Nasreen's Secret School

“Winter celebrates the importance of education, and the reminder to Western children that it is a privilege worth fighting for is a powerful one.”–The Horn Book Magazine
“The personal nature of the story individualizes the conflict in Afghanistan…and the quiet, tightly focused approach helps make the situation accessible. The notion of school as a privilege revoked rather than a mandatory sentence may also elicit some thoughtful kid consideration.”–The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“Winter’s precise acrylics tell this story in matter-of-fact images: Taliban soldiers coming down the mountain to the city of Herat, “where art and music and learning once flourished”; a girl called Nasreen sitting at home, silent since her parents disappeared, forbidden to attend school; the grandmother, who tells the story, taking her to a secret girls’ school in a private home. The students’ brightly colored headscarves stand in for their bravery and eagerness to learn.”–The New York Times Book Review
“Winter tells another powerful story, based on true events, of an individual activist whose singular courage brings social change…Winter artfully distills enormous concepts into spare, potent sentences that celebrate Herat’s rich cultural, Islamic history…even as they detail the harrowing realities of Taliban rule. And in her signature style of deceptively simple compositions and rich, opaque colors, Winter’s acrylic paintings give a palpable sense of both Nasreen’s everyday terror and the expansive joy that she finds in learning.”–Booklist

Jeanette Winter (1939–2025) was a celebrated picture book creator whose acclaimed works include The Snow Man; The Little Owl & the Big Tree: A Christmas Story; Oil; The Secret Project; and Diego, all written by Jonah Winter, and her own Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia; Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan; Henri’s Scissors; Sister Corita’s Words and Shapes; and Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet, which has been translated into twenty-one languages.

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