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.

1st February World Hijab Day

World Hijab Day is observed every year on February 1 to honour Muslim women who wear the hijab. It is also a day to urge women of various origins and beliefs to try on the hijab and see what it is like to wear it. Muslim women maintain their modesty by wearing the hijab.

I teach in a school where there are very few children who practise the Islamic faith, but where many of the students and/or their parents were not born here, and thus the students are global wanderers and are fascinated by difference. They travel overseas regularly and most of them have seen more of the world than I have.

I remember having a great discussion with a class about Kelly Cunnane's  book Deep in the Sahara  and talking at length about wanting to emulate customs, parents and or fashion, just as Lalla does in this story where she wants to wear a malafa just like her mother and older sister.

I remember also when I first read The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad, and the students were fascinated by the hijab and the fact that an Olympian wore one. It certainly gives a new perspective to the first day of school. Ibtihaj's sequel The Kindest Red  highlights the hijab too.

The Boldest White is coming in March.

Other books that would continue these discussions would be:

• Mommy's Khimar by Jamilah Tompkins-Bigelow and Ebony Glenn.

• Under My Hijab by Hena Khan and Aaliya Jaleel

• Layla's Head Scarf by Miriam Cohen and Ron Himler

Hana's Hundreds of Hijabs  is written by Razeena Omar Gutta, a South-Asian Muslim who was born in Zimbabwe but who is now living in Australia. Here's the blurb:

Hijab styling in the context of creative fashion brings a unique, positive and fun perspective to a sometimes misunderstood religious practice. Readers unfamiliar with hijabs will learn about how they are worn, while children familiar with hijabs will see their own experiences reflected . Children with large, overflowing collections of favourite items will relate to Hana's dilemma. Clever and humorous story about creative problem-solving.

18th November International Day of Islamic Art

UNESCO has proclaimed November 18 to be the International Day of Islamic Art. The idea for the observance was initially proposed by the Kingdom of Bahrain and adopted by UNESCO in 2019. The goal is to promote the diversity embodied in Islamic Art - art, craft, calligraphy, architecture, or music. By definition, Islamic art refers to the visual arts produced since the 7th century by people living on territories ruled by Muslim populations. The early works of Islamic art were deeply influenced by Roman, Byzantine, Sassanian, and Chinese arts. The day is a way to show appreciation for cultural diversity and to strengthen intercultural dialogue, tolerance, and peace.

There are so many picture books that introduce child readers to the Islamic way of life. They are very good at showing children similarities and differences between growing up in the Islamic faith and their faith. There are not so many that just highlight Islamic Art. I would start with these three by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini

• Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns 

                                

• Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets

• One Sun and Countless Stars 

Two other books by Hena Khan will also give you insights into buildings which highlight Islamic art

• Night of the Moon  illustrated by Julie Paschkis

• Behind My Doors: The Story of the World's Oldest Library  illustrated by Nabila Adani

Two books by M.O. Yuksel and Hatem Aly

• In My Mosque

• Ramadam Kareem

For more books featuring the Islamic way of life for children see this Pinterest page.

To find out more about Islamic art see here. For lots of art ideas see this blog post or video.

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.