THE CAT MAN OF ALEPPO is the inspiring and true story of Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel, a courageous man who sheltered and cared for the cats left behind in the rubble of Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War. Originally, Alaa stayed in his beloved ancient city to drive an ambulance and care for the sick and wounded, but one day he hears the abandonded cats crying out for food. He feeds them and pets them to let them know they are loved, and the next day even more cats seek him out, and the next day even more. Confronted with an ever-growing supply of hungry mouths, he decides to reach out to the world for help in his mission to keep the city's cats safe and cared for. The book features gorgeous and emotive artwork by Yuko Shimizu that blend digitally colored paintings and the art of Edo-era Japan. This is a truly moving tale of how much good one person can do, even when surrounded by chaos and strife.
THIS COPY was hand signed on the title page by Karim Shamsi-Basha and Irene Latham at the store. It is a new, unread first edition opened only for signing and comes with a certificate authenticating the signature. Published in April, 2020 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
KARIM SHAMSI-BASHA immigrated from Damascus, Syria to the United States in 1984 at the age of 18. Karim's work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, National Geographic Traveler, People, Time, Aramco World Magazine, Southern Living, and many other fine publications. He has written an essay for Alabama Christmas alongside those by Helen Keller and Truman Capote. Thank you Karim Shamsi-Basha for signing our books.
IRENE LATHAM is the winner of the 2016 ILA Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, and has written over twenty books of poetry, fiction, and children's literature. She also travelled worldwide with her family, spending over two years in Saudi Arabia, before settling down in Alabama in 1984. Thank you Irene Latham for signing our books.
