Conventional but engaging instruction in precepts of Islam.
Islamic Scripture, stories and religious teachings convey devotional life lessons in this illustrated children’s book for ages 8 and up.
Abidi’s slender book, the first in a series, offers up a handful of homilies on religious principles, each comprising a Quranic verse, a brief parable showing it in action, and a concluding, traditional saying from the Prophet Muhammad or an imam. For example, the lesson “Allah Watches Us” is taught with the story of three brothers who ignore their father’s dying injunction to give to the poor; they eventually get their comeuppance, setting up an imam’s admonition that “You will never escape from Allah’s sight, so be careful about how you behave.” The lesson “Be Happy With Allah’s Decisions” cues the tale of a man whose oldest daughter asks him to pray for rain so that her husband’s crops can flourish; his second daughter, however, asks him to pray for no rain so that her husband’s pottery can dry in the sun. He settles the conundrum by leaving it all up to Allah; the moral, according to an imam, is to “Be content (with what you have), and you will be at peace.” Each parable is illustrated with winsome but uncredited, mostly static color images of various characters done in pastels, and a quiz at the end of the book aims to test youngsters’ comprehension. Abidi’s lessons all resolve in simple, straightforward sermons, but they also touch on profound religious themes, as when a character asks, “If we can’t see Allah, how do we know that He is there?” The answers to such questions are safely orthodox, but the stories are all well told and present compelling problems. Overall, the book may provide young readers, parents, and teachers with intriguing fodder for discussion and prompt further exploration of sacred literature.
Conventional but engaging instruction in precepts of Islam.Pub Date: July 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-68312-084-1
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Kisa Kids Publications
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist.
This follow-up to How To Read a Story (2005) shows a child going through the steps of creating a story, from choosing an idea through sharing with friends.
A young black child lies in a grassy field writing in a journal, working on “Step 1 / Search for an Idea— / a shiny one.” During a walk to the library, various ideas float in colorful thought bubbles, with exclamation points: “playing soccer! / dogs!” Inside the library, less-distinct ideas, expressed as shapes and pictures, with question marks, float about as the writer collects ideas to choose from. The young writer must then choose a setting, a main character, and a problem for that protagonist. Plotting, writing with detail, and revising are described in child-friendly terms and shown visually, in the form of lists and notes on faux pieces of paper. Finally, the writer sits in the same field, in a new season, sharing the story with friends. The illustrations feature the child’s writing and drawing as well as images of imagined events from the book in progress bursting off the page. The child’s main character is an adventurous mermaid who looks just like the child, complete with afro-puff pigtails, representing an affirming message about writing oneself into the world. The child’s family, depicted as black, moves in the background of the setting, which is also populated by a multiracial cast.
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5666-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.
The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.
Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.
Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-55-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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