To be completely honest, I chose this subject with absolutely no prior knowledge. I knew that Islam is a religion, but I also thought “Muslim” was a type of religion as well. After looking into it, I soon found that Islam is the religion that Muslims follow. After figuring this out, I could then begin to choose my books. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. After looking in three different libraries and three different bookstores, I was still empty handed. I made a trip to the store Everybody Reads in
All of these books involve the Islam religion, although they do so in very different ways. Khan’s book is a collection of short stories and poetry that focus on the different pillars of Islam faith. Ghazi’s book focuses on the month of Ramadan when Muslims fast and celebrate the revealing of the Quran. Oppenheim’s book isn’t based on Islam, but it does involve a Muslim boy whose Islamic faith becomes apparent in the story.
Although each of these books is a picture book, they vary in many ways. Muslim Child is a lot longer than the other two books—it offers a lot of information about Islam in sidebars that add to the short stories and poems in the book. Ramadan is also a picture book with characters, but it is more fact based, giving the reader a close look into the celebrations of Ramadan. The Hundredth Name does not include so many facts about Islam. The story is not written around the religion; rather, it is a story that includes some aspects of the religion. Another difference in this book is that it does not contain a glossary or pronunciation key, which can be found in the first two books.
I think that all three of these books are good representations of the topic I chose and I would include them all in my classroom library. I think that they are a good text set to have together because they cover different aspects of the Islam religion and in different styles. I think that Khan’s book may be the most well-rounded book as far as information to be learned about the religion, but the other’s offer just as important messages and ideas about the topic. Readers of different age and reading levels will be able to learn from each of these books.
1 comment:
peace Kimberly,
i landed on your blog by chance and found your blog posts interesting. my comments are far too late, i realize, to have any impact on your course but i thought you might appreciate the feedback anyway.
did you notice that the muslim characters in the books you chose were differentiated amongst themselves reflecting the diverse cultures with in the islamic world. khan's book is set in south asia while oppenheim's book is based in the middle east. the cover of the ramadan book by gahzi has lofty mountains in the backdrop of a mosque suggesting that this story too is set in the indian subcontinent. culture and traditions of these regions are markedly distinct. e.g. while suhur, iftar and the daily prayer are shared between the cultures, other elements, e.g. somosas, camels, diet and dress, the games children play and manner of celebrating are unique to each locale.
recently i went out looking to buy islamic media for my niece and nephew, 4 and 2 years old respectively. so i can appreciate your the difficulty you faced. finding (good) material in the english language is still a little difficult. fortunately, however, there are a fair number of people who are taking up the challenge (probably based on the sizable demand). in the end i settled for some islamic dvds by noorart: http://www.noorart.com/shop_by_age/video_baby_3_years
in the past year canadian broadcasting corporation (cbc) has launched the first muslim sitcom in north america little mosque on the prairie. the show which began amidst great speculation has since become one of cbc's most successful sitcoms ever with rights being bought by carriers in france and the u.s. and even imitations of the series appearing in the u.s.
9/11 has also projected the issue of teaching islam in public schools in a new light. one the one hand the increased polarization has led to such intense caricaturing of the muslim world that even some formerly critical of islam are beginning to wonder (and investigate) their sources of (mis)information. on the other hand efforts to rectify this situation have often been met with severe objections even leading to campaigns, e.g. in california .
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