9th March to 8th April Ramadan

In the ninth month of the year, when the first crescent moon rises in the sky, it’s time to celebrate Ramadan!

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and it is one of the most sacred times for Muslims. Muslims are expected to refrain, which is one of the five pillars of their faith. To demonstrate this they abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset each day of this month. After the sunset prayer, Muslims gather in their homes or mosques to break their fast with a meal called ifṭār that is often shared with friends and extended family. The ifṭār usually begins with dates, as was the custom of Muhammad, or apricots and water or sweetened milk.

There are very few muslim students at the school I work at, but it is a multicultural school and lots of other festivals are celebrated and so because of this we do have books in the library that allow students to see what happens at Ramadan.

Start with 

• The Great Night Journey  by Anita Ganeri. This is a brief story in the Hopscotch series of beginning readers where Muhammed is given a message and he must go on an incredible journey through the heavens and then deliver the word of Allah to the people.

• The Great Night Journey and Other Stories  by Anita Ganeri.

• Ramadan  by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi

• Ramadan and Id-ul-Fitr by Nancy Dickmann

• Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr by Sara Khan and Nadiyah Suyatna 

• Ramadan Kareem  by M.O. Yuksel

• Sweet Dates to Eat  by Jonny Zucker

• The Month that Makes the Year by Inda Ahmad Zahri

Then stories

• Ramadan Moon by Robert B. Na'ima and Sharon Adl

• The Gift of Ramadan  by Rabiah York Lombard and Laura Horton

• Under the Ramadan Moon  by Sylvia Whitman

• The Blessed Pomegranates  by A. Helwa 

• Lailah's Lunchbox  by Reem Faruqi and Lea Lyon 

• The Very Best Doughnut  by Randa Abdel-Fattah

• The Little Green Drum  by Taghreed Najjar

• My Grandma and Me  by Mina Javaherbin and Lindsey Yankey

• Maymoona's Moon  by Razeena Omar Gutta and Zayneb Haleem

• Salat in Secret  by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Hatem Aly

• Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini   

• Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns  by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini   

• One Sun and Countless Stars  by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini   

For more books that are set in the Middle East and which may help in your quest for Ramadan books see this Pinterest.