Tag Archives: pride

Mar11

Nadia and Nadir Eid Surprise by Marzieh A. Ali illustrated by Lala Stellune

Posted on March 11, 2023 by islamicschoollibrarian

This is another holiday book in the Nadia and Nadir series for early readers, this one focusing on Eid al Fitr, but also celebrating Muslim American athletes Ibtijaj Muhammad and Muhammad Ali, sadqa, and the love of grandparents. The 32 page book with four chapters shows Desi American siblings enjoying both their Pakistani and American cultures while consistently embodying their Islamic faith. They pray salat, wear hijab, discuss sadqa, and say Salam and Eid Mubarak. I am not sure why they pray Eid prayers at home, and not in a community congregation, no it is not a Covid set book, they then go to the mall, but the pride in their faith, culture, and family is enjoyable. Early readers will enjoy the colorful pages, large illustrations, and relatable story situations.

The book starts with the siblings hearing laughing downstairs, then seeing suitcases, and being surprised by their Nani and Nana coming from Pakistan to surprise them on Eid. The family eats paratha and chai together before praying and making duas.

After presents are passed out, the kids receive eidee and are off to the mall to pick out a toy. Nadia sees an Ibtihaj doll, and Nadir points out that she is wearing a hijab just like his sister. Nadia recognizes her and shares some facts since she has read her books. Nadir wonders if Ibtihaj knows it is Eid and the family reassures him that Muslims everywhere in the world are celebrating.

When it is Nadir’s turn to choose what to buy, he picks some boxing equipment with marketing images by Muhammad Ali. Nana fills him in on the activism and accomplishments of Ali and how impressive his fearlessness really was. When the change is given after paying, the kids and their grandparents discuss sadqa, charity, and this gives Nadia an idea.

The book concludes with a glossary of new words and information about the illustrator and author. You can purchase your copy at all major retails such as here at Amazon, or you can support small business owners like Crescent Moon store and purchase your here.

Jan27

A Dupatta Is…by Marzieh Abbas illustrated by Anu Chouhan

Posted on January 27, 2023 by islamicschoollibrarian

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A Dupatta Is…by Marzieh Abbas illustrated by Anu Chouhan

I read this 30 page early elementary book a few times before writing this review and honestly my cheeks hurt because I cannot stop smiling. The lyrical writing radiates warmth and pride, culture and tradition, legacy and identity, while acknowledging both the playfulness and solemnness of a piece of fabric. My heart breathed with the clarity and articulation that is felt and contained within the fabric that perhaps all Pakistanis feel, but cannot convey so poetically. The book may be meant for children four to eight years old, but all readers will appreciate the text and illustrations that seamlessly flow like a favorite dupatta grabbed while running out the door. I struggled with picking only a few images to share, as every page became my new favorite as the book progressed. Admittedly though, one page did give me pause as it conflated incense burning with getting rid of evil spirits which comes across as a religious belief, but is a cultural practice.

The book starts out with the actual physical description of what a dupatta is and how it is adorned. It then moves on to describing the color, the sound, the smell, the place, the function, the art, the beauty, the fun, the faith, the legacy, and the identity. Each spread ends with the words, “but a dupatta is so much more…” seamlessly weaving so many facets of what a dupatta is together to create a true understanding of it from a tangible, to cultural, to practical perspective.

I love that there is a page about faith, and praying five times a day with a dupatta being worn, it is a little odd that there is a portrait decorating the wall behind the two characters making dua, but at least it is clearly behind them. I absolutely loved that so often the wearer of the dupatta was also wearing a hijab, particularly the bride picture- which is absolutely gorgeous. It signals without words that a dupatta can be worn to cover a Muslim woman’s head, but it is also often not. The backmatter further details that it was once worn as part of the national dress and as a form of modesty, but now is often worn as an accessory.

One summer in Pakistan, a friend and some cousins and I started trying to formulate 101 Things to do with a dupatta (wipe noses, pull things out of the oven, catch fish), it was the year of net dupattas so clearly covering your head was not one of them. Sure we were being silly, but to see the book also highlight wiping sticky hands, and wrapping it up like a sari, and using it as a cradle to rock a baby was very, very accurate and heartwarming.

Please pre order this book, it signals to publishers that these books are in demand and is a way to show what type of books we want to see. I preordered mine here.

Aug22

That’s Not My Name by Anoosha Syed

Posted on August 22, 2022 by islamicschoollibrarian

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I have been looking forward to this book, as I’ve enjoyed so many of the illustrations the author has created for other authors, and was anxious to see what kind of story she would write for her own authorial debut. Unfortunately, the book didn’t wow me. It is rather forgettable, the book conflates notions of not being able to pronounce someone’s name with not being memorable and with not having a “normal” name, and then recognizing how so many classmates have unique names too. A bit scattered in messaging, and overall reading like an adult talking, not a young girl of four or five, on her first day of school. No doubt the illustrations are beautiful, and the book isn’t “bad” or a “waste of time,” but it isn’t a strong clear story. I’ve seen reviews where people find the little girl rude, and I don’t know that I’d agree with that, she is frustrated and wants to scream, “that’s not my name” when people say it wrong, but I do agree that she could model what to say better and how to handle it. Not that I expect those with uncommon names to have to carry the weight of making things easy, but the little girl at the end remarks that she has so many new friends at school with “unique, beautiful names, and she always makes sure she says them right,” implying that some dialogue, both about her name and about theirs, takes place to ensure pronunciation is correct, and some “showing” of how that is achieved would be nice. Before the story starts, on the title page, there is a pronunciation breakdown of Mirha, but not in the text itself. There is nothing Islamic in the book, the Grandmother wears a scarf loosely draped over her head, there is a crescent and moon wall hanging in an illustration, and the girl’s name is claimed to be Arabic in origin.

The book starts with it being Mirha’s first day of school. She is excited to learn, to play, and to make friends, but when no one seems to be able to say her name, she starts to feel shy. Frustrated and sad she decides to change her name, and tells her mom when she gets home. Her mother tells her, her name is beautiful and why she was named what she is named. She builds her up and the next day armed with her mother’s words she is ready to make friends and teach them how to say her name. By the end of the book Mirha has friends, and wants to be your (the reader’s) friend too.

The voice of the book is inconsistent at times it feels very older kid, almost adult, even though the 40 page book is meant for three to five year olds. The examples read like an adult reflecting on their childhood struggles with their name, not as a young girl finding her voice and appreciation for the name she has.

When Hayden asks if he can call her Maya instead of Mirha it is because Maya is easier. Kids are hearing all sorts of names for the first time when they enter school, that conversation seems so forced. Whether the kids are in preschool or daycare or kindergarten, most of the names they are hearing of their classmates are being heard for the first time. If they watch a lot of tv and YouTube and movies, they have heard a whole variety of names, they are not going to have a dialogue that sounds like that, at that age, just not realistic. Similarly after the first day of school she wants to change her name to something “normal?” What is a “normal” name even, then the mom even reinforces that notion when saying she knows she named her something “unique and different.” A concept that returns at the end when asserting that Mirha has friends with lots of unique names. Seems to go in circles.

I appreciate that examples are given about not seeing your name on keychains or having the barista get it right, but again, she is under the age of five, are these really her points of reference for having a less common name than those around her? When her mother is making the case that she shouldn’t change her name she references that names such as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo are memorable. First of all, what (under) five year old knows those names or who those people are, and second of all, now her name is not memorable? I thought it was hard to pronounce? Has she done something worthy of history books and admiration? I get what the author is trying to do, I often tell my students that they need to demand people say their names right. If they can rattle off names from Pokemon, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Beyblades, they can say the beautiful names they have been given. But the kids I am saying it to are not in preschool, nor am I conflating the pronunciation of their names with being names of famous people that are memorable. Additionally, I do not speak Arabic, but a quick Google search does not show that Mirha means happiness in Arabic, and I have heard from native Arab speakers that they also found the meaning off.

The illustrations are engaging, the broader message of getting people’s name right and demanding people get your name right is important, it just needed a more age aligning voice and connecting with the reader.

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.

Feb28

The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan

Posted on February 28, 2020 by islamicschoollibrarian

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The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan

This 36 page picture book tells a beautifully presented story that incorporates events from the author’s real life that convey a story of loving your culture, finding similarities and giving people a second chance. Ideal for students between 2nd and 4th grade, younger children will enjoy having the story read to them, and older kids will benefit from the message as well.

Kanzi is about to start her first day of 3rd grade in a new school. It doesn’t specify if she has just come from Egypt, but being she seems to speak English well, knows that she’d rather have peanut butter and jelly instead of a kofta sandwich and mentions that she got a quilt when she visited her grandmother, in Egypt, she possibly is just starting a new school, not her first in America, but it is considered an immigrant story, so I’m not certain.

When she arrives in class and introduces herself she bravely says that she is Egyptian-American, but on the way to school she turns down the Arabic music in the car, so the reader sees that she is a little nervous about being seen as “different.” When her hijab wearing mom brings her forgotten kofta sandwich and calls Kanzi ‘Habibti,’ classmate Molly teases her that she is being called a hobbit.

A crying Kanzi tells her teacher and Mrs. Haugen reassures her that “being bilingual is beautiful.” That night Kanzi asks her mom to send her a turkey sandwich for lunch the next day, and before beds she writes a poem as she snuggles in her beloved quilt.

At school Molly apologizes to her and says that it just sounded funny. Kanzi tells Molly it is because she doesn’t speak Arabic and that her mom says that “learning different languages makes a person smarter and kinder.” Molly dismisses the comment and smugly walks off.

Mrs. Haugen sees Kanzi’s poem about her quilt from her grandma in Egypt and asks her to bring her quilt to school. The kids love it, and Friday Kanzi’s mom shows up to help with a special project: an Arabic quilt with the kids names.

Molly is not enthusiastic and Mrs. Haugen writes English words that come from Arabic on the board: coffee, lemon, sugar, algebra. Telling the kids that “we can speak non-English languages and still be American.”

Kanzi and her mom write the kids names down and the children copy them. The teacher cuts them out and makes a quilt to hang in the hall. On Monday when everyone sees the quilt, they love the beautiful letters and colors. Even Molly sincerely apologizes and asks Kanzi to write her mom’s name in Arabic as a gift. The two hug and seemingly will become friends.

Across the hall another quilt is hung with names in Japanese, as another student and teacher were inspired by Kanzi and her quilt. The last page of the story is a letter Kanzi has written to her parents telling them how grateful she is that she has two languages and that she will speak them without guilt.

The story is beautifully told and exquisitely illustrated on well-sized 9.5 x 10.5 pages in a hardback binding. The mom wears hijab and it mentions it, but there is nothing religious about the text. It is a universal story of coming to be proud of your roots and inviting those around you to learn and grow. There is a Glossary of Arabic Words at the end and a bit about the author and illustrator.

My kids favorite page by far was reading the names written in Arabic and they all enjoyed the story (ages 13, 10, 9, 4). I actually had an issue when Molly apologized the first time, feeling that Kanzi’s response was a bit pretentious to what seemed like an 8 year old being told to go say she was sorry, but my older three unanimously and fervently disagreed with me, saying that she was obviously insincere and Kanzi knew it. I’d love to hear from other readers if they felt like Molly was sufficient in saying sorry and admitting that it sounded funny and that Kanzi was arrogant in saying that people that know two languages are smarter and kinder, or if Molly was being rude and racist and Kanzi was sticking up for herself.

Irregardless, the book is well done, enjoyable, and will get repeated reads by a large range of readers. My children keep pulling it off the book shelf, and for that I need to thank Gayatri Sethi (@desibookaunty) who generously sent me the book the same day I checked it out from the public library. Her generosity once again is a gift that I hope to pay forward in the future. This book also highlights how amazing teachers can be and often are in facilitating inclusion, understanding, and respect.

Nov2

Anything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman

Posted on November 2, 2018 by islamicschoollibrarian

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Anything But Okay by Sarah Darer Littman

This 345 page contemporary book is brand new from Scholastic and isn’t yet in the AR database, it is billed as appropriate for ages 12 and up and is probably pretty accurate. The cover, in my opinion, is rather a disservice for the audience. The book would appeal to girls and boys, and isn’t really about school drama, which is the vibe I got from the cover. The story is actually pretty deep and thought provoking, on a wide range of issues facing many young adults today.

SYNOPSIS:

Told from Stella Walker’s perspective, the book opens with her and her friends, Ken and Farida, reviewing old movies. Farida, an Iraqi immigrant, is constantly pointing out the stereotypes, tropes, and bias they engage in regularly and see depicted around them. She is constantly nagging her friends to recognize their privilege and check it. Stella tries to get it, but it’s not that easy. Nor are the obstacles that the book explores.

Stella’s parents are vets, and her brother, Rob, has just returned from his second tour in Afghanistan and is suffering from PTSD. Additionally, Rob’s best friend commits suicide and yet, Stella’s family doesn’t involve her in the conversations and concerns, and as a result she doesn’t talk to her best friend Farida. This tension is amplified when Farida wants to run for class president, but her parents advise her against it, as Islamaphobia is on the rise with the mayor, up for re-election, spouting hate speech, and his son, already in the race to lead the school.

Stella, as a result, is convinced to run with the help and support of her friends. All should be going well, but in a desperate attempt to get Rob out of the house, a trip to the mall to watch a movie results in Rob sticking up for a Sikh kid being bullied, and breaking the instigators nose. The police are called in, and the real drama of the book takes center stage, as social media, a bigoted mayor, and a family’s member friendship with a Muslim paint Rob as a radicalized terrorist. The Walker’s house is vandalized and Farida’s family’s restaurant is suffering and the mayoral election and class office election will all require some tough decisions and insights into honesty, framing, perseverance and friendship.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I don’t think I was expecting the book to explore so many topics and to do it, in a rather real and raw way. The arc of concepts covered provides a lot of juice and relevance and the quick pace, makes it a quick read. Some pages are letters written by Rob, a number of pages are the various police reports taken after the mall assault and the various points of view are great. It explores how media editing and framing can change a narrative to one side or another.

I love Farida, bless her, she is annoying and one-dimensional, but yet so relatable. She is the token minority that ties it all together and is the billboard representation of “other.” I can so relate to her, being the minority and the one that constantly had to be the gadfly on the masses.

The school election is a little cheesy and overly elevated in importance, but it is the catalyst, so while I wasn’t really invested in who won, I liked the concepts it brought to the forefront of the characters lives. The family struggles and retaking the truth and owning it, was the real strength of the book, and introducing kids to the horrors of war, returning from war, mental illness, the blind eye of politicians, the struggles of the VA, the power of the media, friendship, and concepts of patriotism, privilege, pride, suicide, and moving forward.

My biggest complaint is the awkward and forced romance. It isn’t even romance really. After the mall incident, Stella confides in a classmate, Adam, who comes over to see if she is okay and they hold hands and kiss. It is so out of left field and so awkward I would imagine for most readers, not just me the conservative muslim mama looking for books for my kids and their school book club. In all they kiss five times I think, and mentions them holding hands twice. It isn’t lamented or dwelled on, it just kind of boom, jumps in to the story and then yes, they kind of snuggle after the election results, which is a little more fitting (but still irritating). Rob meets a girl, and again later on when she comes to celebrate the plea deal its nice that she is there, but they talk like once and he completely falls for her, kind of intense and random. The discussions about letting someone in to your life and all is good, and more natural and they don’t kiss, but they do have “feelings” for each other.

There isn’t much about Islam other than that Farida is Muslim and that her mom wears hijab. Even the Islamaphobia is mentioned more for political and prejudicial purposes than as a segway in to understanding Islam.

FLAGS:

Kissing (see above), suicide, war, violence. Beer is mentioned at the end when a college veteran gets one out of the fridge.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I really want to do this as a Middle School Book Club choice, yes I’m hosting those again. I need to talk to the school counselor about the kissing stuff. I think they can handle it, but I don’t know the kids well enough just yet, to verify this. Being it isn’t the Muslim characters, I can’t imagine it is any different from what they see on TV or in Disney Movies, but still, I can’t confidently say it will happen. Twelve and up is the non Muslim age point, I’ll have to think it over and update this once I investigate.

Author’s website: https://sarahdarerlittman.com/books_2/young-adult/anything-but-okay-coming.html

Reading Guide: https://sarahdarerlittman.com/books_2/young-adult/abo-teaching-reading-guide.pdf

Islamic School Librarian

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

Tag Archives: pride

Nadia and Nadir Eid Surprise by Marzieh A. Ali illustrated by Lala Stellune

A Dupatta Is…by Marzieh Abbas illustrated by Anu Chouhan

That’s Not My Name by Anoosha Syed

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

The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story by Aya Khalil illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan