Dan’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2019)

Dan’s comments from the Multicultural Library EDGTE 480 group.

The Golden Sandal by Rebecca Hickox
Rating: 5/5
The book is just as the cover says a middle eastern Cinderella story. It is about a girl Maha whose mother passes away leaving her and her father a fisherman on their own. Maha begs and begs the father to marry the neighbor lady so she can have a stepmom and stepsister. The father eventually does but the stepmom begins to treat Maha worse and worse. Through the help of a magic fish Maha saves she can tackle some obstacles and when the time comes the magic fish helps Maha stand out at a bride’s henna. On her way back from the henna Maha loses her golden sandal, it is later found by Tariq who seeks to find the owner so he can marry her.
This book does a great job of illustrating what is happening and introducing the reader to culturally specific events while also keeping it an already known sort of story format. The illustrations themselves are colorful and fun.

Deep in The Sahara by Kelly Cunnane
Rating: 5/5
The book is about a young girl named Lalla who desires to wear a malafa like her female relatives. She in the end learns that the malafa is an expression of a woman’s faith. I understand that some people see the malafa as a way to repress women. While reading the book I do not feel that this was at all the point of the book. After reading the book, in the back in the Author’s Note the author explains her reasons for writing the book and that she no longer sees the malafa as a repressive tool but as an expression of faith.
This is a children’s book and depicts girls and women wanting to wear the malafa for their faith, not showing anyone forcing them to wear it. I think it is a great introduction to Islam. And introduces middle eastern culture to the reader.

Chirchir is Singing by Kelly Cunnane
Rating: 4/5
This book is about a young girl named Chirchir who is just looking to help her family with the everyday tasks that they need to do to create a happy life for their family, building fires, getting water from the well, cleaning the floor, and farming. I think this is a great introduction to life in Kenya and the culture of Kenya. It does a great job of introducing a young reader to some new language while also presenting the story in a sing song type way.

Silly Chicken by Rukhsana Khan
Rating: 4/5
Silly Chicken is about a young girl named Rani who believes that her mother loves her pet hen named Bibi more than her. Of course, throughout the story we see Ami, the mother, take good care of the hen. One day something happens to the hen and the mom is distraught. Then a new Chick enters Rani’s life and suddenly we see the roles reversed.
The story does a good job depicting the life and culture in Pakistan for young readers. It does not introduce any Arabic in the story, instead it stays completely in English. It does deal with the concept of jealousy very well and shows how we can sometimes be jealous of someone for acting a certain way and then behave that same way later.

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan
Rating: 4/5
This is the story of Rubina who is so excited to be invited to a friend at school’s birthday party until her mom tells he she needs to take her younger sister, Sana, with he to the party. Rubina takes Sana to the party and it sort of ruins Rubina’s good time. In the end when Sana is invited to her own birthday party Rubina sticks up for her sister, so Sana does not have to take the youngest sister Maryam to the party Sana is invited to.
This is a great story that depicts some culture differences such as the mother not knowing what a birthday party is or this idea that you need to bring your siblings to the party as well. It also shows the reader that they do not need to hold a grudge or give payback for things that have happened to them. It also does a great job of showing how an older sibling can learn and help younger siblings from their mistakes.

King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan
Rating: 4/5
King for a Day is about a boy Malik who seeks to be the king of Basant. Basant is a kite flying festival held to signify the start of spring in Pakistan and the Punjab region of India. To be the King of Basant Malik needs to fly his kite and take down everyone else’s kite to be the last kite in the air.
In the story Malik faces the bully that lives next door and works as a team with his sister, he also anonymously helps a girl down on the street from his rooftop. One thing that I really enjoyed about this story was that Malik is in a wheelchair, but the story is not about him being in a wheelchair, it just happens to be apart of Malik’s appearance.
This is a great little story that introduces the festival of Basant in an easy and approachable way while also offering other culturally relative information and concepts.

Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan
Rating: 5/5
First off Wanting Mor is a story based on true events, so although this story seems unbelievable that so much can happen to one girl it is based on true events. It is the story of a girl named Jameela who lives in Afghanistan just after the American invasion. The setting is important to know that war is happening all around this girl and people are being displaced from their homes. Jameela loses her mother Mor due to health reasons we are not made aware of and is moved to Kabul by her father. After that the father remarries and is convinced by his new wife to abandon Jameela. Jameela then faces more hard ships before being taken to an orphanage. The story does have a pretty happy ending though so that is good.
Because of the serious plot lines in this book I would recommend it for teenagers or mature young readers who are familiar with or want to learn more about Islamic culture. If your child is reading this book, I would be sure to talk to them about some of the things happening in the book and make sure that they do not become too depressed reading the book.
Wanting Mor does a great job of addressing serious topics like loneliness, perseverance, trust, and valuing one’s self. It also does a wonderful job of presenting women in a positive and strong way.

Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan
Rating: 5/5
Amina’s Voice is about a young immigrant girl, Amina, who is trying to balance the culture of her family and faith along with fitting in at school. Amina is best friends with Soojin. Soojin becomes a citizen of the US and during the ceremony is deciding to change her name to something more American. Soojin becomes more friendly with a white girl named Emily who use to bully the two girls, this causes a rift between Amina and Soojin. Amina’s mosque is vandalized, and a series of other things happen that sort of bring Amina down. In the end things work out when the Amina’s mosque and Soojin’s church work together to support each other.
This book does a great job of depicting problems that immigrant children or children of immigrants might face when coming to America. I recommend this book for anyone going through this same situation or for a child who knows someone who just immigrated so that they can understand what their friend is going through. The book also does a great job of addressing some cultural differences between Muslim-American people and people who are not Muslim.

Power Forward by Hena Khan
Rating: 4/5
This is the first in a series about a boy Zayd who has big dreams of becoming the first Pakastani-American NBA star. The problem is that Zayd’s mom wants Zayd eating healthy and playing his violin. Zayd would rather be playing basketball with his friends and eating what he wants to help put some size on his already scrawny frame. When Zayd skips orchestra practice for basketball with his friends his parents ground him from basketball. In the end things work out.
This book does a great job of addressing the things that are important for a kid and the desires of parents. Regardless of culture. It does however do a wonderful job of incorporating the mix of culture that can happen for a young boy raised by Pakistani immigrant parents and growing up in America, addressing the mix of culture and respect for one’s parents and grandparents while pursuing your own goals.
I would recommend this book for middle grade (or higher) students both girls and boys who are navigating their own passions while balancing their family’s culture and traditions.

On Point by Hena Khan
Rating: 4/5
This is the second in the series about Zayd, the Pakistani-American boy who dreams of playing in the NBA. If you did not read the first book in the series, I strongly suggest you start there. There are a lot of plot points and names in this book that come from the first one. So do not read these out of order.
In this book we see Zayd now on the gold team trying his best, while also being a part of a big wedding celebration for his Uncle Jamal. When Zayd’s friend Adam starts playing more football and ignoring his basketball team Zayd decides to step up and be a captain for his basketball team.
This helps Zayd realize that the wedding needs a captain to help lead the decision-making process to prepare for the big event.
This book does a great job of showing how sports and family life of a kid can all weave together and parallel each other. How children sports team can help prepare you for the real world. Along with the real emotion that occurs when you do not win every game like you plan.
Just like the weaving of family life and basketball this book does a great job of mixing the Pakistani culture with the American culture. I would recommend this book for middle grade students who are also experiencing the blending of different cultures in their own lives.

It’s Ramadan, Curious George by Hena Khan
Rating: 4/5
I read Curious George as a kid and that silly monkey was always getting into some kind of trouble. I was happy to see that it is still the same Monkey and man in yellow as my childhood in this book. Now George is learning about Ramadan and the Islamic faith in this book. Which is great for the reader who can either learn about a religious holiday they might not otherwise know about. Or for other readers to see George partake in an event they might celebrate and encourage George’s friend Kareem to stay true to his fasting just like the reader might experience. Then at the end there is the big Eid celebration along with the food drives and giving to the less fortunate. Overall, I think this is a great book that helps share Muslim culture with the reader.

Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns by Hena Khan
Rating: 5/5
This book is awesome! It depicts colors and where they can be found in the life of someone who is Islamic. It delivers it’s message in a poetic format that just works so well, however the thing that blew me away most about this book was the Illustrations. Mehrdokht Amini did the most amazing job. The vibrant colors, the characters, the details in the rugs, and buildings is just amazing. I cannot say enough positive things about this book and its illustrations. I highly recommend if you have a young child who is starting to learn colors and maybe would enjoy seeing those colors centered around an Islamic lifestyle this book is for you. Or if you are not Islamic but you want your young child to learn about a different culture while learning colors this book is for you.

Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets by Hena Khan
Rating: 5/5
Another great book by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Amini! If you liked Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns as much as I did then you need this book too. This book is just like the Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns book that came before it but now this time we are talking about shapes around the Islamic life. We still have that same poetic rhyme scheme as before that is great to read and have young readers read aloud. The illustrations are in the same style that Mehrdokht Amini did before and they are just as good. I absolutely love the artistic style and the book itself. I highly recommend this to anyone with a young reader of any culture who may want to become familiar with the Islamic Culture.