This title is from a series of four books originally published in Indonesia in 2015 and recently translated to English by The Islamic Foundation in the U.K. This is a review for the whole series of books about Nabil, his younger sister Noura and their simple adventures.
In each book, Noura asks her brother what is the meaning of the key Arabic phrase found in the book's that he says aloud to several people. After he translates the phrase, Noura adopts the custom of saying the phrase as well.
In "As-salamu 'alaykum", Noura learns the greeting/prayer "Peace be upon you."
In "Mashallah", Noura learns it means "Allah has willed it."
In "Bismillah", Noura remembers "In the name of God."
In "Alhamdulillah", Noura learns it means "Praise be to God."
Dee's text is just right for this age group. Each situation the children are in is believable. Each book is smoothly translated by Shera Diva Sihbudi is smooth. The illustrations add so much context to the spare text. Digital(?) artwork by Iput is colorful, bright, and cheery. Nabil is a good big brother, showing patience with his younger sister and good leadership. The two siblings have a loving relationship, with Noura looking up to and respecting him. Iput includes a couple of pages in each book with a seek and find type activity, i.e. What color are the spoons? How many cups or stars? What play equipment is in the park? Additionally, on the last page of each book is the word written in Arabic, transliterated to English, in English, and two questions to review the word featured.
This title is from a series of four books originally published in Indonesia in 2015 and recently translated to English by The Islamic Foundation in the U.K. When I attended a national conference recently, I showed this series of board books to several Muslim women. They were visibly pleased to see them, expressig words of praise for their content and presentation. As I am not Muslim, I appreciated the kindness of these women to evaluate these books and share their point of view on their value and importance as accurate mirrors of their religious culture. I value them for their peek into another religion, which helps me build understanding about it.
Highly Recommended for Toddlers-PreK.
