Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq (Dragonfly Books)

This is a true story about saving books. It takes place in Basra, Iraq, in 2003. Yes, that Basra. It's in the news all the time. At the beginning of the book, "Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq," there is no war in Basra. But Alia Muhammad Baker, chief librarian of Basra Central Library, knows it is only a matter of time.As a girl, Alia had read about the Mongol invasion of Iraq and the burning of the Baghdad Library. She equates the burning of a library and its books with the destruction of the culture of her country. Burn a library and you burn a collective recorded memory. Alia singlehandedly assumes the responsibility for saving the 40,000 volumes in her library. How? She stuffs her purse and loads her arms under her shawl and walks out, loads her car, returns for another load. City and military officials who now occupy the library, daring the enemy to bomb their library, pay her no heed. She fills her car.Night after night she comes home with a car full of books. Her husband, bless him, unloads them into a closet, then guest room, then into other rooms. (I'm a librarian and understand her distress and need to save the books!). Then neighbors and friends, and those who hear about the effort, and then many other people help rescue the books. The only books intentionally ignored are those about Saddam Hussein.After England invades, a fire finally destroys the library and 10,000 volumes. Currently, plans are underway to rebuild as soon as the war is over."Alia's Mission" is told in graphic panel form and will appeal to all ages. It is a great teaching tool for parents and teachers to explain the Iraqi Conflict, Saddam Hussein, libraries and why it is important to preserve them and their books, and most definitely the fact that one person can make a difference performing a simple heroic act and becoming the impetus to drive others. What a magnificent lesson from an Iraqi librarian wearing the Islamic head covering. Certainly, the love of books is a universal language that crosses all barriers and opens doors to future reconciliations.When the war is over, let us find a way to help Alia Muhammad Baker to rebuild the Basra Central Library.

This was bought for my children and I and they said "It's a good book but it's serious. It's serious because the library has problems but I like that Alia the librarian loves books and wants to take care of them." This was not what we expected after reading "Who needs donuts?" but it was real, informative, unique and thoughtful. I highly recommend this book and this author/illustrator.

This book is topical and beautfully illustrated. It is an excellent book to introduce children to the war in Iraq in a nonpolitical way and to break some stereotypes: I appreciated the strong but caring Muslim woman and the men who helped her. Adults will enjoy reading this book with their children, too, because of the good story and the wonderful drawings. (I am a child psychology professor).

This is a black-and-white, 32 page, hardcover graphic novel, and it's a quick read. Based on true events, it's the story of "Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of the Central Library in Bosra, Iraq" (quoted from the dust jacket). In short, she feared the library would be a casualty of war, and that the 40,000 books inside would be destroyed. She made a plan, and managed to rescue 30,000 of the books before the library was burned. Hero, indeed!

Read to my 8 and 6 year old and it was a great introduction into the Middle East conflicts going on.

Such an amazing story and artwork.

Oh my stars, don't encourage them to stack up MORE books.It already looks wall-to-wall around here!I'm a read-aloud Mom with a family of boys, and we all have a reading habit. It's a borderline obsession.My kids love the idea of books stacked in closets and guest rooms, instead of put away on shelves with spines outwards. Oh, what fun.This graphic biography tells about a brave librarian who saved the books when looters burned the Library of Basra. Also depicts Saddam's troops using the library building as a headquarters and weapons platform, daring the allies to bomb the building. There was no need -- the townspeople destroyed it themselves.Love the Iraqi moustaches -- great graphic panels and the information flows well across the pages. Especially nice: emotional books.

I got turned on to illustrator/author Mark Alan Stamaty through my niece's book collection which includes the graphic novelette "Who Needs Donuts" - a black and white illustrated children's book with such intricate and wondrous drawings that any adult or child could stare at a single page entranced.I looked for other books by him and found this gem: "Alia's Mission" which contains Mr. Stamaty's lovely detailed illustrations (some readers have complained about the panels being too busy, but I find this exact quality totally compelling). "Alia's Mission" tells the story of a heroic Iraqi woman, Alia Baker, a librarian at Basra Central Library who takes on the monumental task of trying to save the books of Iraq during the war. It has an American political slant but I still found the story and drawings fabulous, and a great jumpstart for discussions about war and cultural treasures and so on. And it made me cry. I recommend it for just about anyone.

Charming tale