The story of hurry [eBook - NC Kids Digital Library

After a major invasion of the Gaza Strip in late 2008, twenty-year-old Mahmoud Barghout decided to become a zookeeper. He saw that the children around him were exhausted by war, and so to provide respite, he set up the Happy Land Zoo. But the war made feeding and caring for the animals impossible—they died of thirst, hunger, or injury—and replacing them meant finding large sums of money and overcoming the blockade or the risk of bringing them in through tunnels connecting the Strip to Egypt. So Mr. Barghout came up with a solution for at least one animal: he dyed two local white donkeys with dark stripes, to create zebras, which visiting children could touch and even ride. The Story of Hurry recounts the tale of these “made in Gaza” zebras, of an inventive zookeeper just like Mr. Barghout, and of the wondrous capacity of the imagination of children. Written by Emma Williams, together with thought-provoking mixed-media illustrations by Ibrahim Quraishi, this picture book for inquisitive children aged 3 to 103 includes an historical note for parents, teachers, and librarians.From the Hardcover edition. The Story of Hurry tells of a donkey who witnesses the sadness and suffering and fear of children in the occupied Gaza Strip and helps them the only way he can: by turning into a zebra with the help of a zoo man, his best friend, and some paint, so that these children can taste the freedom of traveling in their imaginations to far-off places. Based on true events as told by Emma Williams, together with wry and playful illustrations by Ibrahim Quraishi, the story gives us the clairvoyance of children to see the world in which we live in all its true wonder and pathos. Not since Monroe Leaf's bestselling The Story of Ferdinand--a simple antiwar tale about animals that was first published 80 years ago, banned in Spain and Germany and sells around the world now--has there been such a gentle, compelling book about animals and war. In Hurry, author Emma Williams and Ibrahim Quraishi have created a book for today that is as provocative--and as soothing--as Ferdinand continues to be