Graber's (Jacob and the Polar Bears
) quiet story centers on an 11-year-old “dreamer” who deeply misses the time “before drought and war engulfed his homeland.” Muktar and his family had roamed Somalia as nomads, their “worldly possessions strapped to mighty camels”; Muktar's father had repeatedly told his son, “Camels first. Always camels first. Camels are treasure.” When a traveling librarian delivers books to the orphanage where Muktar now lives, he asks the boy to guard his three camels. Muktar notices that one has a gash in its foot, and he gently treats the wound with paste from a gnarled root that his father had given him; the librarian offers to take Muktar with him to care for his camels. A brief author's note about recent Somalia history gives the story a real-world context (the Kenya National Library Service deploys teams of camels each month to deliver books to schools and orphanages). First-time picture book illustrator Mack contributes muted, atmospheric oil paintings of a hazy African landscape and, depicted in grayscale, Muktar's treasured memories of a life before war. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)
