Tag Archives: Learning Roots

The Prophet (salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)Described by Zaheer Khatri illustrated by Fatima Zahur, Elaine Limm and Jannah Haque

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The Prophet (salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)Described by Zaheer Khatri illustrated by Fatima Zahur, Elaine Limm and Jannah Haque

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This 48 page rhyming prose filled picture book details our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) in accordance with the Holy Qur’an and as stated by Hadith.  The repetitive refrain highlights the two-page spread’s thematic descriptions of Rasul Allah’s appearance, speech, mannerisms, walking style, etc., and the best part is, it is all sourced and referenced at the end.  It features the same two characters and the same layout, as The Prophet’s Pond, which this book even references, but notably, my copy of that book does not have faces in the illustrations of the boy and his mom, and this new book does.  I tried to see if you could find a faceless version and could not, perhaps, that option is forthcoming.  As I often remark to those around me, there are not that many books about Prophet Muhammad (saw) that are factual, but framed in a fictitious manner for children, or that are fun and playful, and this book helps fill that void in creating love and connection to the Prophet.  It is a bit text heavy and it is very thoughtful, but the repetition and rhyme along with the beautiful large horizontal illustrations, create a mood of reflection, appreciation, love, and admiration and will be suitable for ages five and up.

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Zayd and his mom are back and the book starts with Mummy telling Zayd that one day he will meet a special man inshaAllah, and Zayd asking her to give her details so that he can guess who it is. The first set of clues describe how gracious the most handsome man is, and how he will greet Zayd one day.

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The story then moves on to describe Prophet Muhammad’s fragrance, his hands, his words, his stature, his complexion, his hair, and so on.  As the details flow, Zayd and his Mummy journey through nature, standing near beaches, and forests, and rivers and waterfalls.  They cross a bridge on their way out of the city, and the full color pages move from night (or possibly really early morning) to day to night again.

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Zayd seems to know it is Prophet Muhammad (saw), but keeps begging to hear more details, before he proudly proclaims the only human whose beauty reaches so far is Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.  The book then says he will be waiting by a pond, but that is a story for another day, giving a shoutout to its companion book.

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There are questions recapping what is learned in the story before 10 pages of reference material.  It really is incredibly well done and is a great resource in addition to being a lovely story.  Thank you @crescentmoonstore for getting the book to me so quickly.

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The ABC of Allah Loves Me by Learning Roots

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The ABC of Allah Loves Me by Learning Roots

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You really wouldn’t think there is much to review in an alphabet board book, but this particular one tries to do more than just pluck a random Islamic word or concept for each of the 26 English letters.  It attempts to give each of the letters one of Allah (swt)’s beautiful names explained in English, but written in Arabic too.

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Each 5 x 10 page features a four line description in a rhyming format to flesh out the highlighted word or phrase.

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Some letter to corresponding Asma al Husna are spot on, but some are a little more of a stretch and some don’t even seem to try.  Overall though it is well-done and delightful.

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The people illustrated don’t have visible eyes, but many have smiles, noses, or closed eyes.  They are bright and warm and engaging.  The binding and thickness of the pages is sturdy.

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Perhaps my favorite part of the book is that the while the rhyming is forced, as is nearly always the case in these type of books, the diction stays on level.  Little kids will understand the words used and emerging readers will be able to sound out and read many on their own as well.

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A great book for your toddler to preschool collection and a reasonably priced book from Crescent Moon Store http://www.crescentmoonstore.com.

Allah Knows All About Me by Yasmin Mussa

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Allah Knows All About Me by Yasmin Mussa

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This adorable 24 page board book by Learning Roots has been adapted (with permission) from a book by Kate Toms called “God Knows All About Me.”  The 7.5 x 7 book is perfect for little toddler hands, and the repetition will help convey even to little ones that Allah is ever-present and all-knowing.

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The illustrations are soft and warm and as with all Learning Roots books, I believe, the characters do not have faces.  The text is large and clear and many of the stanzas are silly is they show bottoms and talk of being smelly.

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It covers Allah swt knowing us from our heads to our toes, when we are happy and sad, when it is raining or snowing, in all situations, all hours of the day, all environments, He knows and is always there.

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The reassurance that we are never alone or never apart from Allah’s love is a great message that is well done in this little book. A mention of Allah’s applicable 99 names might have been a nice addition at the end, but perhaps being the book is redone from an existing book, it wasn’t possible.  Hopefully parents will take the book to the next step and teach kids all of Allah’s many attributes in ways similar to how the presence of Allah is presented in this one.

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