العُمْلَة القَدِيمَة
The Old Coin
A Hayya Beena Naqraa story · Tier 2 · For ages 7–9
Cover page
العُمْلَة القَدِيمَة
The Old Coin
🎨 Illustration prompt
A warm watercolor scene of an elderly Levantine grandfather seated in a soft armchair beside a small wooden side table. A child of about eight, with dark wavy hair, leans against his knee, holding up a small bronze-colored coin between two fingers. The coin catches the lamplight. The room has a Persian-style rug, a brass coffee tray on a low table, and a balcony door slightly open to evening light. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 1
كُلَّ يَوْمِ جُمُعَة، أَزُورُ جِدِّي. يَجْلِسُ في كُرْسِيِّهِ القَدِيمِ وَيَنْتَظِرُني. عِنْدَهُ دَائِمًا قِصَّةٌ جَدِيدَة.
Every Friday, I visit my grandpa. He sits in his old chair and waits for me. He always has a new story.
🎨 Illustration prompt
A child walking through a wooden front door into a sunlit Levantine apartment. Grandpa, an older man with a neat grey moustache and a soft cardigan, stands up from a worn velvet armchair, arms slightly open in welcome. A pot of tea steams on a small table. A framed photo of mountains hangs on the wall behind him. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 2
في يَوْمٍ مِنَ الأَيَّام، فَتَحْتُ دُرْجَ مَكْتَبِهِ. وَجَدْتُ عُمْلَةً صَغِيرَةً قَدِيمَة. كَانَتْ ثَقِيلَةً وَلَوْنُها كَلَوْنِ العَسَل.
One day, I opened the drawer of his desk. I found a small, old coin. It was heavy, and its color was like honey.
🎨 Illustration prompt
Close-up watercolor of a wooden desk drawer pulled open. Inside: a folded handkerchief, an old pen, a few buttons, and one bronze coin with worn Arabic numerals and a faded pattern resting on top. A child's small hand reaches in. Soft light falls across the drawer. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 3
رَكَضْتُ إِلى جِدِّي وَسَأَلْتُه: "ما هَذِهِ العُمْلَة؟" اِبْتَسَمَ جِدِّي وَأَخَذَها بِلُطْفٍ مِنْ يَدي. قَالَ: "هَذِهِ عُمْلَةٌ تَتَذَكَّر."
I ran to my grandpa and asked: "What is this coin?" Grandpa smiled and took it gently from my hand. He said: "This is a coin that remembers."
🎨 Illustration prompt
The child stands beside Grandpa's chair, looking up at him with curious eyes. Grandpa holds the small coin between his thumb and forefinger, examining it like something precious. His face is soft with a quiet smile. Afternoon light comes through a thin lace curtain. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 4
"هَذِهِ العُمْلَة كَانَتْ يَوْمًا في جَيْبِ خَبَّاز. كَانَ يَصْنَعُ أَطْيَبَ خُبْزٍ في القَرْيَة." قَرَّبَ جِدِّي العُمْلَةَ مِنْ أَنْفي. "شُمَّ — هَلْ لا تَزَالُ تَشُمُّ رائِحَةَ الخُبْز؟"
"This coin was once in a baker's pocket. He made the best bread in the village." Grandpa held the coin close to my nose. "Smell — can you still smell the bread?"
🎨 Illustration prompt
A split scene: in the foreground, the child closing their eyes and sniffing the coin in Grandpa's hand. In the soft background, like a daydream, a village bakery — a man in a flour-dusted apron pulling round flatbreads from a stone oven, steam rising. Warm browns and golds. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 5
في الجُمُعَةِ التَّالِيَة، أَخْرَجَ جِدِّي العُمْلَةَ مِنْ جَيْبِه. قَالَ: "هَذِهِ العُمْلَة كَانَتْ يَوْمًا مَعَ صَيَّاد. كَانَ يَسْحَبُ سَمَكًا فِضِّيًّا مِنَ البَحْرِ عِنْدَ الفَجْر."
The next Friday, Grandpa took the coin from his pocket. He said: "This coin once belonged to a fisherman. He pulled silver fish from the sea at dawn."
🎨 Illustration prompt
Another gentle daydream scene: a fisherman in a small blue wooden boat on the Mediterranean at early dawn, pulling a net full of small silver fish over the side. Pink and pale-blue sky. In the corner, the child and Grandpa sit on a balcony, the coin between them on a small table. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 6
"أَغْمِضْ عَيْنَيْك،" قَالَ جِدِّي. "هَلْ تَسْمَعُ الأَمْواج؟" أَغْمَضْتُ عَيْنَيَّ بِقُوَّة. وَسَمِعْتُ البَحْر.
"Close your eyes," Grandpa said. "Can you hear the waves?" I closed my eyes tight. And I heard the sea.
🎨 Illustration prompt
The child sitting cross-legged on the floor with eyes squeezed shut, a small smile beginning on their face. The coin rests in their open palm. Behind them, a window showing only blue sky, but the curtains move slightly as if a sea breeze has entered the room. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 7
في الجُمُعَةِ بَعْدَها، قَالَ جِدِّي: "هَذِهِ العُمْلَة كَانَتْ في جَيْبِ مُعَلِّمَةٍ طَيِّبَة. كَانَتْ تُعَلِّمُ الأَطْفالَ في غُرْفَةٍ صَغِيرَةٍ بِنافِذَةٍ واحِدَة."
The Friday after that, Grandpa said: "This coin was in the pocket of a kind teacher. She taught the children in a small room with one window."
🎨 Illustration prompt
A daydream-style scene of a modest old classroom: a young Levantine teacher in a simple grey dress stands in front of a small wooden chalkboard, gently smiling at a row of children seated at wooden desks. Sunlight streams through one tall window. Chalk dust floats in the air. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 8
وَفي الجُمُعَةِ التَّالِيَة، قَالَ: "وَهَذِهِ العُمْلَة كَانَتْ مَعَ فَلَّاحٍ زَرَعَ قَمْحًا في الجَبَل. كانَتْ يَدَاهُ خَشِنَتَيْنِ وَقَلْبُهُ كَبِيرًا."
And the next Friday, he said: "And this coin was with a farmer who grew wheat in the mountains. His hands were rough, and his heart was big."
🎨 Illustration prompt
A scene of terraced mountain fields in golden wheat, a farmer with a sun-weathered face standing among the stalks, wiping his brow with a cloth. Distant Levantine mountain village rooftops in the background. Warm yellows and dusty greens. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 9
في تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَة، فَكَّرْتُ في كُلِّ القِصَص. خَبَّازٌ، صَيَّاد، مُعَلِّمَة، فَلَّاح. اِبْتَسَمْت. عُمْلَةٌ واحِدَة لا يُمْكِنُها أَنْ تَتَذَكَّرَ كُلَّ هَذا.
That night, I thought about all the stories. A baker, a fisherman, a teacher, a farmer. I smiled. One coin cannot remember all of that.
🎨 Illustration prompt
The child lying in bed at night, blanket pulled up to their chin, eyes open and thoughtful, looking at the ceiling. On the bedside table, the small coin rests on a folded cloth. A soft yellow night-light glows. The child's face shows the moment of figuring something out. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 10
في الجُمُعَةِ التَّالِيَة، قُلْتُ لِجِدِّي: "أَنْتَ تَخْتَرِعُ القِصَص!" ضَحِكَ جِدِّي ضَحْكَةً طَوِيلَةً وَدافِئَة. قَالَ: "نَعَم يا حَبِيبي. وَلَكِنْ — هَكَذا تَتَذَكَّرُ العُمْلاتُ القَدِيمَة."
The next Friday, I told my grandpa: "You are making up the stories!" Grandpa laughed a long, warm laugh. He said: "Yes, my dear. But — that is how old coins remember."
🎨 Illustration prompt
Grandpa is laughing, head tilted back slightly, eyes crinkled. The child is laughing too, leaning against his arm. The coin sits between them on the small table beside a glass of tea. The whole scene feels like a shared secret. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
Page 11
أَخَذْتُ العُمْلَةَ وَوَضَعْتُها في جَيْبي. قُلْت: "إِذًا، الجُمُعَةَ القادِمَة، أَنا سَأَرْوي القِصَّة." اِبْتَسَمَ جِدِّي. قَالَ: "هَذا ما كُنْتُ أَنْتَظِرُه."
I took the coin and put it in my pocket. I said: "Then, next Friday, I will tell the story." Grandpa smiled. He said: "That is what I have been waiting for."
🎨 Illustration prompt
Close-up of the child's small hand slipping the coin into a shirt pocket. In soft focus behind them, Grandpa watches with a quiet, proud smile, his hands folded in his lap. Late afternoon light fills the room. The mood is gentle, like something has just been passed between them. Watercolor style. No text in the image.
كَلِماتٌ جَدِيدَة · New Words
| Arabic | How to say it | English |
|---|---|---|
عُمْلَة |
ʿum-lah | coin |
دُرْج |
durj | drawer |
قَدِيم |
qa-dīm | old |
خَبَّاز |
khab-bāz | baker |
صَيَّاد |
ṣay-yād | fisherman |
مُعَلِّمَة |
mu-ʿal-li-mah | teacher (female) |
فَلَّاح |
fal-lāḥ | farmer |
تَذَكَّرَ |
ta-dhak-ka-ra | he remembered |
جِدِّي |
jid-dī | my grandfather |
🗣️ Talk about it
These are not test questions — they're conversation starters. Pick one, ask it, and listen.
The child figures out that Grandpa is making up the stories — but they don't get upset. Why do you think they were okay with it? Have you ever known someone was telling you a made-up story and still loved it?
If you found an old coin in a drawer, who do you think it might have belonged to? A baker? A musician? A doctor? Make up a tiny story for it.
At the end, the child says, "Next Friday, I will tell the story." Why does this make Grandpa so happy? Who in your family tells the best stories?
✏️ Try it
Pick one:
- Find an old object in your home — a coin, a key, a button, an old photograph. Make up a story about who it once belonged to. Tell someone the story out loud.
- Ask the oldest person you know what's in their drawer or memory box. Ask them to tell you about one thing in it.
- Draw the four people from the coin's stories — the baker, the fisherman, the teacher, the farmer. Give each of them a name.
A note for grown-ups reading along
This story is about a quiet, beautiful kind of love — the kind that lives in the small Friday afternoons we spend with a grandparent. The Arabic uses full vowel marks (تَشْكِيل) so early readers can sound out each word slowly.
In many Levantine families — Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Jordanian — drawers really do hold old coins: Ottoman piastres, old Lebanese lira from before the inflation, French Mandate francs. They aren't worth much money. But they hold whole worlds. If you have any in your family, pull them out and show your child. Let them hold the metal. The story practically tells itself.
What this book is quietly teaching: that imagination is a gift adults can give children, and that the best inheritance is sometimes not the object itself but the practice of telling stories about it.
Read this book again next week. By the third reading, your child may already be inventing their own version. That is the whole point.
— Hayya Beena Naqraa (هَيَّا بِنَا نَقْرَأ)