Customer Reviews

The White Nights of Ramadan

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Great book for young children and even adults. I love to learn about different cultural practices of eids and the like, and I love that my niece can read that there are muslims around the world.

Noor's face was lit with excitement as she peered out the window at the moon. "It's almost time," she said to herself just before she ran to tell her brothers Sam and Dan. The moon was almost full and Girgian was almost upon them. The boys gave each other a high five and started yelling about all the candy they would get at the Girgian festival. Sam pretended to be a musaher. Bang, bang! The musaher beat his drum every morning during Ramadan to make sure people would wake up for the suhoor meal just before dawn. If they were lucky, he would even leave him a gift. Noor was old enough to fast, but her brothers were still too young.

Noor reminded them that they still needed to make the candy. Everyone in the family worked on this special project. Noor, grandmother, grandfather, her mother and father made the candy. Once it was done they all wrapped it up and tied "colorful ribbons around each cluster." This was something the boys could help with. Next Noor and her brothers had to decorate their own bags so they could collect some candy the following evening after iftar. She told them, "Beautiful bags mean more candy!" Soon it would be time to get on her beautiful dress, the one she would wear on Girgian. Ramadan was great fun, but her grandmother reminded her "that the true meaning of Ramadan is spending time with family and sharing with those less fortunate." She would hardly be able to sleep just thinking about the coming excitement!

This is a beautiful and very special glimpse of Ramadan from a young woman's point of view. The impressive illustrations and the text convey the excitement of the Girgian festival. This book is the perfect choice to introduce another culture to children or for Muslim children to celebrate and rejoice in their own religious holiday season. This would be a wonderful read aloud and discuss book in any homeschool or classroom setting!

Although a children book; parents, teachers and adults will be captivated by this book. The customs of the Arabian Gulf region during the fasting month of ramadan is beautifully narrated and illustrated. Cultures across the globe will connect to the story telling. So timely and essential.

Though not a Moslem, I think it is important that we understand other cultures. I especially liked the illustrations for this book-in my opinion (biased as it may be), they "made" the book. I appreciated the colors and lighting effects, as well as the images themselves. I hope this artist does more books in the future!

This unique book is a must have for all families of Muslim faith and is an excellent and positive insight into Muslim culture for all children.