A captivating and relatable religious tale for kids.
The young Prophet Muhammad displays a flair for leadership and miraculous healing powers in this first installment of an illustrated children’s book series.
Abidi’s (The Valuable Gift, 2017) winsome story relates several episodes from the life of Muhammad, who, though just a young boy, already has a presence that is softly commanding but also thoughtful and kind. The action opens with Muhammad playing with other boys, waving a toy shield and issuing marching orders that the soldiers happily obey. Thinking to ease his troop’s thirst, he repairs to the house of his aunt and foster mother, Fatimah bint Asad, for water. On his way back, Muhammad casually touches a withered, barren date palm, which immediately blossoms into greenery and grows clusters of luscious fruit that he then feeds to his little army. This reminds the astonished Fatimah of other stories she heard from Muhammad’s previous foster mother, Halima. Once, Halima and the infant Muhammad fell asleep beneath another withered date palm, which duly blossomed. Another time, Muhammad touched a sheep with a broken leg and instantly healed it. Pondering these things, Fatimah feels rapturous emotion and asks Allah to send her a son to be Muhammad’s lieutenant—the future Imam Ali. Abidi’s simple but active narrative is nicely illustrated in a Disney-ish style colored in pastel red, blue, purple, green, and gold, with intriguing visual details to draw kids’ eyes. The uncredited images include village and pasture scenes that are decorated with ornate rugs and wildflowers and teem with chickens, cats, and ruminants busy with their own antics. The Prophet’s face is piously obscured by a blaze of divine radiance, but other figures wear nuanced expressions that convey a complex mix of joy, awe, and unease at his supernatural doings. The scenes of Muhammad and Fatimah interacting feel a bit more reverent and stilted than they might in an ordinary family. (Fatimah: “If I cannot be your soldier, I can at least be your supporter, right?” Muhammad: “My supporter? Yes, that’s a great idea!”) Still, the story conveys Muhammad’s holiness in a way that children can understand and enjoy.
A captivating and relatable religious tale for kids.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-68312-107-7
Page Count: 18
Publisher: Kisa Kids Publications
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
