My name is Abdullah Bin Salim al Ashur and I live with my people in Wadi Hasik close to Al Haffah in the Governance of Dhofar on the southern coast of Oman. Abdullah and His Grandfather , written by Andy McNab and illustrated by Patricia Al Fakhri ( Jerboa Books , 2008) is about the greatest day of eleven-year-old Abdullah's life: the first day his grandfather took him to the wadi (dried riverbed) to harvest Boswellia trees for their luban (frankincense). Luban is essential to Abdullah and his grandfather and their people, and greatly prized in Omani history. Abdullah is very happy and eager to learn how to make a taqii (cut) on Boswellia tree branches using his manqaf (a traditional Arabic tool like a miniature scythe) so that luban will leak from the branches. The luban will harden and in two to three weeks time will resemble large pearls. These pearls of luban can then be removed from the trees and sold in the suqs (traditional Arab market places) of Salalah. Abdullah...