Recently Published Books

"Shadi and Shadia"

He is Salvador Arnita, professor of music at the American University of Beirut, and she is Yusra Jawhariyya Arnita, his assistant in his work and the partner of his life — we publish their pictures on the occasion of the appearance of her book "Shadi and Shadia." She wrote the words and he composed the music, and the production has come out splendid, rich in its pictures and its colors — filling a great void in the lives of our children and nourishing their artistic inclinations.

For the last nine years our little ones have found nothing to sing but "Songs for the Little Ones" by Rose Ghorayeb — and in truth it must be said that no one but Rose has composed for the little ones so singular and marvelous a work — until today the two musician spouses have come to add a beautiful stone to the edifice, and to offer our children a gift than which none is more delightful or more splendid!

The songs of "Shadi and Shadia," says Mrs. Arnita, are suited to small children between 4 and 8 years of age. This is the first installment, and it will be followed by three further installments for older ages... And very soon there will appear the Teacher's Book for Shadi and Shadia, containing a full explanation of the method of teaching the song to little ones, and of everything of artistic bearing between the teacher and the child — this Teacher's Book is rich in its music and contains guidance on how to discover a child's musical talent and develop it...

"Shadi and Shadia" is the harvest of three years of work and perseverance — it is a pearl in the meager library of our children...

A large, elegant volume has appeared from the Rihani house for printing and publishing, by the Chilean historian Ismael Valdés Vergara — rendered from Spanish into Arabic by our energetic woman of letters Mrs. Mari Yanni Ata Allah. She began her work in Santiago, the capital of Chile, and finished it here in Beirut. She prefaced the book with two pictures representing the emblem of Chile and its flag, and dedicated it to the souls of Cristóbal Colón and his mighty companions, the discoverers of America...

There is no doubt that the work Mrs. Marie Ata Allah has undertaken is a tremendous work deserving of abundant thanks, for she has acquainted the sons of Arabic with the history of a rising Western country... Nor is this too much for a woman of letters with a brilliant past in the field of journalism: about a quarter of a century ago she brought out her magazine "Minerva," and she has her famous oratorical stands, above all on "Martyrs' Day." We offer our friend Marie our congratulations and our thanks, and we wish her continued success in all her works.