Brave with Beauty – Book Review

Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan

Written by Maxine Rose Schur

Illustrated by Patricia Grush, Robin Dewitt, and Golsa Yaghoobi

Published in October, 2019

Why we chose this book:

I like reading women’s biographies, the art looked beautiful, and T and I are both always happy to read about an unfamiliar time/place. Yali Books provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mom’s Review

I often ask T if he would like to be friends with the characters in his books. After reading Brave with Beauty, Queen Goharshad from Afghanistan is one woman whom I would be honored to meet. Readers learn that young Goharshad vowed to be brave with beauty, even though she wasn’t quite sure what she meant. Goharshad did not allow herself to be dismissed because of her sex, and she followed her passion for the arts. She married Shah Rukh, king of the Khorasan empire, at age 14. As queen, she was a patron of education and the arts, designing mosques, a center for learning, and an oasis-like garden. She paid for musicians to play in the city of Herat for the citizens’ benefit. She sold her jewels and even her crown to fund the building of a girls’ school. Everything she designed was to be decorated by artisans with vibrant paints made from precious gems. Although she is long-dead and her buildings are mostly in ruins, people today can still find bright tiles among the land mines. The old man T refers to is one of those people: a man who cares for the queen’s grave and collects the broken tiles. An author’s note provides further information about Goharshad and the author’s inspiration for writing.

Schur’s storytelling transports readers centuries back into the city of Herat; between the content, the captivating narration, and the magical illustrations, it is hard to believe that you are not actually there. T read the book first with his dad, and then later with me. After the first reading, T wanted to see photos of what everything looks like now; it was quite a lesson in the passage of time. When I read with T and paused to discuss different events, I felt more like I was bothering my spellbound son than engaging him. Brave with Beauty is well worth reading for anyone, and should be an excellent fit for readers with any interest in female leaders, Afghanistan, architecture, or the arts.

Son’s Review

(Age: 4 and ½)

Mom: What would you do if those brothers crumpled your drawings?

Son: I would just redraw with good remembery, like a squirrel.

How did you feel when the architect said Queen Goharshad couldn’t build a mosque because she was a woman?

Not happy.

What do you think about how Queen Goharshad treated the old woman?

That’s nice for her.

What was good about Brave with Beauty?

How like at first she was young, but then she got old, and I like how it tells you about the old man at the end.

Was there any part you didn’t like?

When her brothers crumpled her papers into a ball and threw them out the window.

Does reading this make you want to do anything?

Yes. Make tons of robots that people can ride in and go under sea so if I want to go to the bottom. I’ll make a robot that’s able to stay built forever. I’ll make robots that will be able to stay built forever, so if I die, people will still be able to use my creations.

How does that relate to Brave with Beauty?

When she builds creations. All of her designs.

What will people learn about if they read the book?

That it’s good for building-things igvice [advice].

Extra:

Check out Yali Books:  www.yalibooks.com Yali is a small publishing company that offers books related to South Asia. We’ve also read Mina vs. the Monsoon from them, which we loved. Our first two impressions from this publisher are all things positive!