Salma Makes a Home

By Danny Ramadan and Anna Bron

Charming, creative Salma takes on big feelings with even bigger ideas as she navigates life in a new country, Syrian identity, family changes and new friendships in this engaging and heartfelt early chapter book series.

After a year, eleven months, and six days apart, Salma’s dad is finally joining her family in their new home. Salma is so happy to see her baba–but she’s also worried. What if he misses Syria so much that he leaves them again? She throws herself into showing him around the city and helping him learn English, but as Baba shares memories of Damascus Salma starts to realize how much she misses Syria, too. Can Salma make space in her heart for two homes? And can Baba?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annick Press
• Release date: May 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781773217635

Danny Ramadan

DANNY RAMADAN is an award-winning Syrian-Canadian author, activist, and public speaker. His work as an activist has helped provide a safe passage to dozens of Syrian LGBTQ+ refugees to Canada. He is the author of two novels for adults, The Clothesline Swing and The Foghorn Echoes, and a forthcoming memoir, Crooked Teeth. Danny lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Book preview

Cover: Salma Makes a Home story by Danny Ramadan, art by Anna Bron. Image: Salma, a young girl who wears her hair medium length with a scarf, a warm coat, and a polka dot skirt, smiles in the foreground, holding an umbrella. Salma's parents are in the background, wearing warm clothes. Her father wears a toque and holds and umbrella, her mother cuddles up to him under the umbrella and wears a hijab. They are all smiling. They stand in the rain in Vancouver, with flowers floating on the wind. The water, ships, the city and the mountains all appear behind them. A frame around the image has tiled shapes and small pictures of swallows, lanterns, and flowers in the corners.Image: Title page. A frame around the title has tiled shapes and small pictures of swallows, lanterns, and flowers in the corners. The annick logo appears at the bottom of the page

© 2023 Danny Ramadan (text)

© 2023 Anna Bron (illustrations)

Cover art by Anna Bron, designed by Sara Loos based on art direction by Paul Covello

Interior designed by Sara Loos and Paul Covello

Edited by Claire Caldwell

Copy edited by Erin Chan

Proofread by Eleanor Gasparik

Annick Press Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon

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This edition published in 2023 by Annick Press Ltd., 388 Carlaw Avenue, Suite 200, Toronto, ON M4M 2T4

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, and the participation of the Government of Canada/la participation du gouvernement du Canada for our publishing activities.

logo for the Governent of Canada and the Ontario Arts Council

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Salma makes a home / story by Danny Ramadan ; art by Anna Bron.

Names: Ramadan, Ahmad Danny, author. | Bron, Anna, 1989- illustrator.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20220412898 | Canadiana (ebook) 2022041291X | ISBN 9781773217611

(hardcover) | ISBN 9781773217628 (softcover) | ISBN 9781773217642 (PDF) | ISBN 9781773217635 (HTML)

Classification: LCC PS8635.A4613 S23 2023 | DDC jC813/.6—dc23

Published in the U.S.A. by Annick Press (U.S.) Ltd.

Distributed in Canada by University of Toronto Press.

Distributed in the U.S.A. by Publishers Group West.

Annick Press's website

Danny Ramadan's website

Anna Bron's website

To Tala and her Mama and Baba, welcome home.

—D.R.

To Boudica, Iris, Rhea, and Maia.

—A.B.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 1

With her little scissors, Salma carefully snips off a final thread then looks at her beautiful handiwork: a colorful paper lantern she learned how to make online.

Mama, look. I made this to celebrate the arrival of Ramadan. She used red papers and drew little geometric designs along its edges. Red for the Canadian flag, and mosaic like the mosques of Damascus.

Image: Salma watches her mother hang lanterns in the living room

Mama lifts up the lantern and smiles, examining it in the living room light. What a wonderful piece of art, Salma. A great way to celebrate the arrival of our holy month.

I based it on my own memories, Salma says. She remembers seeing al-mesaher walking the alleyways of Damascus right before sunrise. His son walked beside him sleepily, holding a real lantern in his hand to light the way. Al-mesaher knocked on a