This 36 page early elementary book is packed full of choices and lessons packaged in a sweet story that kids and adults will enjoy reading and discussing over and over. My only real critique is the title. I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf for nearly a year thinking it was just a silly book about a calf with a teapot on her hoof that is stuck and would probably involve different people and methods and attempts to get it off. But the teapot is off by the tenth page, and the story is really just getting started. Like all Ruqaya’s Bookshelf picture books, the large thick shiny pages with a stiff soft cover binding make the story a great choice for storytime and bedtime alike. There are Islamic threads and references, but the story overall is universal.

Ahmed and his friend Tariq are practicing their kite flying skills for tomorrow’s annual competition, when Ahmed’s kite gets destroyed in a tree. Heartbroken Tariq suggests he hurry to buy a new one before the store closes at Maghrib. As the boys rush off they come across a brown calf with a teapot on her hoof. Ahmad recognizes the teapot as his mother’s and feels like he should help the poor animal. Tariq keeps reminding him that the shop will close, but Ahmed decides to take the cow to Amo Waseem’s to get help.

Amo Waseem, is able to help the cow get free, but in the process, the cow get’s hurt. The cow needs help from a shepard, Amo Salih, but Amo Waseem can’t go, and Tariq wants to practice more. Ahmed knows the cow can’t be left untreated, and takes the little cow to get help. The cow then needs to get to his owner, and the story continues until the shop is closed, and Ahmed realizes he won’t have a kite for the competition. He goes to the mosque for salat and starts to feel better, he knows that he did the right thing, and inshaAllah Allah will reward him in some other way. His reward comes quickly, however, much to Ahmed’s surprise and in gratitude he also manages to find a way to help his mother.

I love the gentleness of the lessons of doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t really want to, and your friends are not supporting you. Ahmed had chances to walk away, but he didn’t and he was at peace with the outcome. His friend wasn’t mean or bad, he just made different choices. There are discussion questions at the end as well. I think this book would foster great conversation with even the littlest listeners, and I can’t wait to share it at our masjid’s storytime.