Zanib Mian has really set the standard for quality affordable children’s Islamic books title after title.  So, I really was on pins and needles waiting for these Musa & Friends board books, and then I got one (thank you Crescent Moon Store) and part of me is really disappointed, and part of me is wondering what I’m missing.

They are at cheapest $8 a book, and there are 8 pages.  Yes, the binding and page thickness is awesome, and the 5.5 square size is adorable in a toddler’s hands, but I guess I wanted more.  More pages, more feeling or tone of Ramadan, a little more substance.

The illustrations are super fun and Zanib Mian has a history of writing toddler and preschool appropriate books, so needless to say I was surprised that I didn’t love this book.  Granted I’ve only seen the Ramadan book, and maybe the others in the series are much more satisfying, or maybe when you have all four together, they round each other out, which I’m really hoping is the case.

The text amount per page is great for littles, but the content is rather random in my opinion. They little diverse family and their penguin love Ramadan, they go to the masjid for taraweeh, they wake up for suhoor, they read Quran, they give money to the poor, they eat too much iftar and they love eid.

The book is meant for Muslim children as no details are given about what iftar or suhoor mean or that Ramadan involves fasting.  The illustrations won’t help much either in explaining the terms or even teaching concepts as the page on giving to charity has Musa and Penguin putting money in a jar, Musa’s dad is reading Quran, even though the text says, “Well done, Musa,” and even the penguin says “Gobble, gobble, gobble,” when eating(?).

The books are cute and if you aren’t overly critical and you receive the book as a gift you will probably be very happy.  I just expected more and after the smallness of size of “A Young Muslim’s Mindful Book of Wellbeing” combined with the shortness of these books, I won’t just blindly order a bunch of Muslim Children’s Books without considering if they are worth it anymore, which makes me sad.