Mustafa

As a class, perform a “picture walk” through the book. Based on the illustrations, what do students think Mustafa will be about? Will it be funny? Sad? Serious? Can students identify the main characters? What can students tell about these characters based solely on the pictures? Record the predictions and compare them with the real story once the class has read it.

This story encompasses many themes, including friendship, compassion and empathy. What do these concepts mean? Discuss with students and have them give examples.

Ask students: Have you ever moved from one place to another? A new school, neighborhood, town, region or country? How did you feel?

While reading the book aloud to the class, have students identify unfamiliar and interesting words to create a vocabulary list. Define the words as a class using an array of strategies to determine meaning, including context, accompanying illustrations in the story and the dictionary if needed. Have students make real-life connections by using these new words in a sentence. Can students think of other words with similar meanings that could be used?

Mustafa is a story of a boy and his family coming to a new country. The book opens with a very cinematic sequence. As a class, look at the cover, the dedication page and the first spread. How do these pictures work together? What part of the story do they represent? How do these illustrations show the passage of time? How do these pictures set up the story? What overall impression do students get from this opening?

As a class, re-read Mustafa and closely examine the illustrations. Discuss how the words and pictures workvtogether to tell a story. What information do students learn from the pictures? What information comes from the text? For example, when Mustafa first goes to the park he finds some treasures to share with his family, and the flowers remind him of his grandmother’s teacups. Do we understand those details better from the pictures or the words? Review other parts of the book this same way and have students identify how the story is told. Be sure to have students cite specifics from the book (text and illustrations) to support their responses.

Break students into pairs and have them re-tell the story to each other, identifying the beginning, the middle and the end. After they have re-told the story, have them talk about the following questions: Who are the main characters? What is the “Big Idea” of the story? What is the main problem? How does Mustafa feel at the beginning of the story? How does he feel by the end? Come together and have pairs share their insights with the class.

One day, while he is in the park, Mustafa draws a picture of an airplane in the dirt. He then draws the house he used to live in and other things he remembers from his old home. As a class, examine this page and identify what he has drawn. Based on his drawings, what was life like for Mustafa? What sort of experiences do students think he had? When the girl-with-the-cat, Maria, arrives, what pictures does she draw? Why do the things she draws differ from what Mustafa drew? What is the author hoping to tell the reader by having Maria draw butterflies and flowers over Mustafa’s drawings of explosions and broken trees? Does it provide a preview of how this new home might help change Mustafa’s view of the world?

This book describes what Mustafa does, but it does not tell exactly what he is thinking. The pictures and words provide clues, but readers need to figure out his motivation for themselves. For example, when the girl-with-the-cat speaks to Mustafa, he runs away. Review these passages as a class. Why do the students think Mustafa reacted that way? Have students write or dictate a brief opinion piece discussing what they think Mustafa is thinking and feeling.

When he goes to the park, Mustafa meets the girl-with-the-cat, Maria. She speaks to him several times before he relaxes and becomes friends with her. As a class, review the scenes where these characters interact. In each one, Mustafa leaves. Why does he do that? How must it make Maria feel? How does she respond? Ask students to put themselves in Maria’s place. How would they have responded? What did they learn from Maria’s approach to Mustafa?

This story is told in the third person, with Mustafa as the point-of-view character. Discuss with students how other characters have different points of view. Break the class into pairs and assign each one a passage from the book. Working with an adult if necessary, have them rework this part of the story from the point of view of the other character who appears in this scene — like the lady who feeds the pigeons or the accordion player in the park. Come together as a class and read the book together. When you come to a scene you have assigned to a pair of students, have them act out their new version of the scene. Encourage them to use different voices and mannerisms for different characters.

While it does not dwell on his turbulent past, the story hints at the violence that drove Mustafa and his family from their old home. At the same time, it focuses on where he is now and what is going on in his life as he adjusts to his new home. Every child can relate to these experiences, and that helps make Mustafa an approachable way to introduce an important, contemporary issue to students. Like Mustafa, everyone has had the experience of coming to a new place. How does it feel to be a stranger and how do we make friends and become part of the community? Have students discuss how it felt for them to be the “new kid” in a group — a new town, a new neighborhood, a new school or starting an activity or sport for the first time. How were their experiences similar and different from Mustafa’s? Does the book do a good job of capturing how it feels to be the “new kid”?

After many failed attempts, Maria finally figures out how to “break the ice” with Mustafa. What can students learn from their interactions? Have students ever seen a “new kid” who had trouble fitting in? What did they do to help? Why is it sometimes hard to help out a newcomer? What are other ways students can think of to help a new member of their school or community feel welcome and included? Make a class list of these ideas and post the list in a prominent area of the school.

Marie-Louise Gay is also the creator of the popular Stella and Sam books. Select a couple books to read as a class. Once students are familiar with these different stories by the same author, come together as a class to compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of these similar characters. Make character maps of Mustafa, Stella and Sam. How are they the same and how are they different? Do they have similar experiences? Do students think they would get along and be friends? How would Maria fit in?

At the end of the book, Mustafa and Maria are friends. Come together as a class and discuss what kind of fun they will have now that they are friends. After the class has generated some ideas, have each student make up a new page in the story, drawing an illustration of a brand-new adventure. Students can then write or dictate a short narrative describing what the friends are doing. Work with students to strengthen their writing by making suggestions and having them revise their compositions. Gather all the illustrated pages and make a new book “Mustafa and Maria.” Hold a “read-in” where each child reads the page they created to the class. Post these on a wall in the classroom and make copies for everyone in the class to take home and share with their families.

Mustafa tells the story of a family that is emigrating overseas in the hopes of finding a better life. The story remains a personal one, showing the emotions and adventures of this boy and his family. It is also a good way to humanize immigrants, a group of people who are often viewed as strange or different. Background information about the immigrant experience will help students make connections with the events in the book and encourage them to explore an  ask questions. Team up with a social studies teacher or use other resources available in the community to develop a unit to educate students about the real-world issues this story addresses.

Author’s Website — Learn more about Marie-Louise Gay and her books here:
http://marielouisegay.com/

Teaching Children About Refugees:
https://therefugeecenter.org/blog/teaching-children-refugees/

NAEYC Welcoming Refugee Children into Early Childhood Classrooms:
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/aug2017/welcoming-refugee-children-into-classrooms