by Sara Khan (Author) Nadiyah Suyatna (Illustrator)
Join Raya and her mama and aba as they enjoy iftar, bake Ramadan cookies, do good deeds around their community and visit the mosque.
Raya is celebrating Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with her family and inviting you along to learn more! It's a time full of fun activities and celebrations, and a great opportunity to get closer to Allah.
Learn about this special time as Raya makes Ramadan mubarak cards for her friends and has her hands decorated with henna!
And when the month of Ramadan is over, Raya, her mama and aba, aunts, uncles and cousins have a magical Eid celebration, playing games, opening presents and eating delicious food.
This bright and engaging picture book is the perfect way to introduce little ones to Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Author Sara Khan brings the celebrations to life, drawing on her own experiences with her daughter, also named Raya! This book also offers fun activities that parents and children can do together in the lead-up to the celebration, such as making a pop-up card and cookies. A fun fact file and colorful quiz follow the story, giving kids the opportunity to learn more about Allah, worship and the lunar calendar.
Part of the Celebrations & Festivals series, you are invited into a family's celebrations as you explore the magic and excitement of religious festivals around the world.
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K-Gr 2--A heartfelt tribute to the month of Ramadan, as narrated by a young Muslim girl who lives with her parents and a cat in a nonspecific location, among a diverse group of neighbors and classmates who also celebrate. Raya's first-person tour establishes the excitement that surrounds the month of fasting by day for most adults, and the break in the fast, the iftar, in the evenings. She explains how one crescent of the moon starts the holiday cycle and another ends it; that Ramadan may last 29 or 30 days, depending on the month in the lunar calendar it lands on; the hanging of flags and other garlands in homes; and the foods they enjoy at night. Suyatna provides bright details in the scenes that are not in the text, e.g., when Raya might don her hijab, or head scarf. Raya is a forthright narrator whose childlike voice sometimes grows overly adult ("Being from a mixed cultural background, we don't have one type of dish we like to eat for iftar"); she charmingly emphasizes the many ways she and her community try to please God, or Allah, by being on their best behavior, donating to charity, and remembering those less fortunate. Art and text work together to move the month forward; back matter includes a recipe, activity, facts on the five pillars of Islam, holy mosques, a quiz, and more. VERDICT A friendly introduction that will be useful for young children learning about fasting, and which certainly fills a hole in the holiday shelf with almost DIY-level details for celebrating a special time of year.--Kimberly Olson Fakih
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Sara Khan is an international bestselling Author and Art Director of Islamic Board Books for Toddlers and Young Children (Kube Publishing). She is a Linguist and Qualified Translator with a First-class BA (hons) in Linguistics and Arabic as well as a MA in Translation & Interpreting Studies. As part of her undergraduate degree, Sara lived in Amman, Jordan with her husband Naveed, where they spent their time studying Arabic at the University of Jordan Language Centre. Following the birth of her wonderful little girl Raya, Sara decided to build upon her academic career and her own personal experience to help fill the gap which exists when presenting Islam to young children in a way that is suitable for their age group.
Nadiyah Suyatna is an illustrator and comic artist based in Bandung, Indonesia. She's passionate about visual storytelling as a medium to tell stories through a different lens. Her work mainly revolves around identities, cultures, and other issues she cares about, wrapped with her personal touch and vibrant colors.