Review Source: Hijabi Librarians Book Author: Faizah admires older sister Asiya’s new, strikingly blue and beautiful first-day-hijab, finding inner strength and pride when facing bullies at school who make fun of it. This book discussion was conducted on May 12, 2019, and was based on the fold & gather, received from Little, Brown Books for Young […]
Yo Soy Muslim: A Father’s Letter to His Daughter
Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores Book Author: In this letter to his young daughter, Afro-Mexica Muslim father, poet and spoken-word artist Gonzales gently and lovingly introduces her to the many facets of her world. Speaking directly to Muslim children and indirectly to all children everywhere, he addresses the beauty of Islam and […]
Love from A to Z
Reviewed by Notes from an Islamic School Librarian Review Source: Notes from an Islamic School Librarian Book Author: Now that there is legitimately a genre of YA Islamic Romance out there told in Own Voice, the expectations are high that a book is compelling, realistic, and unique somehow. While the author’s first book, Saints and Misfits, […]
Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets: A Muslim Book of Shapes
Reviewed by Mahasin Review Source: Hijabi Librarians Book Author: “Cone is the tip of the minaret so tall. I hear soft echoes of the prayer call,” begins this charming picture book which explores a variety of everyday shapes and angles, as experienced by Muslims of diverse skin tones, who are depicted living, playing, and worshiping together. […]
Mommy’s Khimar
Reviewed by Mahasin Review Source: Hijabi Librarians Book Author: “A khimar is a flowing scarf that my mommy wears,” explains a young African-American girl in the opening pages of Mommy’s Khimar, a new picture book from Simon and Schuster’s Salaam Reads imprint, written by first-time author, educator, and activist Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Ebony Glenn. The term “khimar” […]
Code Name: Butterfly
Reviewed by Lyn Miller-Lachmann Review Source: The Pirate Tree Book Author: The nameless narrator who gives herself the code name (or nom de guerre) of Butterfly is on the cusp of adolescence, the third of six children in a Muslim Palestinian family. She watches her father come home every night, tired to the bone from his job […]