Saif’s Special Patches

Past successes sewn into a precious quilt help a boy to work through self-doubt in this reassuring picture book about growth taking time. Wrapped in the quilt, young Saif prefers not to join his friends outside: “I’m shy,” he says. To remind Saif of his bravery in a prior moment, his ami references a patch on the quilt, begun when Saif was a baby, that incorporates his old clothes—“This patch is from the shirt you wore to the Eid picnic last year.” As Saif seeks to learn and grow, his attempts backfire, but loved ones, via the quilt squares, remind him of previous wins. And when the imam asks Saif to give the call to prayer, the child leans into his strengths while understanding that, like the quilt, “he’s still growing.” In smudgy, pastel-textured illustrations, Sader portrays key moments past and present alongside Saif’s unreservedly earnest endeavors. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–9. (Mar.)