Tag: eid

Posted in Activities, Books, Reviews

Review & Extended Activity: Amira’s Picture Day

Posted on by Ariana Hussain

This review was originally published in School Library Journal in March, 2021. Additional illustrations and an activity have been added to this post.

Amira’s Picture Day

by Reem Faruqi (text) & illus. by Fahmida Azim
Holiday House. Apr. 2021. 40p. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780823440191.

 K-Gr 2–Amira feels conflicted when she realizes that school picture day is the same day as Eid. Spotting the crescent moon marking the end of Ramadan, Amira and her brother Ziyad know it means that there will be prayers, celebrations, and skipping school the following day. Amira’s mom decorates the girl’s hands with mehndi. Amira and Ziyad prepare goody bags for the kids at the masjid, while her mother irons Amira’s Eid outfit, a beautiful blue and gold mirrored shalwar kameez. Though Eid is full of the joy and community she loves, missing picture day puts a damper on the celebration, until Amira thinks of a possible solution. Deceptively simple, Faruqi’s narrative gently addresses the impact that the celebration of non-dominant cultures and holidays has on children and choices families make to uphold traditions. Moreover, Amira’s conflicted feelings and insistence on finding a solution create opportunities for dialogue about the importance of acknowledging spaces that matter to children, especially while families try to foster positive identity. Azim’s illustrations are fun and colorful, with tiny details reflecting the family’s personality, while the people attending Eid celebrations at Amira’s masjid are racially and culturally diverse, with varied skin tones, body types, and expressions of fashion and style. Back matter features an author’s note and glossary of terms, referencing Urdu and Amira and her family’s Pakistani roots.

VERDICT A lovely addition to the collection of books about Eid that can be used all year long.

Reviewed by Ariana Sani Hussain, The Blake Sch., Wayzata, MN , Mar 01, 2021

Extended Activity & Lesson

As stated in the review above Amira’s Picture Day is an opportunity to talk to elementary students about identity and how holidays reflect identity and values. It is also an opportunity to talk about equity in holiday recognition, school calendars, and what it means to matter in all the spaces we are.

Here are some suggested questions to ask students while reading this book:

  • How do you think Amira feels about missing picture day? Have you ever had to choose between two things that are important to you?
  • Do you think Amira’s parents understand how she feels at first? Is Eid or picture day more important to Amira’s parents?
  • How do you know that Amira’s parents want the children to be involved in the community?
  • What is Amira’s masjid like? Does everyone look similar in body shape, skin tone, or dress or are they different? What do you observe about Amira’s Muslim community?
  • How do you think Amira feels when she is at school wearing her shalwar kameez? How do you think she might feel about her friends seeing her in her shalwar kameez instead of her pink dress?

Pair this book with these videos about recognizing holidays.

Questions:

  • For the people in the videos what does it means to have their holiday recognized by their schools?
  • What would it mean to have no holidays recognized? If winter and spring breaks stayed the same, what would it mean for holidays like Christmas or Easter? Is not recognizing any holidays but still keeping the same breaks really being fair to everyone?
  • Have you ever had to go to school on a holiday that was important to you? How do you think it would feel to have to go to school on a holidays that was really important to you or your family?
  • How do you think it would feel to have to choose between a holidays that is important to you and a big test that would impact your next school year?
  • How did Linda’s daughter feel about seeing her holidays on the school calendar? What does it mean to have schools recognize your holidays?
  • How does it feel to have schools recognize your identity, culture, and history?

Amira’s Picture Day by Reem Faruqi

Amira’s Picture DayAmira’s Picture Day by Reem Faruqi
Illustrated by Fahmida Azim
Holiday House

Ramadan has come to an end, and Amira can’t wait to stay home from school to celebrate Eid. There’s just one hiccup: it’s also school picture day. How can Amira be in two places at once?

Just the thought of Eid makes Amira warm and tingly inside. From wearing new clothes to handing out goody bags at the mosque, Amira can’t wait for the festivities to begin. But when a flier on the fridge catches her eye, Amira’s stomach goes cold. Not only is it Eid, it’s also school picture day. If she’s not in her class picture, how will her classmates remember her? Won’t her teacher wonder where she is?

Though the day’s celebrations at the mosque are everything Amira was dreaming of, her absence at picture day weighs on her. A last-minute idea on the car ride home might just provide the solution to everything in this delightful story from acclaimed author Reem Faruqi, illustrated with vibrant color by Fahmida Azim.

Cover image and summary via Holiday House

Posted in Books, Reviews

Review: Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices

Posted on by hijabilibrarians

Review: Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices
Edited by S. K. Ali and Aisha Saeed; illus. by Sara Alfageeh
Intermediate, Middle School    
Amulet/Abrams   272 pp.    g
5/20    978-1-4197-4083-1    $17.99

For Muslims around the world, the two Eids (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha), conjure images of joy and community and include celebrations which vary by region and consist of different traditions. 

Common traditions for the observance of both Eids often include new clothing, congregational prayers, special foods, and most importantly, time with family and community. Through prose, verse, and imagery, including the vibrant cover art, and a comic selection, authored by G. Willow Wilson and illustrated by Sara Alfageeh, the stories in Once Upon an Eid capture all of those traditions and so much more.

Consisting of stories by 15 Muslim authors of diverse backgrounds, each selection explores an aspect of human experience with incredible complexity and sensitivity. Characters are relatable, and reflect a range of Islamic practice and identity. Stories are set in a variety of locations, with many taking place in non-Muslim majority countries and communities. Readers are given the opportunity to explore many Eids not just reflecting different cultural ties characters might have but the joys, sorrows, feelings of grief, and love that take place when set against a much beloved and significant holiday. 

In Jamilah Thompkins-Bigleow’s “Perfect,” readers meet twelve-year-old Hawa on her way to celebrate Eid with her father’s side of the family in the Bronx. Though she would rather be celebrating with her friends, she is forced to confront a complicated relationship with her cousin, and the comparisons between them, that are tied to expression of identity and authenticity, body image and style, and family structure. In Hanna Alkaf’s “Taste,” set in Malaysia, the protagonist Alia feels alienated because of her mother’s absence and her sense of guilt surrounding that absence. In N.H. Senzai’s “Searching For Blue”, Syrian refugees make a home for themselves and carve a place for celebration in Greece. Thompkins-Bigelow’s poem “Eid Pictures” connects the joy and imagery of Eid in the African American community, the history of how that community was built in the United States, and the first Eid of stolen ancestors longing for their homelands, community, and faith. 

The subtleties of each story offer readers familiar with particular communities the opportunity to see themselves, some for the first time in print. Readers unfamiliar with the diversity within the Muslim community are given an intimate look into different communities, challenging the false idea that Muslims are monolithic. On a deeper level, this book gives Muslim readers the opportunity to look at, consider, be in conversation with, and understand complex feelings and how we can improve understanding of each other on a fundamental human level with empathy and compassion. Stories are inclusive of different family structures, socioeconomic backgrounds, relationships between Shia and Sunni Muslims, and recent converts to Islam. 

The core of the narratives are examining these familial relationships, expression of cultural, racial, religious identities, self-exploration and self-acceptance and are incredibly intersectional. While Once Upon an Eid centers Eid narratives, its stories are important to share in a library or classroom collection year round and hold universal appeal.
Mahasin and Ariana were recently part of Abrams’ Beyond the Book, and were able to interview editors S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed about Once Upon an Eid.