You really wouldn’t think there is much to review in an alphabet board book, but this particular one tries to do more than just pluck a random Islamic word or concept for each of the 26 English letters.  It attempts to give each of the letters one of Allah (swt)’s beautiful names explained in English, but written in Arabic too.

Each 5 x 10 page features a four line description in a rhyming format to flesh out the highlighted word or phrase.

Some letter to corresponding Asma al Husna are spot on, but some are a little more of a stretch and some don’t even seem to try.  Overall though it is well-done and delightful.

The people illustrated don’t have visible eyes, but many have smiles, noses, or closed eyes.  They are bright and warm and engaging.  The binding and thickness of the pages is sturdy.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book is that the while the rhyming is forced, as is nearly always the case in these type of books, the diction stays on level.  Little kids will understand the words used and emerging readers will be able to sound out and read many on their own as well.

A great book for your toddler to preschool collection and a reasonably priced book from Crescent Moon Store http://www.crescentmoonstore.com.