A lovely tale of father-son bonding set against the backdrop of jumu’ah prayers at the mosque.
A young Muslim boy goes to the mosque with his father.
Zain wakes up ready to play at battling space aliens with his father. Disappointed that Dad must work, Zain busies himself with other adventures. When they head out for Friday prayers, Zain rushes to the playground, but his father gently guides him to the mosque. They perform wudu—the ritual washing up before prayers—and Zain’s attention wavers again as they remove their shoes, enter the prayer hall, and settle in to listen to the imam’s sermon. Zain is fidgety, and just as the congregation lines up for prayers, he makes a beeline for the front. The imam spots him and asks him to lead prayers with him. Zain prays with the imam, reining in his distractions, and his proud father treats him to a special reward after. Featuring a playful father-son dynamic, this tale explores Islamic rituals and traditions on the holiest day of the Muslim week, when Muslims gather for jumu’ah prayers. Though Zain may be antsy, his patient father and the imam foster a warm community spirit—it’s clear everyone is welcome here. Cartoon illustrations propel a fun and lively story that captures the spirited young boy’s energy. Zain and his dad are brown-skinned; their mosque is diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely tale of father-son bonding set against the backdrop of jumu’ah prayers at the mosque. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781643794242
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning.
Children realize their dreams one step at a time in this story about growth mindset.
A child crashes and damages a new bicycle on a dark, rainy day. Attempting a wheelie, the novice cyclist falls onto the sidewalk, grimacing, and, having internalized this setback as failure, vows to never ride again but to “walk…forever.” Then the unnamed protagonist happens upon a glowing orb in the forest, a “thought rearranger-er”—a luminous pink fairy called the Magical Yet. This Yet reminds the child of past accomplishments and encourages perseverance. The second-person rhyming couplets remind readers that mistakes are part of learning and that with patience and effort, children can achieve. Readers see the protagonist learn to ride the bike before a flash-forward shows the child as a capable college graduate confidently designing a sleek new bike. This book shines with diversity: racial, ethnic, ability, and gender. The gender-indeterminate protagonist has light brown skin and exuberant curly locks; Amid the bustling secondary cast, one child uses a prosthesis, and another wears hijab. At no point in the text is the Yet defined as a metaphor for a growth mindset; adults reading with younger children will likely need to clarify this abstract lesson. The artwork is powerful and detailed—pay special attention to the endpapers that progress to show the Yet at work.
A solid if message-driven conversation starter about the hard parts of learning. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-02562-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion/LBYR
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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