Remembering The Library Bus

The fate of Afghan girls and their education still hangs in the balance, as the present rulers try to figure out what’s going on. Are schools for girls open or not? It’s hard to believe that such a question can even be asked in the 21st century. In support of girls in a country plunged once more into despair, girls who long to go to school and can’t, I’m driven to think about this picture book.

The Library Bus by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard, Also by Rahman, A Sky-Blue Bench. A mother drives a bus in this bus, taking books and reading to far-flung communities that include refugee camps. Girls come running to the bus, demanding books and pens and notebooks. Young Pari helps her mother, and we see her own longing to read. We learn that her grandfather taught her mother how, back when it was forbidden.

In the afterword Bahram Rahman writes:

What I am saying is that when you are born in war, you are truly unaware of the alternative, peace. War is your normal. Yet still life carries on, no matter how long or short your time may be. You go to school or learn at home. Your play with your friends. You laugh and cry. You get hurt and heal. And you dream. Big dreams like those of every other child on the planet.

Now it’s children in Ukraine who are fleeing from war. But the remnants of other wars haunt us still. And now Afghan girls are being denied schooling yet again. Hold this book in the light for its gentle messages about hope, learning and helping others.