Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr

Best Eid Ever
writ­ten by Asma Mobin-Uddin
illus­trat­ed by Lau­ra Jacobsen
Boyds Mills Press, 2007

This Eid, Aneesa should be hap­py. But, her par­ents are thou­sands of miles away for the Hajj pil­grim­age. To cheer her up, her Non­ni gives her a gift of beau­ti­ful clothes, one out­fit for each of the three days of Eid. At the prayer hall, Aneesa meets two sis­ters who are dressed in ill-fit­ting clothes for the hol­i­day. She soon dis­cov­ers that the girls are refugees. They had to leave every­thing behind when they left their native coun­try to live in Amer­i­ca. Aneesa, who can’t stop think­ing about what Eid must be like for them, comes up with a plan, a plan to help make it the best Eid hol­i­day ever.

Gift of Ramadan
writ­ten by Rabi­ah York Lumbard
illus­trat­ed by Lau­ra K. Horton
Albert Whit­man, 2019

Sophia wants to fast for Ramadan this year. She tries to keep busy through­out the day so she won’t think about food. But when the smell of cook­ies is too much, she breaks her fast ear­ly. How can she be part of the fes­tiv­i­ties now?

Gold­en Domes and Sil­ver Lanterns: a Mus­lim Book of Colors
writ­ten Hena Khan
illus­trat­ed by Mehrdokht Amini
Chron­i­cle Books, 2015

“Red is the rug / Dad kneels on to pray, / fac­ing toward Mec­ca, / five times a day.” Gold­en Domes and Sil­ver Lanterns beau­ti­ful­ly cap­tures the world of Islam, cel­e­brat­ing its tra­di­tions, includ­ing Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, for even the youngest readers.

Lailah’s Lunch­box: a Ramadan Story
writ­ten by Reem Faruqi
illus­trat­ed by Lea Lyon
Tilbury House, 2015

Lailah is in a new school in a new coun­try, thou­sands of miles from her old home, and miss­ing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excit­ed that she is final­ly old enough to par­tic­i­pate in the fast­ing but wor­ried that her class­mates won’t under­stand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom.

Moon Watch­ers: Shirin’s Ramadan Miracle
writ­ten by Reza Jalali
illus­trat­ed by Anne Sib­ley O’Brien
Tilbury House, 2017

Look­ing through the tall trees in their back­yard in Maine, Shirin and her dad search for a glimpse of the new moon, the sign that the month of Ramadan has begun. Ramadan is a time when Mus­lims around the world pray, fast, and pay spe­cial atten­tion to doing good deeds. Shirin is nine and thinks she should be able to fast like her old­er broth­er Ali, but her par­ents feel she is still too young to go with­out food and water all day. When Shirin catch­es Ali sneak­ing food after school, she won­ders: Should she tat­tle or is this an oppor­tu­ni­ty for a good deed? Shirin feels left out when the oth­ers break their fasts to have their own meals after dark and in the ear­ly morn­ing, before it is light again. But then her grand­moth­er tells a sto­ry that shows her a way she can feel more a part of Ramadan and the tra­di­tions and close­ness her fam­i­ly enjoys dur­ing this spe­cial month of the year. Her good deeds result in a sur­prise for everyone!

My Grand­ma and Me
writ­ten by Mina Havaherbin
illus­trat­ed by Lind­sey Yankey
Can­dlewick Press, 2019

This gen­tle sto­ry of Mina and her grand­moth­er takes the read­er through their cel­e­bra­tion of Ramadan at a mosque in Iran. It’s a cel­e­bra­tion of an inter­gen­er­a­tional fam­i­ly and their lov­ing bonds. Ear­li­er, we rec­om­mend­ed this book in Read­ing Ahead.

Night of the Moon: a Mus­lim Hol­i­day Story
writ­ten by Hena Khan
illus­trat­ed by Julie Paschkis
Chron­i­cle Books, 2008

Yas­meen, a sev­en-year-old Pak­istani-Amer­i­can girl, cel­e­brates the Mus­lim hol­i­days of Ramadan, “The Night of the Moon” (Chaand Raat), and Eid. With lush illus­tra­tions that evoke Islam­ic art, this beau­ti­ful sto­ry offers a win­dow into mod­ern Mus­lim cul­ture — and into the ancient roots from which its tra­di­tions have grown.

Par­ty in Ramadan
writ­ten by Asma Mobin-Uddin, MD
illus­trat­ed by Lau­ra Jacobsen
Boyds Mills Press, 2009

Leena is excit­ed about Ramadan. She’s too young to fast every day dur­ing the Mus­lim reli­gious fes­ti­val. Instead, she decides to fast every Fri­day dur­ing the month of Ramadan. When Leena receives an invi­ta­tion to a par­ty which hap­pens to fall on Fri­day, she has a dilem­ma. She does­n’t want to miss the par­ty, but she does­n’t want to miss fast­ing either. So Leena decides to go to the par­ty, but not eat or drink any­thing at all. Lat­er, she will join her fam­i­ly for the meal known as iftar, when the dai­ly fast is bro­ken. But when Leena, who is the only Mus­lim at the par­ty, sees her friends enjoy­ing fresh lemon­ade and choco­late cake, her stom­ach starts to growl and her head begins to hurt. Will she keep her Ramadan fast?

Ramadan
writ­ten by Han­nah Eliot
illus­trat­ed by Rashin Kheiriveh
Simon & Schus­ter, 2018

In the ninth month of the year, when the first cres­cent moon ris­es in the sky, it’s time to cel­e­brate Ramadan! In this love­ly board book with age-appro­pri­ate and beau­ti­ful illus­tra­tions, read­ers learn that Ramadan is a time to reflect on our­selves, to be thank­ful, and a time to help others.

Ramadan Moon
writ­ten by Na’ima B. Robert
illus­trat­ed by Shirin Adl
Frances Lin­coln Children’s Books, 2009

Mus­lims all over the world observe Ramadan and the joy­ful days of Eid-al-Fitr at the end of the month of fast­ing as the most spe­cial time of year. This lyri­cal and inspir­ing pic­ture book cap­tures the won­der and delight of this great annu­al event. Accom­pa­nied by illus­tra­tions inspired by Iran­ian art, the sto­ry fol­lows the wax­ing of the moon from the first new cres­cent to full moon and wan­ing until Eid is her­ald­ed by the first sight­ing of the sec­ond new moon. This book is for all chil­dren who cel­e­brate Ramadan and those in the wider com­mu­ni­ties who want to under­stand why it is such a spe­cial expe­ri­ence for Muslims.

Rashad’s Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr
writ­ten by Lisa Bullard
illus­trat­ed by Hol­li Conger
Mill­brook Press, 2012

For Mus­lims, Ramadan is a time for fast­ing, prayer, and think­ing of oth­ers. Rashad tries to be good all month. When it’s time for Eid al-Fitr, he feasts and plays! This book is a good intro­duc­tion to the obser­vance of Ramadan for young Mus­lim chil­dren and the wider community.

Time to Pray
writ­ten by Maha Addasi
illus­trat­ed by Ned Gannon
Boyds Mills Press, 2010

In the Mid­dle East, Yas­min is vis­it­ing her grand­moth­er, who teach­es her about Ramadan. They pick out fab­ric for spe­cial prayer clothes and a small rug. Grand­moth­er Teta sews her the clothes, prac­tices the prayers with her, and takes her to the mosque. Yas­min is wor­ried that she doesn’t have a mosque near her home in the Unit­ed States, so she won’t know when it’s time to pray. Her grand­moth­er has a solu­tion that she sends home with Yas­min in her suitcase.

White Nights of Ramadan
writ­ten by Maha Addasi
illus­trat­ed by Ned Gannon
Boyds Mills Press, 2017

Mid-Ramadan is a spe­cial time for fam­i­lies in the Ara­bi­an (Per­sian) Gulf. These mid­dle days are known as “the three whites,” because they include the day of the full moon, the day before, and the day after. It’s a time when chil­dren dress in tra­di­tion­al cloth­ing and go from house to house col­lect­ing treats from their neigh­bors. When Noor sees the full moon ris­ing, sig­nal­ing the com­ing of Gir­gian, she and her broth­ers pre­pare for the fun. Togeth­er, they dec­o­rate the bags they’ll car­ry to col­lect the can­dies. But along with the fun, Noor remem­bers the true mean­ing of Ramadan: spend­ing time with fam­i­ly and shar­ing with those less fortunate.