Book Recommendations

Little Leena Learns About Ramadan

Zainab Fadlallah

Grade Preschool - 3

  • Join the lovely and funny little Leena as she learns about a special time of the year from her older sister Safiyya.

The Night Before Eid

Aya Khalil

Grade Preschool - 3

  • This Muslim holiday story, featuring a delicious ka’ak recipe, is a satisfying addition to a joyful and expansive Eid.

Ramadan Kareem

M. O. Yuksel

Grade Preschool - 3

  • Come in and experience the sacred traditions of Ramadan, the Islamic month of mercy and blessings, with children and families from across the globe. From waking up early for suhoor and fasting from dawn to dusk to praying and preparing an iftar meal to be shared, Ramadan is a time of increased spirituality, gratitude, charity, and empathy for all.

In My Mosque

M. O. Yuksel

Grade Preschool - 3

  • No matter who you are or where you’re from, everyone is welcome here. From grandmothers reading lines of the Qur’an and the imam telling stories of living as one, to meeting new friends and learning to help others, mosques are centers for friendship, community, and love.

Moons Ramadan

Natasha Khan Kazi

Grade Preschool - 3

  • It's Ramadan, the month of peace, and Moon watches over Ramadan traditions with excitement and longing in this sweetly illustrated debut.In Egypt, India, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates, in Somalia, New Zealand and Indonesia, in Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, children and their families do good deeds in honor of those who have less.

Ramadan Moon

Na'ima B. Robert

Grade Preschool - 2

  • This book explains more about Ramadan, Eid, and what they mean. It also talks about how they start by watching for the crescent moon.

Trouble at Taraweeh

Rosalind Noor

Grade Preschool - 2

  • Umama is very excited for Laylatul Qadr. She has learned that it’s better than a thousand months and that Allah answers all prayers on this night.

The Gift of Ramadan

Rabiah York Lumbard

Grade Preschool - 3

  • Sophia wants to fast for Ramadan this year. Her grandma tells her that fasting helps make a person sparkly—and Sophia loves sparkles. But when her attempt at fasting fails, Sophia must find another way to participate. This lovely multigenerational family story explores the many ways to take part in the Ramadan holiday.

The Ramadan Drummer

Sahtinay Abaza

Grade K-3

  • This heartwarming tale serves as an invaluable resource for teaching children about the values embedded in Ramadan. Sahtinay Abaza's storytelling goes beyond the surface, delving into the core principles of compassion, generosity, and the joy of communal celebration.

The Proudest Blue

Ibtihaj Muhammad

Grade K-3

  • This picture book narrates a loving, tender bond between two sisters. It’s a relatable, sweet story that shows the importance of the hijab in the Muslim faith and feeling pride in who you are. The little sister, Faizah, looks up to her big sister, Asiya, and when her big sister wears a beautiful, blue hijab for the first time, other students make fun of her. But Asiya remains strong and unaffected.

Salat in Secret

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

Grade K-3

  • After his dad gives him a prayer rug of his own, a Muslim boy named Muhammad searches for a place to pray at school but he’s nervous to ask his teacher and he hides his prayers from his classmates. After school, he sees his dad praying outside his ice cream truck with police standing over him. Muhammad bravely leaves the truck to join his father. And even though they’re both trembling a little bit, they finish their prayers and the police leave. The next day, Muhammad feels the courage to approach his teacher and ask for a place where he can pray.

Drummer Girl

Hiba Masood

Grade K-3

  • A young girl really wants to be the musaharati, a drummer that wakes the neighborhood for the pre-dawn meal before the Ramadan fast, but traditionally it is always a male. But can her determination help her fulfill her musaharati dreams?

Stories of 20 Mighty Muslim Heroes

Tamara Haque

Grade K-5

  • Changing misconceptions one hero at a time. This much needed children’s book empowers children aged 8-12 with stories of 20 famous and little known Muslim heroes who were trailblazers.

Yasmin Boxed Set

Saadia Faruqi

Grade 1-2

  • Join this spirited second grader on her adventures at school, playing sports, around town, with her family, and always saving the day! The escapades of Yasmin along with her multi-generational Pakistani-American family will delight and inspire early readers.

Rami the Ramadan Cat

Robyn Thomas

Grade 1-3

  • The spirit of Ramadan is rooted in generosity to family, friends, and neighbours, and this story embodies the spirit of Ramadan beautifully! Saleem has just moved to a new city. On the first night of Ramadan, he finds a scruffy kitten clinging to his backyard fence. Even though Saleem and his family make "lost cat" posters to hang up around their neighborhood, he secretly hopes they never find the cat's owner! After all, Rami is Saleem's only friend in this new place.

Planet Omar (series 1-5)

Zanib Mian

Grade 1-6

  • Omar and his family have just moved, and he is NOT excited about starting at a new school. What if the work is too hard or the kids are mean or the teacher is a zombie alien?!

Lailah’s Lunchbox

Reem Faruqi

Grade 1-7

  • Lailah is in a new school in a new country, thousands of miles from her old home, and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won’t understand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom.

Moon Watchers: Shirin’s Ramadan Miracle

Reza Jalali

Grade 2-3

  • Nine-year-old Shirin wants to join her family and other Muslims in fasting for Ramadan but is told she is too young, and so she seeks other ways to participate including, perhaps, getting along better with her older brother, Ali.

A Party in Ramadan

Asma Mobin-Uddin

Grade 2-4

  • Ramadan is coming, and Leena is excited. Although she is too young to fast every day during the Muslim religious festival, Leena decides to fast each Friday instead. When Leena receives an invitation to a party which happens to fall on Friday, she has a dilemma. She doesn't want to miss the party, but she doesn't want to miss fasting either. So Leena decides to go to the party, but not eat or drink anything at all. Later, she will join her family for the meal known as iftar, when the daily fast is broken. But when Leena, the only Muslim at the party, sees her friends enjoying fresh lemonade and chocolate cake, her stomach starts to growl and her head begins to hurt. Will she keep her Ramadan fast?

Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream Series (1-3)

Hena Khan

Grade 3-6

  • Fourth grader Zayd Saleem has some serious hoop dreams. He’s not just going to be a professional basketball player. He’s going to be a star. A legend. The first Pakistani-American kid to make it to the NBA. He knows this deep in his soul. It’s his destiny. There are only a few small things in his way.

More to the Story

Hena Khan

Grade 3-7

  • When Jameela Mirza is picked to be feature editor of her middle school newspaper, she’s one step closer to being an award-winning journalist like her late grandfather. The problem is her editor-in-chief keeps shooting down her article ideas. Jameela’s assigned to write about the new boy in school, who has a cool British accent but doesn’t share much, and wonders how she’ll make his story gripping enough to enter into a national media contest.

Amina’s Voice

Hena Khan

Grade 3-7

  • A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family’s vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community in this sweet and moving middle grade novel

Amina’s Song

Hena Khan

Grade 3-7

  • It’s the last few days of an amazing trip to Pakistan, and Amina finds it hard to leave the sights, the shops, and, most of all, her family. As she heads back to Greendale to start seventh grade, the experience has changed her, and she’s eager to share it with her friends.

Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year

Nina Hamza

Grade 3-7

  • After his dad gets sick, the family moves from Hawaii to Minnesota for his dad’s treatment. Even though his dad grew up there, Ahmed can’t imagine a worse place to live. He’s one of the only brown kids in his school. And as a proud slacker, Ahmed doesn’t want to deal with expectations from his new teachers.

Boy at the Back of the Class

Onjali Q. Rauf

Grade 3-7

  • There used to be an empty chair at the back of Mrs. Khan's classroom, but on the third Tuesday of the school year a new kid fills it: nine-year-old Ahmet, a Syrian refugee.

Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy

S. K. Ali, Aisha Saeed

Grade 3-7

  • This lovely middle grade book for ages eight and up is all about the joyful feelings and memories that Eid conjures in the hearts of 15 different Muslim writers.

The Turtle of Oman

Naomi Shihab Nye

Grade 3-7

  • Aref Al-Amri does not want to leave Oman. He does not want to leave his elementary school, his friends, or his beloved grandfather, Siddi. He does not want to live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his parents will go to graduate school. His mother is desperate for him to pack his suitcase, but he refuses. Finally, she calls Siddi for help. But rather than pack, Aref and Siddi go on a series of adventures. They visit the camp of a thousand stars deep in the desert, they sleep on Siddi's roof, they fish in the Gulf of Oman and dream about going to India, and they travel to the nature reserve to watch the sea turtles. At each stop, Siddi finds a small stone that he later slips into Aref's suitcase—mementos of home.

1001 Inventions and Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization

National Geographic

Grade 3-7

  • We often think that people from a thousand years ago were living in the Dark Ages. But from the 7th century onward in Muslim civilization there were amazing advances and inventions that still influence our everyday lives.

    People living in the Muslim world saw what the Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Greek, and Romans had discovered and spent the next one thousand years adding new developments and ideas.

    Inventors created marvels like the elephant water clock, explorers drew detailed maps of the world, women made scientific breakthroughs and founded universities, architects built huge domes larger than anywhere else on earth, astronomers mapped the stars and so much more!

    This book takes the winning formula of facts, photos, and fun, and applies it to this companion book to the 1001 Inventions exhibit from the Foundation for Science, Technology, and Civilization.

    Each page is packed with information on this little-known history, but also shows how it still applies to our world today.

The Red Pencil

Andrea Davis Pinkney

Grade 4-8

  • Life in Amira's peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when Janjaweed attackers arrive, unleashing unspeakable horrors. After losing nearly everything, Amira needs to find the strength to make the long journey on foot to safety at a refugee camp. She begins to lose hope, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind -- and all kinds of possibilities.

Drawing Deena

Hena Khan

Grade 4-8

  • Deena’s never given a name to the familiar knot in her stomach that appears when her parents argue about money, when it’s time to go to school, or when she struggles to find the right words. She manages to make it through each day with the help of her friends and the art she loves to make.

It’s Ramadan, Curious George

Hena Khan

  • It's the first day of Ramadan, and George is celebrating with his friend Kareem and his family.

    George helps Kareem with his first fast and joins in the evening celebration of tasting treats and enjoying a special meal. Then George helps make gift baskets to donate to the needy, and watches for the crescent moon with the man in the yellow hat. Finally George joins in the Eid festivities to mark the end of his very first Ramadan.

    This playful tabbed board book makes a great holiday gift for all fans of Curious George—those who celebrate Ramadan, and those who are learning about it for the first time.

Who Will Help Me Make Iftar?

Asmaa Hussein

  • Mustafa Amca and his wife have a yearly tradition - they cook iftar for their friends and neighbours on the first day of Ramadan. This year, Mustafa Amca's wife is sick and can't help him cook! Will he be able to find others to pitch in and create a meal for everyone to enjoy? A wonderful, rich story about selflessness and generosity!

The Most Powerful Night

Ndaa Hassan

  • “The Most Powerful Night” is a heartwarming Ramadan story of angels, sweet prayers and blessed nights! It is about the night of power and glory - Laylat Al-Qadr. This is a night so special that it only comes once a year. What is the Most Powerful Night, when is it it and why is it Powerful, are all questions Laila has. She wants to know everything about this beautiful night. Join Laila and her mom for this bedtime story of “The Most Powerful Night - Laylat Al-Qadr.”

It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel

Firoozeh Dumas

Grade 5-7

  • Although it may sound like a heavy book, this is a funny, realistic story about growing up and living in a culture that is not your own. It’s the late 1970s and Zomorod (Cindy) and her family are back in the U.S. from Iran –again. Nevertheless, she’s desperate to fit in with the other kids despite facing both family pressures and anti-Iranian prejudice.

Ramadan Around the World

Ndaa Hassan

  • Join the Ramadan Moon as it travels the world to visit children and their families observing Ramadan. Ramadan Around The World showcases how various cultures celebrate the Islamic holiday. The purpose of this book is to illustrate the diversity of the global Muslim community. Children of various nationalities and abilities are represented throughout the book. Families of diverse sizes and demographics have also been equally represented. This book is an adventurous read for children and useful as an educational tool for educators.

Ilyas and Duck - Ramadan Joy

Omar Khawaja

  • Embark on a delightful journey of discovery with Ilyas and Duck in 'Ramadan Joy'! Fasting, good deeds, and heartfelt empathy weave a tapestry of excitement as the special month unfolds. When Duck faces the challenge of abstaining from food and drink until sunset on the first day of Ramadan, a world of surprises and blessings awaits them at every turn. Join in the rhyming adventure that captures the essence of Ramadan and the joy it brings!

Amal Unbound

Aisha Saeed

Grade 5-9

  • Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal's Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when--as the eldest daughter--she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn't lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens--after an accidental run-in with the son of her village's corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family's servant to pay off her own family's debt.

Tis The Night Before Eid

Yasmin Rashidi

  • A delightful rhyming story that celebrates and reflects on the traditions of Ramadan and the excitement of the coming of the Eid holiday. Follow along as a Muslim family concludes the practices of Ramadan and prepares themselves for the celebrations of Eid.

Keeping Promises

Saaliha & Ali

  • Saaliha promises to study with her friend Mariam when her other friend Zarina invites her to come and play with her new doll house. It's not always easy to keep promises, but Saaliha does, and her friends love that about her. Encourages children to follow the good manners of Prophet Muhammad.

Omar Rising

Aisha Saeed

Grade 5-9

  • In this compelling companion to New York Times bestseller Amal Unbound, Amal's friend Omar must contend with being treated like a second-class citizen when he gets a scholarship to an elite boarding school.

Ramadan

Hannah Eliot

  • Learn all about the traditions of Ramadan with this first book in the brand-new board book series Celebrate the World, which highlights celebrations across the globe.

    In the ninth month of the year, when the first crescent moon rises in the sky, it’s time to celebrate Ramadan! In this lovely board book with illustrations from Rashin Kheiriyeh, readers learn that Ramadan is a time to reflect on ourselves, to be thankful, and a time to help others.

Rafiq & Friends

Fatemah Mashouf

  • Rafiq & Friends is a new and exciting edutainment series that helps children develop their identity as young Muslims with characters who they can connect with. It’s time for our children to have quality Muslim-oriented toys, books, and activities that they can connect with to bring them fun, education, and family memories.