More Great Picture Books about Ramadan and Muslim Culture

Last year, the coincide with the beginning of Ramadan, I published a post on 5 Positive Picture Books for Ramadan. Since then, I have found several more wonderful books to share.

A Party in Ramadan (2009) by Asma Mobin-Uddin and illustrated by Laura Jacobsen. Leena faces a dilemma: she has promised to fast for the first Friday of Ramadan but she has received an invitation to a classmate's birthday party. This story is a great introduction to Ramadan and how to be accepting of others. (H/T Alex's great post Some Books about Ramadan for Younger Readers.)

The White Nights of Ramadan (2008) by Maha Addasi and illustrated by Ned Gannon. Set during the middle of the month of Ramadan (the white nights refer to the full moon), Noor is looking forward to celebrating with her neighbors.

Going to Mecca (2012) by Na'ima B. Robert and illustrated by Valentina Cavallini. This is a lovely second-person book that invites you, the reader, to join the pilgrims on each step of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. A note at the back provides more contexts about the individual steps during the journey. I really appreciated the details of this story and especially how the illustrator sought to be inclusive in her collage, including women, children, and people with disabilities. (H/T Myra from Gathering Books.)

The Best Eid Ever (2007) by Asma Mobin-Uddin and illustrated by Laura Jacobsen. Aneesa is disappointed to be celebrating Eid al-Adha without her parents, who are undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage. But by befriending two recent refugee girls, Aneesa learns an important lesson about the true importance of Eid.

Time to Pray (2010) by Maha Addasi, translated by Nuha Albitar, and illustrated by Ned Gannon. In this tender bilingual book, young Yasmin is visiting her grandmother in a Muslim country. Fascinated by the calls of the muezzin, she asks her grandmother to teach her to pray. When she returns home (presumably to America), she finds a special gift from her grandmother to remind her about her prayers. A note at the end of the book describes the five times for prayer and the reasons behind them. (H/T Myra from Gathering Books.)

Find more great recommendations in the first post in this series, 5 Positive Picture Books for Ramadan.

5 Positive Picture Books for Ramadan

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is coming to an end soon, as the full moon is already waning its way towards next week's new moon. Why not take a moment during this time to think about adding some Ramadan books to your school or classroom library? These five fictional tales will help introduce students to some of the traditions and meaning of Ramadan.

Books about the Month of Ramadan

Night of the Moon: a Muslim holiday story by Hena Khan and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. Night of the Moon tells the story of the month of Ramadan through the eyes of seven-year-old Yasmeen (though her age and background as a Pakastani-American are directly referenced only on the book jacket, not within the story). Yasmeen's journey through the month and her questions provide background knowledge for the reader while still keeping the story interesting. 

Julie Paschkis used Islamic tiles as her inspiration for the designs and patterns behind the main illustrations, and her use of color gives the book a unified feel. I particularly appreciate the diversity of students pictured in Yasmeen's class and at the Night of the Moon celebration, as the illustrations reinforce the point that this is a story for everyone. 

Moon Watchers: Shirin's Ramadan Miracle by Reza Jalali and illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien follows in a very similar vein but with a slightly older protagonist, nine-year-old Shirin. (Again, it is only explicit in the jacket cover that the story takes place in America.) This book also follows Shirin's full month of Ramadan but with a stronger focus on some of the important practices like fasting, prayer, and good deeds. The realistic style of the illustrations may make it easier for younger readers to connect these characters to real people around them.

Under the Ramadan Moon by Sylvia Whitman is a lovely poem of a picture book about Ramadan. I generally love poetic picture books, but the level of repetition in this one could become tedious for somewhat older students. This would probably make a better one-on-one read than a whole class read aloud. The author concludes with a page-long note providing additional background about Ramadan.

Books about Eid

Samira's Eid by Nasreen Aktar and illustrated by Enebor Attard is a bilingual book available in ten different dual language editions: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, French, Gujurati, Panjabi, Somali, Turkish, and Urdu (the Arabic cover is pictured). This realistic fiction picture book focuses on the celebration of Eid at the conclusion of the month of Ramadan and follows Samira and her brother Hassan as they prepare. The setting is never explicit in this story, allowing the readers to infer their own connections between the location and the languages of the story.

Nabeel's New Pants: an Eid Tale retold by Fawzia Gilani-Williams and illustrated by Proiti Roy. This fun folktale was one of the books I picked up during my summer in Jordan, and it is a humorous take on Eid. As everyone hurries to get ready, Nabeel asks different family members to help him hem his pants. They each independently decide to help him secretly with predictably disastrous results!

Want more? Check out More Great Picture Books about Ramadans and Muslim Culture. Do you have a favorite Ramadan picture book that I have missed? Let me know in the comments.