I’m not going to lie: I don’t know a hell of a lot about
Muslim culture. I never studied it in history classes, never took religion
classes, and there’s little to none Muslim representation in anything I’ve ever
seen on television or movies (which is probably the biggest factor of my
ignorance). When I was asked a question about the holidays Muslim’s celebrate
by the two little boys I look after, I had no idea how to answer. So I once
again packed up the little rugrats and headed to my local library where I found
the very helpful book Night of the Moon:
A Muslim Holiday Story. Lucky or what?
The premise of Night
of the Moon is a simple one. It follows Yasmeen, a seven-year-old
Pakistani-American girl, as she and her family celebrates the Muslim holidays
of Ramadan, The Night of the Moon, and Eid. It’s a story that offers a window
into modern Muslim culture and into the ancient roots from within its
traditions have grown.
The author of Night of
the Moon is Hena Khan, a Pakistani-American Muslim who was born and raised
in America but celebrated her native Pakistan’s culture and religion. She’s
written many children’s books about the Muslim faith but she’s also covered
topics from spies to space travel as well. The illustrator that she worked with
on Night of the Moon was Julie
Paschkis, an award winning illustrator with a long list of art schools under
her belt and a BFA to top it all off.
The art style of Night
of the Moon is perfect for the story it’s telling. It looks to be a thick
acrylic style that’s intricate but not perfect. The paintbrush (or whatever
tool was used to create the artwork) was held lightly and allowed to swoop and
glide where it wanted. The main colour of the piece is blue and there is such a
rich variety of blue that it creates an unbelievable lushness. It’s the perfect
colour to focus on for a book about a Muslim holiday centred around the moon
and it really does evoke just such a feeling of looking at traditional Islamic
art.
The themes of this children’s book are very clearly laid
out: it’s a book to teach children about Muslim holidays. Unlike other kid’s
books Night of the Moon is not
centred around teaching kids a moral lesson through clever use of talking
animals. It takes a culturally authentic account of Ramadan, delivers it in a
sensitive way to Muslim tradition, and holds onto its steadfast integrity. All
thirty two pages of the piece are detailed and reverent of its Middle Eastern
background and it’s done in a way to keep kid’s attention so that they learn
about something that happens in the real world!
My final thoughts on Night
of the Moon are that it’s an excellent book to read if you’re looking to
help your children understand a different culture or if you yourself know
nothing about Ramadan and want to dip your toes! The artwork is lush and
gorgeous, the story helpful and entertaining and there’s even a glossary at the
end of the book that goes over the Arabic words that are mentioned in the piece
and how they relate to the Islamic faith. Overall, Night of the Moon is a good representation of Muslim holidays
that’s beautiful, fact-filled, and respectful to the culture.
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