The Star Outside My Window: Onjali Q. Rauf

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Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Raúf is of British Bangladeshi heritage. Her work is informed in part by her experiences of racism in childhood. "When I started being called Paki, I started to feel [my difference]. I wondered: why is there no one who looks like me in the books? So I wanted to write those characters,” she said in a 2019 interview with The Guardian. [4] Raúf was raised in London. So when a new star is spotted acting strangely in the sky, Aniyah is sure it's her mum, and she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to make sure everyone else knows, too - an adventure that involves breaking into the Royal Observatory of London, a mischievous scurry of squirrels and the biggest star in Hollywood.... Aniyah and her brother, Noah, have gone to live with Mrs I and the children she fosters. We know very little about their circumstances but can glean something major has happened. Both are traumatised by their experiences and talk of their mum becoming a star hint at what might have happened.

And people with the biggest, brightest hearts never end up in the ground. They end up in the sky.’ Onjali Q. Raúf Maybe it's because we think of children's literature as pleasant stories filled with "happily ever afters" or perhaps it's because we view children's books as a form of escapism where nasty topics need to be sugarcoated or avoided entirely. Maybe it's just that as adults we're overprotective and don't like the idea of children knowing about violence and abuse. Whatever the reason, domestic abuse is a subject that rarely rears its head in mainstream children's publishing and whatever excuse we make for its absence, the fact of the matter is choosing not to write (or publish) books on domestic violence doesn't stop it from happening in the real world. And for the children experiencing it at home who don't know who to turn to or what the consequences might be if they speak out, stories like Onjali's can be a beacon of light.So when a new star is spotted acting strangely in the sky, Aniyah is sure it’s her mum, and she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to make sure everyone else knows too — an adventure that involves breaking into the Royal Observatory of London, a mischievous scurry of squirrels and the biggest star in Hollywood…

BBC Radio 2 - Pause For Thought, Vanessa's Pause For Thought: Onjali Rauf on Courage". BBC. 2 February 2017 . Retrieved 18 March 2019.I haven’t yet introduced this book to my class, and I think the way I will use it depends on what children I have at the time. I would not use the book for whole-class reading or for teaching about domestic abuse; I think it’s too sensitive a topic which needs to be covered very carefully, and a novel isn’t the best medium for such delicate teaching. As a book for my reading area though, it’s great. I hope no child ever goes through what Aniyah went through, but if a child in my class ever does go through a similar situation, then I hope it might enable them to seek help. Themes I have even talked the head into a little revamp of the library so that we can display them properly! I loved all the book but you need a wider understanding of their circumstances to get you going and some could be put off quite early on. Aniyah cannot believe the news. ‘ A real, live, burning star moving from one end of [the] solar system to the other, coming close to [the] planet’s atmosphere’…. It can only mean one thing. Aniyah is a star hunter. Since her mother left her and Noah several days ago, forcing their move to the foster home, Aniyah’s been on the look out for their mother. Now she’s appeared in a blaze of glory.