Author #186: The Cat Man of Aleppo in part by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha

 

The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha with illustrations by Yuko Shimzu is a picture book about Mohammad Alee Aljaleel who became an ambulance driver to help people when war broke out in Syria.  He realized that many people had to leave their pets and he started to ask for scraps from local butchers to feed all the cats that could not be with their families. From scraps there came a cat sanctuary, playground for children, and help for other animals. There is an interview with Alee from Dec. 9, 2020 from TRT-a Turkish Public Broadcast service. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8yBAZWWUkM&t=136s