Fasting and Dates

by Jonny Zucker, Jan Barger Cohen (Illustrator)

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. A family celebrates Ramadan by fasting each day, going to the mosque on the Night of Power, looking at the new moon, and enjoying a delicious feast at Eid-ul-Fitr.

Genres: Picture Books, Islam, Childrens

24 pages, Library Binding

First published August 19, 2004

Reviews

[Ladyphase · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the younger children. A later edition is titled, "Sweet Dates to Eat : A Ramadan and Eid Story." The book follows unnamed protagonists. It is from the perspective of the youngest in the family, a girl who is too young to fast yet.

Cute illustrations, simple text. BUT, it feels like facts with drawings, without an authentic child's voice. Stricter observant muslim families may prefer a different book for their children where the illustrator didn't chose to draw in some of the females' hair, or they might use it as a teachable moment.

For fun, I tried to give the family a background, because the book didn't try to provide any cultural context. I can't decide on the kind of people the author based the illustrations off of, or if she just...used her imagination. From the hats and the ladies' hair fringe showing, my husband suggests the family is from Uzbekistan. From the house, I say they are in the US. The father is darker than the rest of the family we see, so I say the mother is a white American
(possibly a convert) who spent time in Uzbekistan and married the father there. Later, they moved to the US and had children. Feel free to make up your own background story.

[Buxmont Uu]

PBWR Session 8