Category Archives: Story Time

Nov23

Watermelon Madness by Taghreed Najjar illustrated by Maya Fidawi

Posted on November 23, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

This 32 page picture book for preschool and up is silly and fun. There is nothing Islamic in the text or illustrations by this Muslim author, but there is Arab culture as it mentions molokhiya and zaatar. The large 8.5 x 11 hardback book is wonderfully illustrated with detail, color and expression. The playful font and text makes reading it fun and enjoyable for little ones, who will get the message, and laugh along the way.

Noura loves watermelon. She eats it in the morning and in the afternoon and in the evening too. At dinner she doesn’t want to eat her chicken, rice and molokhiya, she just wants watermelon.

That night after dinner she sneaks to the kitchen, sees a huge watermelon on the table, and decides to take it up to her room to enjoy all by herself. She puts the watermelon under her bed, and dreams wonderful watermelon dreams.

The watermelon gets bigger and bigger, and there is a door! She goes inside the watermelon and eats until her hearts content. But as she gets bigger, the watermelon gets smaller. She is trapped and her tummy is hurting.

Her mother rushes in to find a watermelon under the bed and Noura screaming from a bad dream. Resolved to deal with the magic watermelon in the morning, Noura goes back to sleep having learned her lesson (without being reprimanded), and happily eats her breakfast of a fried egg and zaatar.

The book concludes with some information about watermelons and info about molokhiya and zaatar.

Nov16

The Salams: Cranky Kareem Says Alhumdulillah by Kazima Wajahat illustrated by Chaymaa Sobhy

Posted on November 16, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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The Salams: Cranky Kareem Says Alhumdulillah by Kazima Wajahat illustrated by Chaymaa Sobhy

Part of me is tempted to channel my own Cranky Kareem and say how awful this book is, just because I know that the author reads my reviews of her books with bated breath, but alas I cannot lie even in jest as the book is truly adorable. This 40 page book in a new series highlights and starts to fill the gap in children’s Islamic fiction that is so needed. There are a number of books and series for toddlers teaching them to say Bismillah, Assalamualaikum, and MashaAllah and all the praise-filled Islamic expressions, but they are very basic, this book, and hopefully the rest of the series, goes a bit deeper. It shows how to truly mean what you say, how to glorify Allah not just in your words, but in the way you think about things, handle stresses, and carry on. The concepts and amount of text probably will most appeal to mature kindergarteners to early second graders at bedtime or in small groups. I do wish that Cranky Kareem apologized to Happy Hamdi after he relentlessly attacked him at the masjid, but in much the way Oscar the Grouch gets away with being so negative, the characters in the book and the readers alike will have to settle for Kareem finally learning the lesson, in this case, of being grateful to Allah (swt) for everything.

The book starts out with Happy Hamdi waking up in Salamville and praising Allah in appreciation of the fresh air, birds, flowers, and allergy medicine that works. Across town Cranky Kareem is having the opposite kind of morning. The sun is blinding, the birds annoying, coffee bitter, and he’s out of milk for his cereal.

When Kareem finally finds some peace and quiet on a bench at the park he is disturbed by Happy Hamdi and all his happiness. As Hamdi and bounces off to talk to Greedy Gamal and Healthy Hassan, Cranky Kareem gets an idea.

When Happy Hamdi heads to the masjid, Cranky Kareem sticks out his foot to trip him. Hamdi falls and gets a bruise on his nose, but still says Alhumdulillah. He then knocks sticky baklava on him and again he responds with Alhumdulillah, he then dumps a bucket of ice water on Hamdi, and Happy Hamdi says Alhumdulillah once more. When he leaves the masjid, Hamdi’s car is not working and he has to walk home.

Kareem can’t take it anymore and confronts Hamdi. Happy Hamdi explains that he was hungry and didn’t mind the syrup, then the water washed the syrup off and now that he is walking home, his fur is drying. Flabbergasted by Happy Hamdi, Cranky Kareem stomps off.

Convinced that Hamdi’s happiness is an act, Kareem pauses to ponder how his plan failed. Healthy Hassan jogs by and bumps in to him, knocking him off the train track and causing Kareem to twist his ankle, just before a train goes swooshing by.

Realizing that the bump saved his life, Cranky Kareem expresses his appreciation to Allah swt by saying Alhumdulillah.

I love the illustrations and the horizontal layout of the book. The book is cute and I can’t wait to share the rest of the series with my kids. Thank you to Crescent Moon Store for having this, and so many wonderful books available.

Nov9

I am Brown by Ashok Banker illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

Posted on November 9, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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I am Brown by Ashok Banker illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

This 40 page celebration of diversity within the label “brown” is a sweet and powerful book that shows how the color of our skin is beautiful and perfect while at the same time making it clear that who we are and what we can be is not defined by our appearance. The book shows adorably illustrated brown children finding strength in different cultures, clothing, religions, languages and dreams, which will hopefully empower children everywhere (and of all colors) to take labels that may have negative connotations and turn them in to positive affirmations of identity and strength. There isn’t a story with a plot, but with the regular inclusion of a girl with a scarf on, and the mention of a mosque, I thought to highlight it. The book is perfect for preschool and up.

The book starts with a little girl identifying herself as brown, beautiful and being perfect. It then stretches to her being love, friendship and happiness.

From there it branches out to a whole cast of kids identifying the variety of things they can be, from a writer to an electrician to a prime minister. the same kids then do and make and work on things before identifying where they come from and what languages they speak.

The kids all have different hair on their heads and faces and even no hair at all. They live in different dwellings, they like to do different things.

Brown people are not a monolith, the kids show that they eat different foods in different ways, that they wear different clothes.

People with brown skin are roommates and teachers and friends and classmates. Some go to temple or church, others a mosque or shrine, some not at all.

The book ends with a close up of three smiling faces proclaiming, “I am brown. I am amazing. I am You.”

I’m sure people will argue that if you switch out white for brown the book would be deemed racist, and you are correct it would be. But as a group that is marginalized as “other” and often the darker brown you are with in the brown subset moves you “value” and “worth” down, makes a book celebrating the strength and beauty of “brown” so necessary and heart warming. I personally am the lightest “brown” imaginable being only half Pakistani. So, believe me I have privilege in the desi community, but I don’t find this book offensive at all. I’ve read this book at least a dozen times and my impressions alternate between beaming with pride and tears that so many beautiful people feel less than because of skin color and yes, anger too, that people are MADE to feel less than. May we all be more inclusive, more loving, and more open to the diversity of the human being. Ameen.

Nov2

The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha illustrated by Yujo Shimzu

Posted on November 2, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha illustrated by Yujo Shimzu

This 40 page true story about Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel of Aleppo aka the Cat Man shows how one person can make a difference even in the middle of a war. The amount of text on the page, the topic covered, and the detailed illustrations will most appeal to second graders and up, but younger kids, particularly those that love animals, will enjoy the story as well.

Alaa loves his city: the markets, the foods, the people. When war comes, he doesn’t flee, he keeps working as an ambulance driver. He has a big heart. His sees destroyed neighborhoods where everyone has left, except for the cats. There is no one to feed them and give them water, and Alaa feels for them.

After his shift he buys meat, and feeds over a dozen cats. He does this everyday and soon a dozen turns in to fifty and he realizes that he can no longer care for the cats alone. He needs a place for them.

Word spreads and volunteers and donations start pouring in. He purchases a building with a shaded courtyard and soon cats are everywhere. When people leave Aleppo they bring their beloved cats to him, and even other animals start arriving. Alaa even builds a playground for the children and digs a well so everyone can have fresh water.

The book is pretty straightforward and steady, it doesn’t have much emotion for such a powerful true story, but it will still hit the mark in inspiring children to show kindness and compassion for animals and others.

There are notes from each other and the illustrator at the end that share light on their connection to the story and the situation in Syria. There is nothing religious in the book other than a few females in hijab.

Oct26

Hey, Presto! by Nadia Shireen

Posted on October 26, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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This 32 page picture book about friends learning to appreciate each other is both silly and sweet. An AR 2.6 the book is great for preschool through third grade and gives lots of teachable moments along the way if you want to make it more than just a fun book. There is nothing religious, but I believe the author, who is also the illustrator, is Muslim.

Presto and Monty are best friends. Presto is a brilliant magician and Monty is good at singing, eating ice cream and making funny faces. When the carnival comes to town the two decide to put on a show and become famous.

Monty suggests they take turns being the star of the show, and Monty decides to go first. Monty isn’t a magician, so Presto stays behind the scenes to make sure the tricks work. Somehow, this is how it ends up going night after night after night. Presto never gets his turn.

Monty gets bossier and bossier, demanding things of Presto and being rude. Presto is no longer having fun. When Monty signs a contract to go on TV with his magic show, Presto has had enough and leaves.

When showtime rolls around, Monty realizes Presto has left and has to try and learn magic real quick. The show doesn’t get off to a good start when none of the magic tricks work. As the show goes from bad to worse Monty realizes how bad of a friend he has been.

Presto watching from home can no longer bare it and rushes to save the day. Monty promises things will be different and the two of them cook up a new act and realize together their show is perfect.

Oct19

My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain and Ella Bailey

Posted on October 19, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain and Ella Bailey

This adorable 32 page book about facing worries, anxiety, and fears is told in story format and meant for ages four and up. The personified monster isn’t scary, but he is big, and the little boy learns to talk about him to get him to shrink. The book is engaging, fun, and powerful. I had my teenager who has anxiety read it and she loved it, a few days later as she was forcing herself to get out of the car, she mentioned that she needed to make her monster small. Normalizing mental health, feeling like you aren’t alone, finding the words to explain to others how you feel, having empathy for those that are facing challenges, are all things the book conveys without being preachy or condescending. I think every child, parent, and caregiver, needs to be aware of what children are facing and find ways to be like the gran in the book and listen, so that children suffering aren’t doing so alone. The fact that the author is a Muslim celebrity chef in Britain and the protagonist is a boy with brown skin, makes the message that much more universal.

The book starts out with an unnamed boy introducing himself and his much bigger monster. He doesn’t know when the monster arrived, but it seems he has always been there, and the monster knows all about him.

The monster is big, and when he stands infront of the little boy, the little boy can only see his tummy. At night he snores too. When he asks his mom or dad or brother to take the monster away, the monster hides.

Over time the monster has gotten bossier. When the little boy is getting dressed or brushing his teeth or when he wants to play, the monster is always there, blocking him.

One day after school the monster was there and the little boy tried to lose it, but couldn’t. Gran asked what was wrong when he showed up crying, and the little boy told his grandma all about his monster.

Gran listened quietly and the more the little boy talks, the smaller the monster gets. Pretty soon the boy realizes he can make his monster go away. When he finds the monster later, the little monster is confused, so the boy puts him in his pocket.

The monster is always there, but the little boy can make him behave and he isn’t scary any more. At the end the boy is big, and the monster is little.

I love that the boy finds someone to talk to, and that he accepts that the monster may never leave. Even if you don’t have anxiety or worries, the book is a great metaphor that even little kids can understand to help them cope when stresses do occur. I love the large size of the book, the minimal text and the bright illustrations. Truly a great book that needs to be in classrooms and homes and anywhere kids are.

Oct12

Solar Story: How One Community Lives Alongside the World’s Biggest Solar Plant by Allan Drummond

Posted on October 12, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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Solar Story: How One Community Lives Alongside the World’s Biggest Solar Plant by Allan Drummond

Set in Morrocco, the fictionalized framing of a children’s story about solar energy and sustainability at the the world’s largest solar plant in Ghassate will appeal to curious children in kindergarten and up. Told through the every day life of Jasmine, a little girl living near the plant, the concepts are not technical, but give a broad overview allowing readers to understand how impressive solar energy is, as well as the disparity that exists in the world. Over 40 pages with factual sidebars and an author’s note at the end, children who enjoy the story and are curious about the reality of it all will find an easy opportunity to learn more.

Jasmine and her friend Nadia live in Morocco between the High Atlas mountains and the huge Sahara desert. It is always sunny where they live.

They talk a lot about making energy from sunshine as they watch trucks going and coming from the world’s largest solar plant. Their teacher likes to ask them about the big changes happening in their world.

As the villagers tend to their sheep and cows, they cook on open fires and bake bread in clay ovens all while keeping an eye on the workers making the largest solar tower in the world. Jasmine’s dad rides a mule to work and many classmates parents work at the state of the art plant. The contrast is obvious.

The next day at school Miss Abdellam the teacher asks the students about sustainability. And the book doesn’t define the concept right away. First the class goes on a field trip to the solar plant.

At the plant the size of 3,500 soccer fields they see the 660,000 mirrors that follow the sun like sunflowers and bounce the rays to the 800 ft tower. The tower gets to a thousand degrees on top and heats water whose steam powers turbines and is turned into electricity.

The kids go home to work on their sustainability homework. With no internet or computers even, they have to think for themselves. The remaining pages define and provide examples of how solar power is changing life for the villagers and improving life for people not just in Morrocco or Northern Africa but potentially the entire world.

I love that the concept of sustainability isn’t just a definition it shows how it is in every day things, and those every day things lead to big things that are both tangible and ideological. The author/illustrator acknowledges his own surprise and bias when he learned that the largest solar power plant was in Nothern Africa. I love that some of the females wear hijab, and some do not, and that the teacher and some of the parents at the solar plant are female. There is nothing religious even mentioned in the book, but the visibly Muslim characters are empowering and honest for a story about science and Morocco.

Sep21

Yeti and the Bird by Nadia Shireen

Posted on September 21, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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What a sweet story about assumptions, loneliness, friendship and kindness. An AR 2.0, this 32 page simple picture book tells the story of an accidental meeting, making friends, and the opening of hearts of the forest critters as a result. Written and illustrated by a Muslim author, the adorable illustrations make the story come to life and provide smiles for kg-2nd graders along the way.

Yeti is the biggest, hairiest, scariest beast anyone has ever seen. So no one comes near him, making him very lonely. But one day a lost bird thunks him on the head. The Yeti growls, but the bird doesn’t get scared. At all. Instead the little bird tells Yeti about her journey and how she was headed to a hot tropical island for the winter.

Yeti doesn’t know what to do with the sad little bird, so he picks her up and takes her home. The next day the two play and laugh. The forest animals look on in surprise and curiosity.

As it gets colder, Yeti knows his new friend will need to leave so he studies the map and helps give her directions for the long journey ahead. Once she leaves, Yeti is even lonelier than before.

But, alas, new friends are ready to play and the little bird stops by to play when she can.

Cute and fun and great for littles, to be brave and give a new friend a chance.

Sep7

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

Posted on September 7, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

This non fiction book spread over 56 pages on an AR 4.0 level is the biography of the famed Iraqi architect’s inspiration, triumph over obstacles and accomplishments. It doesn’t go in to great detail of her life, but gives enough information for children to become familiar with her and be inspired by all that she accomplished not only as an Arab, Muslim woman, but as an architect and trail blazer of design and structure. The pages are beautifully illustrated and the simple text flows and dances around the pages like her buildings in real life.

Born in Iraq where rivers flow, wind swoops across sand dunes, and cities existed thousands of years ago, Zaha finds designs and shapes throughout her home and the city of Baghdad. She has ideas about arrangements of furniture and designs of clothing, she loves that dunes and rivers and marshes don’t have corners.

She is a Muslim that attends Catholic school and loves math. She goes to London for college to study to be an architect. She is relentless in her passion and fills notebooks with plans, paintings with what she sees in her mind and graduates with honors.

She opens her own office and with a few friends, she designs buildings that swoosh and zoom and flow and fly. The world is not a rectangle, but unfortunately no one wants to build her designs. She keeps entering competitions, and winning, but they refuse to build her buildings.

She designs buildings that come from her memory of grasses swaying, and wind blowing over dunes, and shells being cradled. She designs an opera house like a pebble in the water, with the singer the pearl. A ski jump that reaches the sky like a mountain.

One by one, Zaha’s designs become buildings all over the world. She has over 400 employees and designs buildings, shoes, doll houses, furniture, she does what she likes and urges others to do so as well. Zaha passed away in 2016, but her visions are still carried out.

Aug31

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow illustrated by Luisa Uribe

Posted on August 31, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow illustrated by Luisa Uribe

An amazingly empowering simple story that breathes pride and beauty in to names and our identities. The 40 pages are a celebration of the rhythm of our names and the dreams and hopes that they contain for us. Perfect for kindergarten to second graders, readers of all ages will find something valuable in this book. Those with “common” names might reevaluate what their names mean or why they were so named, children with “unique” names will find the music and confidence to ask others to learn their name correctly, older kids might reconsider shortened nick names, and we all inshaAllah will make more of an effort to get people’s names pronounced right.

A little girl has had an awful first day of school. As she stomps toward her mom at dismissal. No one could say her name. Not even the teacher, it got stuck in her throat. Her mom gently reminds her stomping is only for dancing, and tells her that her name is a song.

The little girl is skeptical, but as they say people’s names on their way home, and find the magic and rhythm and beat in each one, they address the horrible things that have happened to the girl that day regarding her name. At lunch girls pretended to choke on her name, and later one boy said her name was scary, some even tell her, her name sounds made up.

Her mother explains that some names come from deep in the heart, not the throat and cannot be choked on, that names are fire and strong, and that names are made from the sky when our real names were stolen and so new ones have to be dreamed.

All the way home they go through names, diverse names, beautiful names. The next day she doesn’t want to go to school, but she has a song to teach. When her teacher starts calling out names, the little girl starts tapping the rhythm, when Ms. Anderson starts to struggle on the little girl’s name, she starts to sing it. She explains that her name is a song, and that she will teach it to them. The other children then ask her to sing their names. And with a smile on her face, it is music to Kora-Jalimuso’s ears.

I love that there are three pages of the names mentioned in the story and their origins and meanings listed. I also like that the little girl’s name is not revealed until the end. The pronunciation of the names is in the text, all of them, even Bob. And when I read the name Trayvon, I felt an added weight of saying people’s names, breathing them into our lives and not forgetting them.

The family could be Muslim based on the mom’s head wrap. The author is Muslim and there are Arabic and Islamic names included in the story.

Islamic School Librarian

Reviewing Children & YA Islamic Fiction, Books by Muslim Authors, & Books Featuring Muslim Characters

Category Archives: Story Time

Watermelon Madness by Taghreed Najjar illustrated by Maya Fidawi

The Salams: Cranky Kareem Says Alhumdulillah by Kazima Wajahat illustrated by Chaymaa Sobhy

I am Brown by Ashok Banker illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha illustrated by Yujo Shimzu

My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain and Ella Bailey

Solar Story: How One Community Lives Alongside the World’s Biggest Solar Plant by Allan Drummond

Yeti and the Bird by Nadia Shireen

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow illustrated by Luisa Uribe