A traditional Somali fable titled “Daanyeerkii Caqliga Badnaa,” which tells a story of a monkey outsmarting a deceitful crocodile, may sound like a typical children’s book found in library shelves. However, it’s not always easy to find bilingual versions of such fables in both Somali and English, particularly in the United States.
Somali Family Safety Task Force
Several Somali families in Seattle recognized this problem and decided to take matters into their own hands. They formed the Somali Family Safety Task Force, which published five original bilingual children’s storybooks collaboratively written by a group of local residents. The project was funded by a grant from King County’s Best Starts for Kids initiative, as well as private donations.
Seattle’s Third-Largest Somali Community
The Seattle region is home to the third-largest Somali community among metropolitan areas in the US, according to a 2014 U.S. Census Bureau report. At Seattle Public Schools, Somali is the third most commonly spoken language among students after English and Spanish. About 1,120 students say Somali is the first language they learned, and approximately 970 say Somali is the language they speak at home, according to district spokesperson Tim Robinson.
Preserving Somali Language and Cultural Values
The nonprofit organization has printed 1,000 copies of each children’s storybook to be distributed to libraries, schools, and members of the public in Seattle and beyond. If a title starts to sell out, the Somali Family Safety Task Force plans to print additional copies, staff said.
The books will help children feel closer to their heritage as they build their Somali language skills. Moreover, the books depict Somali cultural values like self-reliance, determination, and trust, showing Somali American children “a story of themselves,” said executive director Farhiya Mohamed.
The new titles soon will be available at Seattle Public Schools and libraries. To purchase any of the new books, priced at $20 each, email info@sfstf.org. Each order includes an audiobook version.
Intergenerational Connection
Over plates of bur and cups of hot tea, Somali families from around the Seattle area met up at NewHolly Gathering Hall last Friday to celebrate the launch of the new books. Hamdi Abdulle, executive director of African Community Housing and Development, told the crowd, “If you don’t read, you don’t know the juicy stories, the knowledge, the things that you need to nurture your life, your own life first, and then pass on to your children.”
It’s not the first time the community organization has produced children’s books to serve Somali families. Starting in 2018, the group created three board books for preschoolers to learn letters, numbers, and the names of animals in Somali, in collaboration with local mothers and children. It was borne out of a desire to preserve the Somali language among children born and raised in the Seattle region.
Bilingual Stories for Older Children
Demand for the books was high, particularly for bilingual stories for older children. Thus, community members decided to create additional books. Fadumo Mohamud bought two new children’s storybooks for her 20-month-old daughter during the celebration event. While Mohamud has purchased other bilingual books online in the past for her daughter, “How long can you read the same books over and over?” she said. “She’s going to have to learn Somali, so I have to do everything I can to start promoting that really young,” Mohamud said.
Inspiration from Conversations Among Women
In part, the story idea for each book came from conversations among women who regularly meet at NewHolly Gathering Hall to weave baskets, sip tea, and share memories of their past lives in Somalia, according to Fartun Omar, the senior coordinator.
While some of the books are traditional Somali folk tales with moral lessons, others are based on the real lives of Somali women living in Seattle, building an intergenerational connection between elders born in Somalia and young children born in the United States. One of the tales, for example, is about a young girl who longs for a doll but whose family cannot afford it. The young girl’s mother ends up making a doll out of corn husks and dyed rags, delighting the daughter.
“It tells [children] the world is not a simple place,” Omar said, referring to the story’s moral. “Even if things are going smoothly, in about some time, things will go south, so they have to use their own imagination and motivate themselves to create a path for their future.”
The success of the project has motivated the Somali Family Safety Task Force to consider creating more books in the future. For now, they’re proud of the books they’ve created and the impact they’re having on their community. The participants stated that this is a way of preserving our culture and history and ensuring that our language doesn’t become extinct.
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