuchukov

Illustrated by: Allan Eitzen

Boyds Mills Press, Inc., 2004

28 pages

Multicultural

This powerful story tells about the life of Hussein who lives in a small village in Bulgaria. Hussein and his family are Muslims and they celebrate Ramadan. Hussein loves to celebrate religious holidays, and Hussein loves his name. In Arabic, Hussein means handsome. When Bulgaria fell under the rule of communists, Hussein and his family were forced to change their identities to Christian names.

The illustrations in this book were done in pen and ink and watercolor. The text is set in 13 point Caxton Book font. The text placement is informal. Most of the illustrations are done on double page spreads, but a few are single page spreads.

I will definitely use this book in my classroom. This book will be used when studying different cultures and wars. My Name Was Hussein is set during the time after the Second World War when Bulgaria fell under communist rule. In the middle of the 1980s people who were not ethnic Bulgarians were forced to choose Christian names. I will have my students research the time when this happened and have them write a short summary telling about it. I will also teach my students about the holiday Ramadan and ask them what holidays they celebrate.

To my knowledge, this book has not won any awards.