Home
juvenile fiction
Speak Up Sami

Speak Up Sami

by Hussain Shabana

Illustrated by Aldacher Mariam

Published by: Kube Publishing Ltd

Imprint: Kube Publishing Ltd

32 Pages, 9.00 x 9.00 in, Color illustrations throughout

Hardcover
9780860378877
Published: November 2022

$14.95

Other Retailers:

Bookshop
Barnes & Noble
Edelweiss

Description
Authors
Praise

Sami is a quiet boy who does not enjoy going to school, but things begin to change when a new boy, Gamba, joins his class. When Sami sees Gamba being teased, will he be brave enough to find his voice and speak up?

Speak up Sami is an empowering story about courage, kindness and friendship. A heartwarming book to enjoy at home or in the classroom, providing opportunities to have meaningful discussions around bullying, diversity and celebrating differences.

Shabana Hussain is a teacher from Lancashire who writes faith inspired children's picture books. She believes strongly in representation and spreading kindness. Through her work, she hopes to help young readers feel empowered and confident to embrace their unique culture and identity.

When she's not writing, you can find Shabana doodling, singing or playing her daff (drum). She can also be found munching on chocolate goodies which she claims fuel her imagination!

A winner of the Daybreak Press Award for best cover design, Mariam Aldacher is a freelance artist from USA. She has worked on comics, books, background animation, storyboarding.

She's thrilled to join the project for “Speak Up Sami” as she is of a mixed-race background and has experienced bullying and wished when she was young that children were taught via such books to speak up to help.

“This is an excellent book about a young boy, Sami, who is quiet and shy and doesn’t like going to school. He feels left out but doesn’t know how to join in. He feels picked on but isn’t confident enough to speak up for himself. When schoolmates begin to pick on a new kid at school, Sami feels bad for Gamba. Sami has been taught to speak up and take action when something seems wrong. Emotive illustrations really help littles feel what the characters are going through."

The Collector of Heads-A Fuse 8 Production/Betsy Bird

A beautiful book with a powerful message about standing up against bullying: both Sami and Gamba are so relatable. Love the Hadith quoted at the end. -Dr Neha Qazi, (Author)

My daughter loves Speak Up Sami! Almost obsessed with the classroom scenes and the schoolyard scenes. She loves the ones with a hearing aid and ear defender. (I have a hearing aid, she has the noise canceller so she totally recognises those). Well-loved book in our house, thank you. - Anita Bagdi (Children's Book Illustrator)

I’ve just read your book and Masha'Allah it’s beautiful! The story, the illustrations, and what kids can take away from it. My son has already read it and says it's "very wholesome and has a lovely message." - Isla Khan (Homeschooling Mum)

So much love for this book! Big messages are perfectly written in a relatable way for little minds. - Mrs Din (Teacher)

He absolutely loved it! I could totally relate to it and enjoyed the friendship between Sami and Gamba. In his own words, "It is awesome!" - Mrs Aziz (Teacher)

I adore the overall message of tolerance and respect for others and believe this story does a fab job of highlighting the significance of celebrating our uniqueness and differences. - Sarah Javed (Educator)

Speak Up Sami

Related Books