Monthly Reflection: Azamat (Grandeur) – On Children, Youth & Parents

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For the last several weeks, we’ve been sharing Nava Revalk’s audio readings of Melanie Lotfali’s Fellowship Farm book series. These chapter books for primary school aged children feature Leezah, Skye-Maree and Olingah Fitzgerald who help their parents on the family farm in Tasmania. These engaging, lovable and relatable characters navigate everyday adventures, participate in children’s classes, Feasts, Holy Days and community life, face tests and difficulties, and have a lot of fun! My kiddos enjoy the books so much, they’ve asked to have the whole series read to them more than once, and my oldest was motivated to read all the books on her own. Nava’s joyful and playful reading adds light upon light to these novels and we’re thrilled to have released 12 of the 18 books so far!

This is the second time we’ve collaborated with a children’s book author and their publisher to share their work on Baha’i Blog. Although it was a few years ago, I’m still excited about our videos of Mighty: 7 Stories About Abdu’l-Baha for Children Who Want to Change the World, read by the picture book’s author, Shirin Taherzadeh, and featuring slow pans over the whimsical and cheerful illustrations by Alyssa De Asis.

These are just two initiatives among the bursting library of articles, interviews, videos and music for parents, caregivers and teachers. And we have another project in the works that we’re elated and eager to share in the coming months–so stay tuned!

This month we also released a Living Room Session song called “The Condition of the World” by Serene, Nadine and Daryan which is based on a passage from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi about the period of youth:

What’s the difference between Living Room Sessions and Studio Sessions? I’d love to tell you!

Studio Sessions involve coming into a studio and recording original songs based on quotations from the Baha’i Writings. However, participating in this initiative depends on where you live, and if and when we’re organizing time in a recording studio. We realize that many people have not been able to take part in this project and they would love to film and record their music less formally on their own. We created Living Room Sessions as a way to receive and share those submissions. You can find out how to participate by reading the brief in our Creator Hub–psst!! It’s where we also share other briefs for types of videos we’d love to publish!

During the last Baha’i month, we also released a Studio Sessions song from Cairns in honour of Mother’s Day:

Last but not least, I’d like to draw your attention to a video we shared with enthusiasm that was produced by the Australian Baha’i community. It tells the story of architect John Brogran’s journey to the Baha’i Faith, but it’s also a story about John’s father, who was the architect of the Baha’i House of Worship in Sydney. We hope you check it out!

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next month!

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.