The House of Wisdom

Once upon a time, there was a special place in Baghdad: the House of Wisdom, or Bayt al-Hikmah, where scholars, translators, and thinkers gathered together during the Islamic Golden Age. They studied medicine, alchemy, physics, mathematics, and more. Ideas traveled across languages and cultures, bringing new knowledge and discoveries to the world. Tragically, centuries of accumulated wisdom were lost when Hulagu Khan’s armies destroyed the library, showing the fragility of even the greatest treasures.

In The House of Wisdom, Bodour Al Qasimi brings this legendary library to life for young readers. The narrative is made even more compelling by Majid Zakeri’s beautiful graphic illustrations, in a tricolor palette of turquoise, red, and black. The book is both a fascinating history lesson and an invitation to dream, learn, and think. It gives children the opportunity to imagine themselves as part of that ancient history, to appreciate the value of knowledge and memory.

The House of Wisdom is the winner of the Fiction category of the 2025 BolognaRagazzi Awards of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.