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Little Farsi Books (کِتابِ کوچولو – ketãb-e-kuchulu)
I’m thrilled that so many families have received A Little Farsi Alphabet Book now. Kheylee Mamnoon خِیلی مَمنون (thank you so much) for all the kind words and encouragement!
My goal for Little Farsi Books is to support intercultural families like ours to:
Be seen.
While there are more intercultural and interracial families represented in children’s books now than when I was young, it’s still not the norm. And finding Persian representation in those books is even less common. Where are my fellow tri-racial families?
Make Farsi approachable and easy for the absolute beginner.
A whole new alphabet can make Farsi feel intimidating for a new learner. When I married into a Persian family, I wanted to learn Farsi so I could understand the family’s conversations, greet the elders in their own language, and support our future kids’ learning. But I was stymied by the lack of vowel sounds and having to memorize 32 whole new letters that don’t always have consistent sounds and sometimes look very similar to one another except for a dot here or there. (Really makes me more empathetic towards English language learners tackling the various sounds “-ough” can make.)
Learn Farsi while having fun.
I’ve got a toddler, a full-time job, and sometimes even a social life. I don’t have time or energy (or, let’s be real, motivation) for a class or workbook. I want to spend my precious free time bonding with my baby. I might be biased, but I think she’s pretty cool. My favorite activity is reading together, and I know it’s good for her, too. She loves flipping through the pages herself, and even though her attention span is short now, I know we’re setting the stage for a lifelong love of reading by forming positive associations with books.
I devised visual mnemonics to help me learn, and I heard from friends that they would find my little Farsi alphabet book helpful too. So I decided to publish it! Even friends and family who gave up learning Farsi long ago have rekindled motivation to learn through these simple and fun illustrations. I’m hoping to create many more fun books to help further these goals. Check out this post for activities you can do with your children of various ages to bond and have fun (always the first priority) and learn the Farsi alphabet (great side benefit).
What do you want to see from Little Farsi Books?
I hope A Little Farsi Alphabet Book helps you kindle a love of reading in your family, with the added benefit of learning Farsi together! Do you have any topics you’d like to see in my next books, blog posts, or book lists? Favorite learning resources or strategies to recommend? Send me an email (maia@littlefarsibooks.com) or contact me with this form!