Sadiq Wants to Stitch

A young Indian boy watches as his mother stitches a gorgeous multicolored rug. He’s just returned from milking and grazing the sheep, a job he inherited soon after his Abba’s passing. To his delight, sometimes Ammi lets him thread the needle and sew a few stitches into the corner of her rug. However, when he offers to help her with an order she has little time to produce, she tells him, “in our community, it is the women who stitch.” Inspired by a dream, Sadiq begins his own masterpiece, despite his mother’s resistance. Each night, after Ammi falls asleep, he works feverishly on it. Once Ammi discovers his remarkable talent, she relents and allows him to pursue his dream.

Sadiq Wants to Stitch is a tale rich with cultural content, from the gorgeous, exquisitely detailed, watercolor illustrations through to the warm noon-cha Sadiq sips before heading off into the vast hills of Kashmir with his sheep. The text is laced with truths about the Bakarwals, the nomadic community to which Sadiq and his mother belong. Its message of love, passion, responsibility, and cultural norms is clear, and while the reading level is approximately third to fourth grade, children aged seven to eleven will likely feel fondness for it. Further, it’s ideal for classrooms across the globe in which culture is illuminated.