21st August World Mosque Day

• In My Mosque  by M.O.Yuksel and Hatem Aly

Do you go regularly to a mosque? Or perhaps you've never been inside one? This joyful book invites everyone – worshippers and newcomers alike – to step inside and meet warm, welcoming mosque communities all across the world. Join young Muslim children, their families and friends, as they learn, pray, eat, help others … and play! This book is a big-hearted global celebration of mosques and the diverse worshippers that they welcome every day!

21st August is World Mosque Day. The observance aims to awaken our conscience towards the sanctity of a mosque, which refers to a Muslim house of worship. The word evolved from the Arabic term masjid, which means "place of prostration." 

Many places have a Mosque Open Day which is an event where mosques  open their doors to the public to foster understanding and community engagement. It's an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to visit mosques, learn about Islam, and interact with the Muslim community. This year, in Australia that day depends upon which state you live in. 

If you cannot get to a Mosque Open Day, there are books to share with children which will promote lots of questions and allow good discussion to occur.

• The Most Magnificent Mosque  by Ann Jungman and Shelley Fowles

Three naughty boys harass visitors to Cordoba’s Great Mosque in Spain.  Rashid, a Muslim, Samuel, a Jew, and Miguel, a Christian, run through the fountains, destroy the flowerbeds and throw oranges at people leaving their prayers.  Most days the boys can out run the gardeners, but one day they pelt the Caliph himself with a rotten orange.  The punishment from the Caliph is three months of hard labor working with the gardeners everyday on the mosque grounds.  On their breaks the boys explore the mosque and marvel at its beauty.  By the end of their sentence, the boys have such a love for the mosque and one another that they are forever bound.

• The Masjid Kamal Loves  by Ashley Franklin and Aaliyah Jaleel

Friday is Kamal’s favorite day of the week because he gets to go to the masjid (the mosque) for Jumu’ah prayer. The masjid is where he can be with his friends, hear the teachings of the imam, and pray with the community that he loves so dearly. 
Inspired by the famous nursery rhyme “This Is the House That Jack Built,” each spread in this buoyant picture book builds on the rhythmic list of things Kamal loves about the masjid.

• Worship with Me: At the Mosque by Shalini Vallepur 

This is part of a series of books which  takes you through places of worship, showing you what goes on and teaching you about different practices and celebrations.

• What Colour is Your Mosque?  by Jenny Molendyk Diveli

The book starts with an introduction to the author, Jenny and her sharing her favorite mosque in Turkey, Hagia Sophia. Each two page spread after that is a child introducing themselves, telling where they are from, and sharing their favourite mosque in their home country. This book instills a sense of global community in children and celebrates the beauty that our architecture and culture can result in. 

• What Shape is Your Mosque? by Jenny Molendyk Diveli

Mosques don't have a single, prescribed shape. They can be found in various forms, including rectangular, square, dome-shaped... The essential requirement is for the space to accommodate rows of worshippers, and the architectural style varies based on cultural and regional influences. 

• Journey of the Midnight Sun  by Shazia Afzal and Aliya Share

This is the true story of the journey of the Midnight Sun Mosque. In 2010 a Winnipeg-based charity raised funds to build and ship a mosque to Inuvik, one of the most northern towns in Canada's Arctic. The mosque travelled over 4,000 kilometers on a journey fraught with poor weather, incomplete bridges, narrow roads, low traffic wires and a deadline to get on the last barge heading up the Mackenzie River before the first winter freeze. But it made it just in time and is now one of the most northern mosques in the world.

• The Grand Mosque of Paris  by Karen Gray Ruelle and Deborah Durland Desaix

This hopeful, non-fiction book introduces children to a little-known part of history. Perfect for children studying World War II because during that perilous time, many Jews found refuge in an unlikely place--the sprawling complex of the Grand Mosque of Paris.or those seeking a heart-warming, inspiring read that highlights extraordinary heroism across faiths.

•  What is Islam?  by Nahida Ismail

This is a simplified presentation of the religion of Islam for young people. It explains the fundamental teachings of Islam and focuses on the many similarities between Christianity and Islam. The goal of this book is to remove common misunderstandings about Islam and its teachings.

And while these four books by Hena Khan are not specifically about mosques they do give young children an insight into the many unique features of Islam and its believers' way of life.