Under the Olive Moon

Author Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara collaborates with a mother of two young children living in the chaos of the Gaza Strip to bring Palestinian fables of hope and joy that cross time and place to children around the world.

Nour Ferwana and her family live in a tent in the Gaza strip, where life is unsettling and difficult. She knows that even under the worst circumstances, children laugh, play, and dream. At night, when it might be noisy or crowded in their tent or the children are feeling uncertain, this loving mother tells her two children stories to help keep their hearts full of wonder. This beautifully illustrated book is a collection of ten of those stories—gifts passed from one generation to the next, like treasures that can turn the tent into a palace, a garden, or a ship.Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara worked for more than fifteen years as a copywriter in advertising agencies. In 2012, she started writing a series of books about inspiring people that became the Little People, BIG DREAMS series. Books in the series have sold more than 14 million copies worldwide in forty different languages. Under the Olive Moon was inspired by conversations between Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Nour Ferwana.

Nour Ferwana is a writer from the Gaza Strip. She cowrote this book as a way of offering comfort and resilience to her two small children. In turn, her work offers readers everywhere a space for safety. Under the Olive Moon is Nour Ferwana’s first book for children.

Raahat Kaduji is the illustrator of I Don’t Wanna Hibernate by Anna Ouchchy and other award-winning picture books that are deeply rooted in fable and nature. She raises funds for the Palestine Humanitarian Response by auctioning her prints. Raahat Kaduji is based in Oxford, United Kingdom.