Suhaib Hamid Ghazi

This is a beautifully-illustrated book which relates the history of Ramadan and the Muslim faith through a young boy's eyes. Importantly, it is careful to demonstrate how inclusive the Muslim faith can be and the importance of family and community ties as part of its practice. It does a solid job of telling the story of the holiday’s origins and history without being preachy, and near its end, demonstrates the diversity found in those who practice Islam all around the world. An essential glossary listing all the concepts/terminology introduced in the text closes the book.

An excellent introduction to a significant Muslim tradition!… (mehr)

I liked this book because it had a narrative that was informational in a way that a child might appreciate. For example, the book explains the Muslim religion in a short and sweet fashion when it says “ Assalamu alaikum! That means ‘May peace be with you” and “Hakeem is Muslim, which means he believes in the religion of Islam”. The writing flowed well in my opinion. The story follows a boy as he learns about Ramadan, as he is a young boy, and how he participates and learns the tradition. I think that the main idea of this text is to be informative to its audience and to tell a story that allows the audience to be indulged in the tale, but also learn. This is evident to me when the book says ‘To prepare for fasting, Muslims wake up before dawn…and eat an early meal called ‘Suhur’”. The book then goes on to say “Hakeem’s family eats a variety of food during Suhur”. This allows the reader to further see and identify this new word. The book is clearly contemporary realistic fiction as it is believable and is representative of how a young child might become accustom to experiencing and participating in a new practice such as when Hakeem, the main character gets overly excited when seeing the tasty food at Suhur.… (mehr)

Ramadan is about how Muslims celebrate the month long holiday. It follows the family of Hakeem, but mainly gives facts and information about Ramadan. It tells how Muslims fast during the day, go to the mosque every night, and spend quality time with their family. Ramadan is the most special time of the year for Muslims and is a time for reflection. Muslims strive to forgive others and be positive during Ramadan. It is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. I liked that the last page of the book is a glossary. It defines the Muslim terms used throughout the book. While there is a family mentioned, the book is mainly information about Ramadan. There was no character development present in this book. The characters' desires is to celebrate Ramadam. I think this is a great book for all ages to read because it gives insight on a religion. Each person has their own beliefs and I think it is important to be knowledgeable and respectful of each one.… (mehr)