Tag Archives: beauty

Nov14

Basking in My Brown by Fatima Faisal illustrated by Anain Shaikh

Posted on by
Standard
Basking in My Brown by Fatima Faisal illustrated by Anain Shaikh

This picture book celebrating brown skin, particularly in girls, and specifically from a Desi culture point of view, takes on the notion of dark brown skin not being as ideal as compared to lighter skin.  If this is not a concept you are familiar with, I don’t think that the book will hit home, but as someone who has heard this refrain of staying out of the sun to not get darker since childhood, aimed at my friends and cousins (I turn red and burn in the sun), I do appreciate this owning and pushing back on a ridiculous colorist mindset. I don’t love the “magic” diction choice, and there is nothing Islamic in the book, save some covered heads that could be religiously inspired, or culturally, or even weather related, and I’m not sure if the author or illustrator identify as Muslim, but I’m sharing anyway because I know young Pakistani girls particularly, hear this colonial mindset messaging still, and I support undermining it.  This book is not about systemic oppression and racism and taking up space, this book is internal cultural acknowledgement of a pointless beauty notion.

A young girl begins the book telling of things she loves: trips to Pakistan to fly kites with her Dada, her mother’s dinner parties, swimming, climbing trees, but most of all she loves basking in the sun.  One day while playing with her friend Zoya in the warm sun, Zoya abruptly says she should go in before she gets too dark.  The protagonist counters that she loves all the shades her beautiful brown turns and equates it to magic.

She holds out her hand to show her magical brown skin shimmering, and connects the beautiful brown to the brown clay pot her Nani used to carry water in, the brown shawl her mother wore when coming to a new home, the brown of the henna her sister puts on, etc..  She says her brown skin has its own story of being proud, brave, courageous, soft, sweet, and fearless.

Zoya decides she likes the magic and decides to stay and bask in the sun. The author on the final spread raches out to brown girls to own, embrace, and celebrate their brown skin.

Jun6

Let’s Think about Allah’s Great Garden by Ali Gator

Posted on by
Standard
Let’s Think about Allah’s Great Garden by Ali Gator

allah's garden

At 22 pages this book’s title aptly describes the contents within: at times factual, sometimes breaking down the fourth wall and asking readers to do something engaging, at times fictionalized, and often meandering and reflective.  The book is all over the place and only cohesive in theme.  It has sat on my shelf untouched by my children for quite a while, but when I needed options for the library during Earth Day, this book did a great job in facilitating discussion with pre k to 1st grade.  It isn’t a story time book so to speak, but it gets kids thinking and can be tailored to their level of discussion.  I don’t think that is how the book was intended, and as it is written it is rather unimpressive, but when pulled apart it did serve a very specific purpose.

img_9837

The book starts out with a few lines about Allah’s blessings of all things particularly trees and plants and gardens.  I wasn’t sure if it was trying to rhyme or not, but I think the first lines are just incidental rhyme as the flow and words quickly unravel. It talks of climbing trees and the narrator’s father telling him to be careful. It then discusses watermelons and how they grow in the ground, not on a tree and asks readers if they can see the watermelon seeds in the illustrations.

img_9836

The book focuses on the life cycle of plants: seeds, flowers, trees. Drawing on that information it then shows the little girl collecting seeds to plant.  It then talks about the planting process and the needs all growing things have to prosper if Allah so wills it.

img_9838

Then the book gets interesting and starts to discuss the plants mentioned in the Qur’an before returning back to the half hearted narrative remarking on how the flowers complement the color of their house.

img_9839

The story seems to then end, but it isn’t denoted that the remaining pages are factual or set aside as back matter, it just pivots and begins discussing rain in Surah an-Nahl, Trees in Paradise as mentioned in Qur’an and Hadith, and then again, but this time in table form, the fruits and vegetables mentioned in the Qur’an, and highlighting dates specifically.

img_9841

The book is all over the place, and I doubt it will be read again until next year.  There are a few other books that have come out about his topic, and I plan to look in to them to see if they work better for story time readings and child engagement.

Dec28

Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey to Palestine by Rifk Ebeid illustrated by Lamaa Jawhari

Posted on by
Standard
Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey to Palestine by Rifk Ebeid illustrated by Lamaa Jawhari

img_7233

This lyrical journey through Palestine’s major cities, shares historical facts, geographical information, cultural richness, and love for a homeland that will inspire and educate all readers. There is a lot of information pressed in to 32 pages and at times the rhyming text, illustrations, and maps are powerful, and at other times overwhelming. The 8.5 x 11 horizontal paperback bound book needs to be bigger to hold all that the pages contain, and hard back to hold up to the details that need to be poured over to be appreciated. The content about the names and places in Palestine is priceless and well done, but I really wanted to love the book a bit more than I ended up feeling for it. I think trying to make it all rhyme was just a bit too much for my liking, but I would buy this book again in a heartbeat to share with my children. Even though we are not Palestinian, I think all Muslims have a piece of Palestine in our hearts and feel a deep need to celebrate the culture, fight for their freedom, and demand a quality of life that they are brutally being denied by their oppressors.

img_7234

The book starts out at bedtime with a little girl, Saamideh asking her baba what her name means. He explains to her that it means “one who is patient, persistent and one who perseveres.” She is named this because she is Palestinian, he explains and then he shows her the key to their ancestral home in Palestine. He asks her to close her eyes and imagine a white dove, named Salam, taking her on tonight’s journey.

img_7235

Salam and Samamidah prepare to journey across Palestine’s mountains, hills, deserts, and plains. They start in Areeha, one of the oldest cities in the world, and one one of the lowest points on Earth.

img_7236

They journey next to Al-Quds, the capital. They see the old city, Al-Aqsa, and more, before heading off to Nablus, Yafa, Haifa and the Akka. Learning about the cities, the food, and the history of each.

They learn about the dabkah, and the weaving in Gaza and head to Bait Lahem too. They learn about glass blowing in Al-Khalil at the Ibrabhimi Mosque, and finally they conclude their journey with the little girl dreaming of flying around the world to use her key and open people’s hearts and minds.

img_7239

She proudly exclaims her love of Palestine and her and her baba pray that one day they will be able to return. Saamidah then asks her baba why they are refugees, and he promises to save that conversation for tomorrow’s beditme story.

img_7240

The book concludes with a list of the city names in Arabic, trasliterated in English, and then the English names. It then has discussion questions at the end.

The book is not outwardly political, nor critical. It is a celebration of a people, a culture, and land. Happy Reading!

Nov9

I am Brown by Ashok Banker illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

Posted on by
Standard
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.  

img_6226

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.

img_6228

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.  

img_6227

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. 

img_6229

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

img_6230

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. 

img_6231

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

img_6232

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.

Aug31

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

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

song

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.

3A20341F-991D-4929-9A52-D9794E284880

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.

034DED6F-D931-4FB1-ADC0-15006AC8EAC2

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.

86E8B8E7-5336-4D72-BAC3-174F2B5B9AA2

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.

8D42050F-B9BA-4813-8BD6-CB543566748A

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.

58B39FE0-63CA-4196-9452-4C64B517BAAA

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.

74247213-AEE1-464E-A8C4-DE0ECB824335

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.

Feb4

Under My Hijab by Hena Khan illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel

Posted on by
Standard
Under My Hijab by Hena Khan illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel

UNDER MY HIJAB final front cover JPEG.JPG

I know, (sigh) another hijab book, but I promise it is good and you won’t be sad you bought…”another hijab book,” and  alhumdulillah, it’s a Hena Khan book, so public libraries will have it or at least they should be willing to order it if requested.  

IMG_2878

Written in rhyming four line stanzas the story is told from a young girl’s perspective about the women in her life.  The first two page spread shows the strong female as she interacts in the world and covers her self, with the following two page spread, showing her in her home, uncovered.

IMG_2879

From Grandma, to Mama, to Auntie, to troop leader, to siblings and friends, the reader sees hijabs wrapped in styles as different as the person wearing them.  They also see Muslim women as doctors, artists, Tae Kwon Do students, bakers, leaders, and everything in between.

IMG_2880

The illustrations are beautiful and perfect.  They radiant warmth and familiarity, while adding details to make the pages hold your attention a few minutes longer and smile with the diversity presented. The martial art scene is spot on!

IMG_2876

I wish they showed a niqabi, and maybe someone that doesn’t cover all the time, but at certain times of prayer or entering a mosque, like the author, who talks about herself and hijab in general in the afterward entitled: About the Hijab.  

IMG_2882

I love that the book is for children and I desperately hope adults will read it too.  It breaks down so many stereotypes, and answers so many questions in a seemingly effortless presentation.  How many times have all hijabis been asked if we sleep in our scarves or shower in them.  I love that there are shades of brown skin tones, and blond haired hijabi’s too.  

IMG_2877

And most importantly I love that it shows Muslim women to be strong and varied and to have full, independent beautiful colorful lives.  That hijab is a choice and it is strength and beauty and personal.

IMG_2881

The book does not talk about the reasons for wearing hijab, or get into the religion.  The book is a great size for story time and bedtime at 10 x 8 horizontal, hardbound, and 32 pages.  Ages four and up will enjoy this book repeatedly,  and older kids, especially girls considering covering or just starting to cover will enjoy it as well.

Alhumdulillah! Well done!

Forgive the glare in the pictures, they aren’t in the book 🙂