My Father’s Shop by Satomi Ichikawa
Young Mustafa helps his father in his Moroccan rug shop. His father wishes that he would pay attention and learn to speak in different languages to their customers, but Mustafa thinks it is boring. When he sneaks out of lessons with a torn rug over his head, he discovers that learning languages can be a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations are vibrant, from the colorful rugs to the many different people Mustafa encounters in the market. The text is just long enough to work in a storytime for preschoolers who will also have fun learning how to crow like a rooster in different languages just like Mustafa. It is a great way to share multicultural awareness with children, letting them see just like Mustafa did that all these cultures are what make up the rug of life.
16 thoughts on “My Father's Shop”
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Waking Brain Cells 
The colors and pattern on the carpet the boy chose were not necessarily characteristic of this type of “carpet” so I felt that Satomi was foreshadowing. Looking back after reading,even the page where he is leaving the shop thinking “This is boring” his position is begining to look rooster like. I love so many aspect of this book, but i will stop and let others have a turn.
Argyle
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The “typical” family was not the pattern in this book. There were not alot of the mother, father, sister and brother. It seems that the author put two sisters or two brothers. You see some grandparents and those of different nationalities. The author seems to group them lightly by outfits. You see the one family in pokadots and scarves and another family the colors match and they are wearing flip flops. The older couple are wearing hats. It matches to the theme of the boy “matching” his rooster. ~*Williams-Hacker
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The illustrations in this book add meaning to the text.
Mustafa (the boy)did not want to sit through his father’s lesson, but by sneeking out when he could, he was learning what his father wanted him to. He learned through his play, by encountering others along the way. The other people he encountered were from other cultures, and spoke other languages. Mustafo learned from each of them in spite of the differences in language and culture, and because of the differences. Posted by: Janette Scriven
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This book was very enjoyable and enlightening. I thought that it depicted the importance of knowing other cultures. The father fully understood this concept and wanted to instill this in his son so that he may prosper in business; however, the son did not see the importance of this and only found it boring. Thankfully, once out in the world of the market place, I think Mustafa found that it is quite interesting and beneficial to learn other words and languages. This will be a valuable lesson if he wishes to be in business like his father.
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I thought the book was enjoyable. I like that many cultures were present within the text. We have seen other cultural books in class but most seem to only contain one culture different from our own i.e. the Chinese Cinderella. This book, however, incorporated five different cultures that children can now know something about. The choice of a roosters song was an intersting way to also incorporate some of the languauge of these cultures.
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This book had beutiful illustrations and used an excellent amount of text. I think the Mustafa’s father taught him a good lesson of learning others languages. I loved the colors of the illustrations, everything was so brilliant and sharp. This book teaches young children to be aware of other cultures around them.
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The colors and pictures in this book were very beautiful. This book is great for children who are first beginning to learn the importance of different cultures. Having the ability to understand other languages enables many people in businesses to be highly successful because they can easily relate with others from different backgrounds. I think that not only does this book stress that importance, but it also reminds us that children find beauty in many things. Mustafa found the carpet with the hole in it to be wonderful. This part reminded me that not everything has to be perfect for it to be beautiful.
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I think this is a great picture book for children and adults of all ages. I know I still found it cool to learn how a rooster sounds in different cultures even at the age of 19. Pre-schoolers will learn foreign languages without even realizing it as they have so much fun. The colors are great and made this story full of action an fun.
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This book was much more exciting for the shear fact of the artwork. The illustrations in this book were amazing. The bright watercolors helped to capture the expressions on the faces which in turn helped us as the audience to feel their emotions. Another aspect that i really like is the way culture is presented. The book incorporated a few different cultures which readers are now more aware of, which is very important.
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This is a great book to read to younger students because it not only teaches valuable lessons,but there are many different cultures mentioned and drawn within the story to help spread cultural awareness. In the part of the story when all of the different cultures make the sound that their roosters make, this can let younger children know that even though people may look different, they still experience a lot of the same things in life. In the story, Mustafa learns different languages by experiencing them first hand. This shows students that learning can be done more than one way, and that learning can also be fun.
-Fury
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I found this book to be very informative and enjoyable. The book sends an important message about the different cultures and the benefits of learning other languages. This book also teaches a lesson of being independent. When Mustafa snuck out of his father’s shop, he began to explore people from other cultures and learned from them. I think the vibrant illustrations and the amount of text in this book can capture a child’s interest when reading.
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I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations were very bright and bold. They caught my eye very easily. I also ejoyed the fact that there were many different cultures introduced within this book. It shows a great deal that there isn’t just one culture out there. It emphasizes many.
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I think the style of the illustrations a really important to what the author is trying to accomplish in this book. The watercolor illustrations give the book a vibrant Morrocan feel. I think this is especially important because children love pictures especially if they are colorful. The illustrations and story help to teach younger children about other cultures in a way that is not straighforward.
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I really enjoyed reading the book. I thought it was appropriate for children and an easy read. The pictures were very bright and bold. I also enjoyed the fact that Mustafa was able to use his imagination when playing with the rug with the hole. I thought it was great that many languages were expressed and that Mustafa learned to speak these different languages in a way rather than just sitting with dad and repeating after him. He was very motivated by how the rooster spoke in different languages.
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i really enjoyed the book. I loved how the pictures were illustrated. I think this was a very good book for younger children because it was very easy to read and the pictures also could help the children understand the story better.
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I enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations are very colorful and attention getting. I liked how the text fit in with the pictures on each page of the book. I believe children would enjoy this book because of all the colors and because it is easy to read and understand. This is a great book in that it teaches a great life lesson: there are a lot of people that are different from you but it is interesting to learn about these individuals and to learn about different cultures. This book would make students see how interesting and fun it can be to meet different people and learn about their way of life.
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