Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard

Use these activities to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity. 

Of Ants and Chrysalis, of Lions and Mice: When Appearances Are Deceiving in Aesop’s Fables

Numerous examples of “angels” and “beetles” are seen throughout Of Beetles and Angels, supporting the book’s primary theme of Appearances as Deceiving. Beetles, in this book, refer to an individual perceived by society as lowly, undeserving, or otherwise maligned. As Mawi notes in Chapter 5, however, these beetles are usually angels in disguise, meaning that the “beetles” often have value far beyond their immediate appearance.

The idea that “appearances can be deceiving” (and, relatedly, “don’t judge a book by its cover”) is a moral found in many of Aesop’s Fables, a collection of fables credited to Aesop, an ancient Greek storyteller and slave estimated to have lived between 620 and 564 BCE. Watch these two brief animations of two such fables:

• “The Ant and the Chrysalis”
• “The Lion and the Mouse”

In a small group, discuss both fables in connection with Of Beetles and Angels. Do the “villains” of the fables share any traits with the “villains” of Of Beetles and Angels? Do these fables give you any new understandings about Mawi’s experience and the refugee experience in general? Note your responses and share your thoughts with the larger group.