Caroline Torbey has the perfect example of a multicultural and multilingual background. Her father is Lebanese and her mother Vietnamese-German. When Torbey was a child they lived in Cameroon, where the official languages are French and English, but 250 other languages are spoken. She grew up speaking French with her parents as well as Arabic, English, German and some occasional Vietnamese.

“My father did not speak a lot [in Arabic] but when he spoke, it was full of proverbs and idioms,” Torbey told Al-Monitor. “I wasn’t fluent in Arabic as a little girl and ended up doing a lot of research so that I could understand what he was saying. I thought the Lebanese proverbs, with which I grew up, were both colorful and interesting.”

​Her struggles to understand the expressions led her to write “Dessine-moi un proverbe, les proverbes libanais racontés à nos enfants” (“Draw me a proverb, Lebanese proverbs told to our children”). The book, published in October, introduces 20 Lebanese proverbs — most of which have similar expressions in English and French — in a simple, fun and teachable way and will be distributed to schools under the patronage of the Lebanese ministries of Culture and Education. The book was produced in French but will be translated into Arabic. The author plans to publish nine more volumes for children in the near future.

The book centers on common proverbs, such as “three's a charm” and “beware of quiet waters,” and illustrates each expression with a short story and drawing. The author’s target audience is the children of the Lebanese expats who live abroad, especially those who have one Lebanese parent.