This last Ramadan I tried every day to listen to Sheikh Omar Suleiman’s Angels in your Presence series with my kids and discuss Angels with them.  I learned so much and got to wondering, why other than the 10 or 15 facts we all learn as children do we not talk about Angels more.  So when I saw the first in a new series by the absolutely fabulous Zanib Mian was about Angels I was so excited, then I forget to review it, and here we are.  The book embodies her sweet spot for personas as she writes as Eliyas, a little boy telling about what he knows about Angels with sincerity, clarity, excitement and humor.  Perfect for ages six and up, I think all children should spend a few minutes with this 81 page doodle filled book to remind us of Allah’s magnificence, Alhumdulillah.

SYNOPSIS:

Eliyas starts the book by introducing himself and some things about him before diving in, or rather encouraging you to go put socks on so that what he is about to tell you can blow your socks off!  It starts off with him not being able to sleep so he sneaks out of bed to get cookies, because cookies solve everything, and then his dad joining him and them discussing aliens, which leads to outer space, and the knowledge of outer space being filled with angels.

Eliyas then learns about the number of wings the angels have, how strong the angels are, and some of the specific angels that do specific tasks ordered upon them by Allah swt.  The task of protecting us, appeals to Eliyas and the concept of angels the size of mountains praying with us, blows his mind.

We learn through Eliya’s dad about angels coming to Earth in human form and about angel Jibreel (as) specifically.  We also learn a dua to say when leaving the home so that the angels protecting you respond.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love the way that the information is presented.  It is a mix of fact and story and tied together with humor and relatability.  If you haven’t read Zanib Mian, please do, her Migo and Ali books, Hadith and Duas are all great Islamic resources, and her Planet Omar and Alien book are hilarious and warm.  I pray that the series continues, it really is a lot of fun.

FLAGS:

None

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I think this would be great to have a Sunday school class read and discuss or an Islam class offer up as extra credit.  It probably wouldn’t work as a book club selection, but it definitely has a ton of value in a classroom and in a home library.