Category Archives: Kg-2nd

Oct1

Little Brother for Sale by Rahma Rodaah illustrated by Fuuji Takashi

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Little Brother for Sale by Rahma Rodaah illustrated by Fuuji Takashi

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Oh how I love to read sweet books and repeatedly thumb through warm engaging illustrations.  This book is beautiful, fun, and (possibly) very relatable.

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A big sister, Asma, is ready to get rid of her little brother, Hamza, so that she can enjoy all her parent’s attention.  But when the mailman won’t let her ship him to grandma, and neither the lady walking down the street nor the neighbor next door want to buy him, she is determined to find someone to take him off her hands.  Alas though, it is Hamza’s nap time and while mom makes salat Asma finally gets some time to herself.

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Except she misses having someone sharpen her crayons, or eat the blueberries she doesn’t like, and there is no one to dance with her around the living room.  She decides that maybe she does like her little brother, and lays down next to him with promises of loving and protecting him forever.  Ahhh…..

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Yeah, the book is pretty predictable, but the details make it charming.  I love the diverse characters and the love and warmth they all exude.  I love that when she drags her brother out in the wagon and holds up the for sale sign, mom is peeking out from the kitchen.  I reassured myself that she was there, so it was ok for Asma to be talking to the mail man, a potential stranger, and the lady walking down the street, muslimah or not. 

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The only slight hiccup to me was what one-year-old, he was seemingly taking his first steps in the first picture, can sharpen crayons? Maybe I just failed to prepare my children, but other than that, the book is smooth, and well done.

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The binding quality, the font, the amount of text on the 26 pages, is definitely preschool to first or second grade, and the illustrations will mesmerize even toddlers who won’t understand why the book is so silly. 

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The book has been floating around my house and I’ve seen my 11 year old pick it up and read it on her own, and then read it to the three year old mutltiple times.  She possibly was getting ideas, but maybe it also reminds us that siblings really can be both annoying and lovely as well.

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Sep10

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

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All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

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This is the perfect book for back to school.  It can set a beautiful tone of letting all children know that they are welcome, that they are accepted, that they are safe, that they are wanted and that they have value in your classroom.  It could also work to allay children’s fears heading in to a new environment, assuming of course that the environment is as fabulous as the one presented in the book.  

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The large, hardback 44 page book with a poster and large pullout concluding page, is fantastic for ages preschool and up, but would have value as part of any grades back to school message.  

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While the rhyming couplets are sweet and sincere, the real beauty of the book are the illustrations.  Bringing all that diversity to life in smiling kids faces, children with hijabs, and yarmulkes, patkas, baseball caps, glasses, curly hair, straight hair, every color of the rainbow, various physical abilities, all show what a day of inclusion can look like.  No one culture or background is articulated or placed higher than another and the coming together of the kids and then their parents and community is inspiring.

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I love that their is a little muhajaba on the the cover and included in the cultural acceptance of the book.  It shows her praying in one picture and then joining in and smiling with the rest of the diverse group of characters in the other pictures.  Feeling included and accepted whether in a classroom, or in a children’s book, feels good, at any age, alhumdulillah. 

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A special shout-out to all the educators and people in positions of power who go the extra mile to create a safe and accepting space, thank you.

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Sep3

Tilt Your Head, Rosie the Red by Rosemary McCarney illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart

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Tilt Your Head, Rosie the Red by Rosemary McCarney illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart

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This book is nearly the mirror of Nanni’s Hijab, just told from a different perspective and swapping out the heroine.  Written in 2015 this book definitely came out first, and while the 24 page book is targeted for  4-8 year olds, if your teaching point of view, this book and Nanni’s hijab could be used for older kids to make for a great lesson.  

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I love that this book is written by a non Muslim and the main character is non Muslim.  The binding the pictures, the size, all make this a wonderful addition to any library in showing that differences can and should be celebrated.

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Rosie loves wearing her red cape, and she loves looking at things from all angles and perspectives.  One day at school she arrives at school to see kids making fun of the new girl, Fadimata and her hijab.  

Unable to stop the kids she reaches out to Fadimata, and transforms her cape into a hijab in solidarity.  After the teacher also talks to the class about being kind, the next day is a surprise for Rosie, when many of the girls are wearing scarves and hijabs in a variety of manners to show acceptance and celebrate differences.

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This is the first book in a Rosie the Red Series, and I kinda really love that in the second book, Being Me, about volunteering at a food pantry and helping a friend, Fadimata is minor character.  She is now one of Rosie’s best friends and is both mentioned by name and illustrated.  This is awesome to me, because while books about Muslims are great, having us be in books as supporting characters solving other problems, learning lessons, and going on adventures, makes us more mainstream and inshaAllah part of the accepted landscape.

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*Side note, if you look at this book on Amazon, and read the comments you can see how truly upset many people are by this book calling it “indoctrination” and criticizing it for not encouraging assimilation.  If you read the book and like it, and like the tone and message it promotes, maybe write a review, and make the world a little warmer.

Aug27

There is Greatness in Me by Ameenah Muhammad-Diggins and Amaya Diggins

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This book is powerful.  The repetition, the message, the rhythm, it is something kids of all ages need to hear, and hear often. 

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The concept of positive self-talk, is brought to life in the short, simple, straightforward sentences per page, and shown with illustrations of children dreaming big.  If you can dream it, you can achieve it.  Turning impossible to “I’m possible,” and not getting brought down by others laughing at your dreams.  The book shows that hard work is needed too.  You start with Bismillah, help others when you can, and brush yourself off and get back up when you fall.

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With a forward by Muhammad Ali’s daughter, Maryum “May May” Ali, and written by a Mother and her daughter who at 10 started her own hijab brand for Teens and Tweens, the book isn’t just reassuring words, it is meant to inspire action and confidence.

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I could see teachers reading this 32 page book weekly to their students, aged preschool and up.  It might start to get cheesy for older kids, but they need it too, possibly even more.  I have read it to my children, and when they’ve had hard days asked them to read it to them selves.  It helps, it really does.

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My only criticism of the book is the superficial stuff.  The binding, page quality, and size are fine, but the text is small, and the illustrations are a bit off.  Not bad per say, what they show is actually wonderful, but the faces on some of the kids are misshapen and not uniform in size, and when they are all standing next to each other they look like they have been copy and pasted together, not that there was a single illustrator.  I hesitate to criticize the illustrations, but the book is an important one, and the diversity the pictures show is powerful, really powerful, that I would have hoped for a $15 book the pictures would have been a bit better.  While at the same time, I understand that the book may only have gotten published going this route and for that I am grateful that it exists.  InshaAllah if more people support these types of books and messages, the publishing quality will improve, and all of us will benefit.

 

 

 

Aug20

Snatched Asmaa Hussein illustrated by Svaitoslav Diachyk

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Snatched Asmaa Hussein illustrated by Svaitoslav Diachyk

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The premise is simple, Omar ate something that didn’t belong to him, and the guilt is weighing on him heavily.  The beauty of the book is how, with his mom’s help and his own determination, he makes things right.  

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Set in Egypt, Omar eats the doorman’s baqlawa, and while he knows he shouldn’t have, he doesn’t know what to do about it.  The doorman, Amo Mohamed, blames the cat and Omar tries to move past the theft.  But the guilt builds up and he even dreams about baqlawa, eventually telling his mom so he can start to fix things.  

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After isha prayer, the two of them make some new baqlawa.  I love that the mom doesn’t get mad, but she is firm that while, “we made the baqlawa together,”  she tells him, “you have to talk to Amo Mohamed on your own.”  

Omar confesses his crime to the door man and apologizes, Amo Mohamed in turn apologizes to the cat, and all enjoy a piece of baqlawa together with smiles.

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The last page in the 38 page book is a glossary and is headed by a hadith by Prophet Muhammad, “Be conscious of God wherever you are.  Follow the bad deed with a good one to erase it, and engage others with beautiful character.”

The illustrations aren’t amazing, but they are sufficient and help walk the reader through the story.  I like that the mom covers when out and about, but not in the home.  The story is great for ages 4 and up, but the amount of text on the page and book length might make independent reading more geared to second and third graders. 

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The book would work for muslim and non-muslim children a like and does a good job of showing a universal situation in a culturally rich environment.

 

 

 

Aug13

Ali and the Moon by M.I. Kafray illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel

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Ali and the Moon by M.I. Kafray illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel

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I originally bought this book in Ramadan and had hoped to review it so that those looking for Ramadan books could benefit. But it isn’t Ramadan specific, just moon themed, and I really was so disappointed with the binding quality for the amount I paid for it, I didn’t think it was fair to review the story until I could get over the number of blank white pages in the book, and the overall copy-shop self-printed and bound vibe that the book emits as soon as you hold it.

The premise of the book is the hadith that if you see something bad you should change it with our hands, and if you can’t, then change it with your tongue, and if you can’t do that, then pray for them in your heart. 

The 16 page book starts off a bit awkward, with the boy just staring at the moon, but by page five, the story hits its stride and is sweet.  The moon dims and is sad about the state of the world.  Ali starts talking to the moon in rhyming lines, and convinces him that there is still good in the world.  The moon and Ali decide that at night they will pray for the world and the people in it.

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The end of the book has the hadith and the surahs one should say before going to sleep: Surah al-Ikhlaas, Surah al-Falaq, then Surah an-Nas and lastly, Ayatul Kursi.

The illustrations are cute, they are expressive and the moon and boy sweet.  I just wish the paper had more weight and that the story a bit longer.  A lot could be discussed with the premise of the Muslim boy talking to the moon with a great vantage point.  More specifics and more inspiration would have made this mediocre, albeit expensive book, great.

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Aug10

The Most Pleasant Festival of Sacrifice: Little Barul’s Eid Celebration by Munise Ulker Illustrated by Beyza Soylu

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The Most Pleasant Festival of Sacrifice: Little Barul’s Eid Celebration by Munise Ulker Illustrated by Beyza Soylu

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This book is beautiful, it feels great in your hands, the raised glitter embellishments in the illustrations, the price point, everything except the text.  The gist of the story is even fine, the execution is just off.  It reads very much like it has been translated from another language in to English, and yes my privilege might be showing, but the phrasing, the passive voice, the orphanage, all make the book with its massive text passages hard to convince kids younger than 7 to sit through.

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The story starts off with parents and two kids , Murad and Batul, driving to a friend’s house for dinner, commenting on the Christmas decorations that they see.  The parents ask what the kids know about Eid al-Adha that is coming up and the kids remember how much fun they had in Turkey.  Except it is really awkward to get this bit of information out.  They discuss Eid last year, and then remind each other that they were in Turkey, and how it was much more fun.  Noting that international travel is expensive and they won’t be able to go again, the Mom over dinner discusses how they can make Eid fun for the kids with her friend.

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It is decided that the Muslim and non Muslims will celebrate together and include a local orphanage.  “Each Muslim family would be responsible for buying new clothes for two children from the orphanage, and they would take their own children along to do the shopping.” This would teach the kids to thank Allah and learn about community and sharing.  A great lesson overall, again just a concept presented in a really wordy, round about, awkwardly forced manner.

The Mom contacts the library and gets permission to decorate an information table, the kids make Eid cards for their grandfather in Turkey, at Sunday school they make gifts for friends.  They learn about Zakat and sacrificing an animal like Allah commanded Abraham to do, they even send cards to their neighbors.  Oddly though remarking how fun it is to get candy outside of Halloween.  After the first two pages explaining Christmas and telling that Muslims don’t celebrate it, I found it odd that they would, 15 pages later, be referencing Halloween. 

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Some of the sentences also don’t made sense.  About half way through I didn’t understand what the author meant by the boys “celebrating each other’s Eid” after they put their new clothes on and went to Eid prayer.

Once at the party, they give specific details of how much they charged everyone, yet no details about the food they all brought.  The kids enjoy a pinata and everyone including the orphans get Eid gifts.  Despite everyone’s fun the party has to end, and the orphans return to the orphanage and Murad and Batul declare they “will always remember this Eid.”

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The illustrations are great, it is really yet another example of a book just needing a good editor.  From the very beginning, even the title isn’t really right, the book isn’t even mainly about Batul, to the random details shared, the book is just too long and too unpolished.  It is really unfortunate, because it has so much going for it on its 32 pages.  The main points however, I feel are lost about Eid and the reason it is so dear to Muslims everywhere.

Aug6

Peg + Cat: The Eid al-Adha Adventure by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

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Peg + Cat: The Eid al-Adha Adventure by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson

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Easily the most anticipated Eid al-Adha book to come out this year, the book does not disappoint.  Following the episode, the book, is 32 pages and while ok for ages 3 and up, like the show, it really is geared to children able to grasp the math concepts presented.

The book’s story is that it is Eid al-Adha, and Peg and Cat are learning about it with their friends Yasmina and Amir. The holiday facts don’t seem forced and words like hijab. oud, and Eid Mubarak, are integrated naturally.  The concept of giving charity, giving to those with LESS, becomes the set-up for learning about more than, and less than. 

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A few pages later the tradition of dividing meat into three parts: one to keep, one for friends, and one for the poor, sets up a lesson on fractions and using a pan balance.  The really big problem, involves moving crates.  They count down from seven to calm down, and then use all their lessons learned to solve the problem and help a neighbor.

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The illustrations are straight from the show in all their adorable glory, I’m not sure why Yasmina has some strange tree branch looking loose hairs poking out of the top of her scarf.  I love that the page numbers are math problems (2 +1=3 for the 3rd page).  And the hardback with slip cover workpages on the underneath side, are a nice treat.  I was especially greatful the picture on the slip cover is the same as on the book, so the cover can be discarded, as will ultimately occur with multiple readings.

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Books like this are great ways to introduce an Islamic tradition to non Muslims in a non preachy, non threatening way.  By seeing beloved characters with Muslim friends helps shape perceptions and increase understanding, inshaAllah everyone wins, alhumdulillah.

Jul16

Controlling Your Anger by Saaliha & Ali

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Controlling Your Anger by Saaliha & Ali

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I love little picture books for toddlers and early elementary kids that introduce children to Akhlaaq, good manners and characters.  The book’s tone, however, seemed a bit off to me, so I put it away a month ago and pulled it out again today to read it, knowing I would have forgotten most of my initial thoughts, but somehow, they resurfaced with a vengeance, unfortunately.  And while the pictures and binding and theme are all absolutely wonderful in this 23 page book, I didn’t like the main character at all, and being it is based on a real person, a child, I feel awful saying that.

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Saaliha starts the book keeping her anger just under the surface as her friend Hannah has borrowed and lost her pencil.  Hannah says she’ll look for it after lunch, and Saaliha controls her anger and basically says that it needs to be found now because it is the right thing to do.  All of that is fine, but for some reason she seems bossy and controlling and I really don’t know why.  Maybe because once they look for the pencil and then find it, Saaliha gives her peer (and thus the reader) a teaching moment by saying that she knew she didn’t lose it on purpose.  Hannah’s response is more believable when she feels embarrassed and admits she should be more careful, but I found Saaliha’s reaction smug because she was so close to getting mad, and then to be self-righteous about it, seemed a little passive aggressive to me.  

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As the book continues, Saaliha recounts that accidents can happen at any time and to not get mad, which is great, it gives the example of when her younger brother Ali, accidentally knocked her ice cream out of her hand with his basketball or when he broke her pencil.   She seems to have a thing with pencils, there should have been a different example.

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It then moves on to an incident with a friend, Jalal, who took a donut without asking, but it was an accident for not asking as he normally asks.  The repetition of the word accident here, I get is to carry the concept, but that doesn’t seem like an accident, it seems like he forgot, and an apology should have been in order, not Saaliha having to justify it solely.  Being it is a book about Akhlaaq I feel like the illustration of Jalal winking and eating the donut, seemed off.  

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I like that Saaliha reminds her friends not to get angry as anger comes from Shaitan, but then when the book says she always says A’uthu Billahi Mina Shaitan Nir Rajeem to keep her anger in check, one wonders why in the opening scenario she didn’t say it.

I can’t pinpoint why I didn’t love this book, or maybe I just didn’t like the main character and I would probably give the series another try, but I’d like to hear your thoughts if you have read the book, and more importantly what your children thought of it.

 

Jul9

Mikaeel and Malaika: The Quest for Love

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Mikaeel and Malaika: The Quest for Love

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The beautiful hardback book is pricey, but fun.  I didn’t have any expectations when I read it, but now that I’ve read it three times and had my children read it, and my mom a reading specialist/teacher of 45 years read it, I feel pretty confident in saying, its a well-done book.  I think it can get a bit cumbersome when reading aloud, because some lines rhyme and some don’t, but on the third read through I read it to six kids ages two to nine and all throughly enjoyed it.

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The sibling superhero duo are on a quest to find out how to have a pure heart.  They try praying aloud, praying quietly, then they go and talk to the Big Boss, their dad, who speaks in rhyming clues.  The play on words might make the book utterly confusing to children younger than five, or kids of all ages if full attention isn’t being given when read aloud.  For independent readers, they will delight in the words that sound the same yet have completely independent meanings.

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Eventually their quest also takes them to Agent M.O.M who loves them more than anyone else they can imagine, but the big reveal is that Allah (swt) loves us even more.  I don’t know that it is crystal clear that getting a pure heart involves loving the one who loves us most. But, I think by the end, the readers are just entertained that they figured out Allah loves them more than anyone else in the world and is the creator of us all.  The last page has an ayat from Surah Rehman, ” So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?” Which again adds one more thing to the story about being grateful for all that Allah has given us, keeping it from being a completely streamlined story, but adding to the overall love and appreciation for Allah.

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The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and engaging, the amount of text and the font is perfect for ages 6-8 and the messages is fun and educational.  I hope that there are more in the series, alhumdulillah.