Eid and Ramadan Booklist

This delightful children’s book offers a vibrant and relatable introduction to the celebration of Eid. Young readers are sure to be captivated by the bright, engaging illustrations that bring the story to life. The author skillfully weaves a narrative that focuses on the experiences of children during Eid. The descriptions of fasting traditions create a sense of connection for young readers who may have similar practices in their own cultures or religions.

Descriptions of delectable sweet treats like jaman and jalebi are irresistibly mouthwatering and the story’s playful treasure hunt adds an extra layer of excitement, keeping children hooked and eager to find out what happens next.

The book’s strength lies in its ability to make Eid celebrations feel accessible and fun. A simple pronunciation guide at the back enhances inclusivity for readers unfamiliar with associated terms. This book is a wonderful way to introduce children to the spirit of Eid. Its lively depictions, relatable themes, and enticing food descriptions make it a sweet treat for any time of the year.

This was very much enjoyed by EYFS children for the pictures, the story and as an introduction to Eid.

This is a picture book story with an Eid setting rather than an information book about the festival, and the narrative does introduce traditions such as special clothes and gift giving, making it a good way to start to engage the children with the topic.

A colourful and heartwarming picturebook story about celebrating Eid.

Safa is excitedly getting ready for Eid-al-Fitr. The preparations are fun to make and include drawing henna patterns on her hands, putting up decorations and eating delicious foods. She’s also looking forward to her favourite part – the presents. While she celebrates, Safa isn’t keen to share her present of a new bike, but her Mum helps her to learn how Eid is about sharing and to see the wider meaning of celebrating with family and loved ones.

A warm story about Eid that EYFS and KS1 children will love to read all year round.

This picture book about the month of Ramadan and the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is a gentle, light and thought-provoking story of a special time of year. The story begins at bedtime with the rising of the crescent moon and the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Told through the eyes of a young girl, it embraces family and school life as well as – in her Grandma’s words – being ‘thankful for beautiful things’. This book will be of interest to primary school class teachers and leaders – it would work well as a class story, a shared book, an individual library book or for use in assemblies. It is a beautifully illustrated story to accompany the month of Ramadan and bring life to R.E. teaching. Perfect for primary school classes including those with many, few or no Muslim pupils – the story of Ramadan unfolds telling non-Muslim pupils about the delights and significance of Ramadan from a child’s perspective. At the back of the book is an Author’s Note explaining the origins of Ramadan with clarity and simplicity as well as a comprehensive Glossary of terms.

Omar is a boy with a huge imagination that can land him in trouble. As well as being very funny, the stories tackle important issues like bullying and prejudice, with Omar’s diary-style entries covering the everyday ups and downs of life including Muslim traditions, school worries, friendships, family life and a big dose of toilet humour. This first book in this illustrated chapter book series sees Omar move to a new neighbourhood and experience some religious and racial prejudice. It also sees Omar settle in at school, join in with family science experiments and experience the month of Ramadan including the Eid feast at the end.

This picturebook offers an explanation of the way in which many Muslims see the period of Ramadan from the first sighting of the new moon through the full moon and back, as well as giving insight into the ‘month of mercy.’ This book would be a great addition to any school or library as it would help support adults who are less familiar with the experience of Ramadan to explain it to children. The explanation of Ramadan is explained beautifully and sensitively in this book and the accompanying illustrations enhance the text perfectly, presented with a beautiful texturing effect that adds a ‘real-world’ feel to them.

This beautifully illustrated picture book shows how Muslims celebrate the holy month of Ramadan around the globe. The illustrator, Hatem Aly uses bright colours to create eye-catching pictures depicting busy scenes of family and community life. We learn how Muslims around the world observe fasting, told through children’s viewpoints. Many Muslim children will relate to wanting to fast for the very first time, the excitement of joining in with everyone and also the anticipation of the difficulties they may encounter throughout the fast. It’s interesting to see how Muslims in different parts of the world like South Korea or the Middle East celebrate Ramadan.

Readers will have fun searching for the flags on the pages and guessing/learning the country’s name associated with it. The author, M.O. Yuksel introduces us to different customs practised, traditional and newer ones. We learn about the variety of foods eaten at Suhoor and Iftar (meals eaten before sunrise and after sunset), and about the good deeds and prayers performed throughout the month. And finally we observe what happens when Ramadan finishes and Eid is celebrated.

A charming and useful book to introduce children and initiate conversations about Ramadan.

A beautiful story of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr told from a child’s perspective.

Sara Khan gives us a realistic account of this Islamic festival to show true representation through words and pictures.

The main character Raya, tells us all about her family’s preparations ahead of the celebrations. This personal story sits alongside factual information to educate and engage the reader. I used this to introduce this festival as part of our RE lesson recently and the pupils in my class couldn’t wait to read it again. We enjoyed how true to some of our own pupils’ family preparations this book was and how it inspired conversation about pupils’ own festival experiences openly in classroom conversation.