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Around the World in Books / Qatar
What Do Muslim Women Wear Under Their Abayas?
From sea snakes to camel racing, a picture book answers children’s questions about an energy-rich Persian Gulf nation
This is the 21st post in the “Around the World in Books” series that is reviewing 30 books about 30 countries in the first 30 days of March. Tomorrow: Romania
Qatar is a rich country that’s had poor literary luck beyond its borders. The nation has one of the world’s highest per capita incomes and a deep tradition of Bedouin poetry and folktales. But its official language is Arabic, which holds unique challenges for translators, and few of its books reach distant shores.
My small-town library had two books about Qatar, none by a native of America’s energy-rich Persian Gulf ally. One was The Bourne Ascendancy, Eric Van Lustbader’s ninth contribution to the Bourne franchise, and the reviews weren’t encouraging. Publishers Weekly said the writing ran to lines like: “The long bulge of the Presidential phallus was all too visible.”
That left only the fetchingly titled Qatar: Enchantment of the World (Scholastic, 2004), a nonfiction book for roughly ages 10 to 12, by Terri Willis. With large color photos on most its 140…
