Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan

Brien, Tony, and Mike Sullivan. Afghan dreams:

young voices of Afghanistan. New York:

Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2008. 

By Tony O'Brien and Mike Sullivan

Copyright:  2008

Publisher:  Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books

Reading Level:

• Lexile:  810L

• Grade level:  6

Genre:  Biography, Nonfiction

Description:  Afghanistan children, Juvenile literature, Pictorial works

Suggested Delivery:  Read-aloud to Whole class

Summary:  Tony O'brien interviews and tells the stories of children of all ages and ethnic backgrounds from the country of Afghanistan.  Despite the everyday struggles and hardships these individuals face, they remain hopeful and dream of the day when peace prevails in their neighborhoods and all around them in Afghanistan.  These children and teenagers share their dreams and lifelong goals that are not only relatable, but incredibly moving.

Electronic Resources:

• About the Author:  this website gives great insight about Tony O'brien's publications, as well as the photography he is well known for that are included in this book on Afghanistan.

• Map of Afghanistan:  this National Geographic website includes a very detailed map of this country, as well as important facts and photos representing the land, culture, and way of life of Afghan people.

Key Vocabulary:  bazaar, Taliban, Pakistan, Dari, karachi, espandi, Patkia

Teaching suggestions:

• Use to teach about other cultures
• Use to create an awareness and understanding of the country of Afghanistan
• Use to help children make connections with children of the same age, but living under different circumstances

Comprehension Strategies:

• Before Reading:  
• Show a map of the country of Afghanistan so the students can better visualize this place that the children they will be learning about live.  
• Give the students a list of vocabulary words pertaining to the Afghan culture for the students to recognize and learn the meanings of.  Having a greater understanding of the very complex terms will help the students to better appreciate this new culture they are learning about.

• During Reading:  
• Students will be given a graphic organizer to write down important details about each child's life that they hear about in the book, which will help them for their writing assignment.

• After Reading:  
• Students will get into small groups and create Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting their lives to the daily lives of Afghan children.  This will help the students to better understand the connection or differences they have with these children of another country.

Writing Activity:

Students will be asked to choose a specific individual from the book who may have interested them the most or found to have things in common.  All of these individual's stories include the professions they wish to grow up to have, such as teachers, journalists, doctors, or judges.  Students might choose to write to the child that shares the same dream or lifelong goal as them.  They will then write letters to these children, telling them about their own lives, relating back to these individuals, and asking them any questions they may have about their lives in Afghanistan.  The letters should be clearly developed in paragraph form.