Eli and the Uncles
by Jehan Madhani (Author) Rashin Kheiriyeh (Illustrator)
Say hello and good night to Uncle Hanif, Uncle Rashin, Uncle Nooru . . . and five more uncles, along with their spectacular beards!
Young Eli gets to spend a whole day with his eight adoring uncles--each one bigger and taller than the last, and each with an outsized personality to match, from Aman the dancer to Riz the joke teller. Even better, every one of the uncles sports his own unique set of whiskers! Short or long, curly or straight, bristly or soft, whatever the style or texture, every especially elegant beard is a sight to behold (and a sleepy-time aid for Eli as he says his good-nights one by one). With delightful warmth and whimsy, author Jehan Madhani and award-winning illustrator Rashin Kheiriyeh present a hilarious, hirsute countdown to bedtime that will have young readers and listeners dreaming of woolly beards instead of woolly sheep.
Locate at a Library Near You WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Publishers Weekly
Eli's eight uncles live together in one house, and every summer Eli spends a day with them in this gleeful excursion from Madhani and Kheiriyeh. Watercolor, acrylic, and colored pencil illustrations show Eli running toward a house crammed with elaborately bearded uncles, "very big and very tall," all portrayed with brown skin. Uncle Mahmoud "tells the best stories," Uncle Salim cooks Eli's favorite foods, Uncle Hanif sings, Uncle Aman dances, Uncle Riz tells jokes, Uncles Farouk and Aziz argue, and Uncle Nooru naps. Following these events, "eight uncles and one Eli" eat dinner together before Eli heads home. In an epic farewell chain, Eli kisses each uncle, while text details the qualities of their beards. (Uncle Mahmoud's is "short and nicely groomed"; Uncle Salim's is "so long and curly that Eli gets a little lost in it.") It's an affectionate, rhythmically told sequence that underlines time spent individually and collectively. Ages 3-7. (Nov.)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Kirkus
Playful illustrations elevate a rather unadorned tale.
JUV005000 - Juvenile Fiction | Boys & Men
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
