Customer Reviews

The Best Eid Ever

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful story about the joy and happiness that comes from giving. It teaches children that true celebration comes from sharing what you have with others. These values are common to Islam, Judaism and Christianity. This book has particular meaning at this time of the year as all three of these faiths celebrate special holidays this December. Indeed, it is better to give than receive.

Aneesa wondered if she would be able to enjoy Eid al-Adha, the big Muslim holiday marking the end of the Hajj pilgrimage. This year her parents had decided to travel to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage, and the house seemed so quiet with just Aneesa and her grandmother. But Nonni had a surprise to cheer up her granddaughter: a large gift-wrapped box containing three gorgeous sets of clothes from Pakistan, complete with matching bangles and handmade shoes. She had also prepared Aneesha's favorite curried lamb dish to enjoy after returning from prayers. It took an encounter at the prayer hall with two refugee girls for Aneesha to realize just how fortunate she was. The girls had fled their war-torn country with little more than the clothes on their backs, and their father worked long hours, even on Eid, to try to make ends meet.

An outstanding book, The Best Eid Ever provides readers with an interesting account of the Eid holiday and Muslim culture as seen through the eyes of a young child. Wrapped into the story is an important lesson about the economic hardships associated with war, and a child's growing awareness of the difference between wants and needs. The lush colors and expressive features in the pastel pencil illustrations add a rich dimension to this enjoyable story.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations brought it to life. I donated the book to the local elementary school and they loved it. What a nice way to make young students understand other cultures and traditions.

A Great Book (For Muslims or Non-Muslims alike) I purchased 2 (one for the classroom and one for my own family) and it really gives the meaning behind the holiday (its rare to find a good book to portray that) and the pictures are beautiful and capturing ... Highly Recoomend for every family and Teacher (that wants to teach a lesson on the holiday or just extracting the main lesson that the whole book sends "sharing is caring and feels great"

The Best Eid Ever is a moving story about a young Muslim -American girl named Aneesa who is celebrating Eid, a Muslim holiday, with her grandmother. While at the prayer hall, Aneesa meets two girls with torn clothes. She discovers they are refugees who have escaped their war torn country. What Aneesa does next, is both self-less and generous. She gives the girls the new Pakistani clothes she had just received from her grandmother among other things. Aneesa watched as the girls discovered their beautiful new clothes. The excitement the girls experienced fulfilled her. It was a much different Eid than she and her grandmother have ever had, but a memorable one! The Best Eid Ever is a powerful story that welcomes children into a Muslim-American family as they celebrate Eid. It teaches children about diversity and sends a lasting message about giving. The colorful and detailed illustrations only add to the passion and love of one young girl who helped people in need.

"The Best Eid Ever" tries to cover to much ground in one book... the month of Ramadan, Eid celebrations, wars and the refugee crisis, poverty, the feeling of loneliness, assimilation into a new and different culture, losing your parents (even temporarily), boredom, festivity, etc.

The story will be slightly bewildering for elementary school picture-book lovers. Plus, it assumes the reader already has some familiarity with Muslim traditions, and seems to be written for a predominantly Muslim audience.

Still, the book manages to convey the feeling that, overall, its storyline is really not too bad. The illustrations are heart warming and the main reason to return to the story.

For Muslim cultural assimilation issues, Eve Bunting's "One Green Apple" is succint and delivers the goods.

For a good Ramadan story, "A Party in Ramadan" by Asma Mobinuddin is thoughtfully done.

For refugee issues, "Four Feet, Two Sandals" is superior.

If you want all three in one, in a slightly-muddled-benevolent-grandmother fashion, The Best Eid Ever is for you.

Love it. Just the right combination of transnationalism, ethnic identity, intergenerational affection, and emotional, spiritual and moral drama. All libraries should have this.

I teach preschool and discovered this year that there is a second Eid each year. It occurs 70 days after the first one. This book is general enough that I can use it in the classroom for either Eid.

"The Best Eid Ever" tries to cover too much ground in one book - love, religious observances, loneliness and temporary abandonment, homelessness, wars and the refugee crisis, friendship between the old and young, the rich young and the poor young, mutual respect and trust, etc.. etc..

Also, it assumes prior knowledge of Islamic traditions.

For a Ramadan story on slightly more solid ground, and a better intro to Islam, reach for Asma Mobinuddin's "A Party in Ramadan".

For assimilation and immigrant issues, go to Eve Bunting's "One Green Apple" (among her many other books)

For a picture-book about coping with uncertainty in wartimes, read "Four Feet, Two Sandals", and "Gleam and Glow".

For a fondly-grandmotherish-slightly-muddled-all-in-one refresher than seem somewhat intense and bewildering at times, "The Best Eid Ever" is for you.