Iqbal :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Great for middle school classrooms

2007-10-25
Iqbal Masih was a 4 year boy who was sold into child bonded labor for under $50 by his parents. He worked in a rug making factory in Pakistan under deplorable conditions. At the age of 10 he escaped and began crusading against illegal child bonded labor practices. His work won him the Reebok Human Rights Award and he came to the US to receive the award. Upon his return home Iqbal was murdered while riding his bike near his grandmother's home. While no one knows who murdered him, it is assumed that the "carpet mafia" wanted to silence him.

Iqbal is a fictionalized account of Iqbal Masih's life. It is written at a fifth grade level but the content is better suited for middle school students. We are reading this book as a kick off to our study of child labor practices around the world. The book is compelling and told from a adolescents point of view. It is advised that this book is read as a class and within context of classroom discussions and facts about child labor. A student reading this book without classroom support may have a difficult time with emotional and societal issues addressed in the novel.

powerful and lovely

2007-05-05
A beautifully written (especially for a young adult novel) story of Iqbal, a young slave to a carpet merchant and his fight for freedom and participation in the anti-child labor movement. Another must read for young adults, showing they have power in this world for good. Grade: A-

kids reveiw

2007-02-08
The book Iqbal is about 16 children, Iqbal, Fatima, and 14
others and a mean and evil guy named Husssain Khan. He sends them to all work in a carpet factory. They don't get to eat a lot so they starve, and never have a full stomach. This was a very exciting book and I recommend it to all.

Sad, but good

2006-07-27
I thought the book made me have a positive outlook on life and brightened my spirit.After reading it, I kept thinking about the character and his story. It was very easy to read.

A gripping tale you just won't put this book down

2006-04-18
Iqbal is a book about bonded labour. It is about Pakistani children Iqbal, Fatima and fourteen other children. They have been sent out to work to pay off the debt, which their family owe to the unkind and evil Hassan Khan.

Hassan Khan tricks these children. Their job is to weave carpets day in and day out. Each child has a slate with lines on it. They have to work hard each day for these lines to be rubbed off. These lines represent the money they owe. Hassan Khan tricks the children. He kept on adding more lines because he knew that they couldn't count. Every day he would inspect, if the children were naughty or the carpet wasn't good enough to sell. He would lock them in the dreaded tomb where snakes, cockroaches and scorpions lived. All kids were chained to their looms. This continued until Iqbal came into the workshop.

Iqbal wasn't very tall and was shabby but he was very talented and brave. He knew that Hassan Khan was cheating them and wanted to get away. He taught the kids that what Hassan Khan was doing was wrong and to fight back. Unfortunately Iqbal was murdered by the carpet mafia on Easter Sunday 1995. He was only 13. Iqbal gave the kids courage and hope to get back to their families.

I thought that this book was touching and was an eye opener to what the world around you is like. You are so protected in your environment that sometimes you don't realize what is happening in this world and when you find out what actually happens you are shocked to discover that there are kids out there who have to work really hard to survive.
When you read Iqbal you can understand why they want to get away. One thing I have noticed is that when you read Iqbal you feel like you are a spy in the background watching everything that is happening. Or you are re-tracing the footsteps of the children. The way that D'Adamo has written this novel you almost feel like you are going through those hardships as well and you are celebrating the successes that they had.
It is a wonderful book and it makes you feel tearful.

By: Rima (New Zealand)

Iqbal by Annabel Massey

2006-04-06
When young Iqbal is sold into slavery at a carpet factory, his arrival changes everything for the other overworked and abused chidren there. It is Iqbal who explains to them that despite their master's promises, he plans on keeping them as his slaves indefinetely. But it is also Iqbal who inspires the other children to look to a future free from toil...and is brave enough to show them how to get there.

This moving fictionalized account of the real Iqbal Masih is told through the voice of Fatima, a young Pakistani girl whose life is changed by Iqbal's courage.

Very emotional book! 2006-02-12
My sister and I both cired when we read this. This book is about a very brave and determined boy named Iqbal and I really admire his courage. This is a book that will touch your soul and will make you cry and also, spread a wonderful message.

Notable Book 2005-12-16
"Iqbal and Fatimah are forced to work for a cruel man in a Pakistani sweatshop. They are not paid and it does not look like they, nor any of their friends, will ever be released. Thus, Iqbal takes things into his own hands and escapes so that he can show the world what is going on. Based on a true story, this shows what can happen when one person makes a stand." (summary from Lone Star List 2005-06, TX Library Association)

Empowering/Moving/A Must Read 2005-12-05
This story is valuable both as literary prose and for its powerful message about child labor. It follows Iqbal (a former child laborer in Pakistan) as he works to end child labor and hold those who support it accountable. I couldn't put it down. To learn that Iqbal was in fact a real child who had the inner strength to fight for not only his own, but the freedom of all children sends an incredibly powerful message to any reader.

Iqbal 2005-12-01
Iqbal was a boy who had to work in a factory owned by a really mean ugly old guy who was really strict and didn't treat the kids well, more like slaves. Iqbal had to work there to pay off his parent's debt. He knew he would never get out of there, so he stood up for what he believed in. Iqbal inspired other kids to do the same as well. He got so famous that today it is illegal to have child laborers. It's really sad, but it's a really good book. :)