Books to Engage Muslim Students
Scarcity of literature with portrayals of Muslims is an oft-lamented issue in education circles. As a Muslim K-12 educator I have taken it upon myself to research and review books that feature Muslims in order to find ones that can be utilized in the classroom to engage Muslim students, foster respect and understanding for diversity, and offer counter narratives and differing perspectives to universal themes that often appear in literature, as well as upon history itself. I believe that reviewing these books and offering my perspective on them to other educators is important because the books out that portray Muslims, or people from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia by negative stereotypes are more numerous than ones that can be effective at fostering respect and cross-cultural understanding.
Below is a list of some of the books I would recommend to educators of Muslim students, or any educator who wishes to foster multi-cultural perspectives and respect, to use in their classroom. You may register for our training on April 28th where we will share study guides and lesson plan material that we have developed for some of these books, and we will show specific features in them that can be drawn upon to engage Muslim students as well as teach cross-cultural respect and understanding with lesson plan ideas and connections to reading standards. In the caption under the book cover pictures I have put the Accelerated Reader level of the book, and where that is not available I have put my own estimate of their general reading level and grade that might be used with.
Below is a list of some of the books I would recommend to educators of Muslim students, or any educator who wishes to foster multi-cultural perspectives and respect, to use in their classroom. You may register for our training on April 28th where we will share study guides and lesson plan material that we have developed for some of these books, and we will show specific features in them that can be drawn upon to engage Muslim students as well as teach cross-cultural respect and understanding with lesson plan ideas and connections to reading standards. In the caption under the book cover pictures I have put the Accelerated Reader level of the book, and where that is not available I have put my own estimate of their general reading level and grade that might be used with.
Cinderella - An Islamic TaleMany teachers use the story of Cinderella to meet the #.9 reading standard strand of the Common Core, which asks students to compare and contrast themes in similar stories from different cultures, as variants of the story of Cinderella is exist in many different cultures. Cinderella - An Islamic Tale by Fawzia Gilani’s is a BEAUTIFUL illustration of Islamic values for children. This is a book that can bring cardinal features of the virtues and values that Muslim students are taught to honor and adhere to into the classroom. Many common Arabic phrases that are known as second nature to Muslim students are used in the book.
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Reading Level: 4th Grade and up
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There is a rich analysis to be done from this book in comparing and contrasting the virtues of Zahra (Cinderella) that are extolled, vs. the virtues of Cinderella in the traditional English tale, as well as others. Another example of a fine point to be made that richly illustrates cultural difference is that the story in this book is devoid of any "magic" or supernatural conjuring and figures, which would be deemed un-Islamic, in stark contrast to almost all other versions of the Cinderella story. This author has also written Snow White: An Islamic Tale, and a soon-to-be released Islamic version of Sleeping Beauty.
We have instructional and student materials available for a comprehensive cross-cultural study unit comparing and contrasting this story with a Greek Cinderella story and an English one.
We have instructional and student materials available for a comprehensive cross-cultural study unit comparing and contrasting this story with a Greek Cinderella story and an English one.
Deep in the Sahara
AR Level: 3.7
The dress of Muslim women is long mischaracterized in the Western World; if not as a sign of oppression than at least a source of bewilderment and strangeness to the Western observer. This book portrays the very real ambition of young Muslim girls to one day be old enough to where the hijab (or mulafa as the full length garment is referred to in Mauritania where the book is set). The book portrays the many associations of beauty, wisdom, maturity, and wisdom that Islamic dress represents to young Muslim girls, and would portray an alternative narrative to young non-Muslim students.
Interesting about this book is that it is illustrated by a Muslim lady, but the author is actually a non-Muslim who spent two years living in Mauritania and arrived to the country carrying the impressions of western stereotypes about Islamic dress, but came away from her time there with a fond respect for it that inspired her authorship of this book. Her story, told in the back, may spur as fruitful a discussion as the book itself about in your classroom about cross-cultural experience.
Interesting about this book is that it is illustrated by a Muslim lady, but the author is actually a non-Muslim who spent two years living in Mauritania and arrived to the country carrying the impressions of western stereotypes about Islamic dress, but came away from her time there with a fond respect for it that inspired her authorship of this book. Her story, told in the back, may spur as fruitful a discussion as the book itself about in your classroom about cross-cultural experience.
Time to Pray
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Recommended by the School Library Journal and American Library Association for K-12 books on Islam and Books on Islam for Children and teens, Time to Pray tells the story of a young American girl visiting her grandmother in a far off Arab country.
The beautiful concepts illustrated in this work are numerous. The honor of cross-generational respect and tradition. A vivid portrayal and demystification of what the practice of praying in Islam actually looks like. The characterization of peace, community, and tranquility in the third and developing world. The longing hearts of family members separated by the distance of the world. An interesting feature of this book is that it is written in both English and Arabic. Many of your Muslim students, even non-Arab ones, will know how to read Arabic script from having memorized the Qu'ran in mosques or at home. You may have them read some lines from the book and give them the chance to display this unique skill to their classmates. |
Reading Level: 4th Grade and up - but a good read aloud for younger ages too.
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My Name is Bilal
AR Book Level: 3.5
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Wow! If you are looking for a book that can spur discussions about bullying, courage, accepting others, the struggle of cross-cultural assimilation, all while respecting the heritage of Muslims this book is it!
Bilal and his sister Ayesha move to a suburban town where being Muslim makes them stick out. Bilal is afraid to tell people his real name and says it’s “Bill.” Ayesha gets bullied for wearing her hijab. Thankfully, a teacher in the school is Muslim and mentors Bilal. He gives Bilal a book that is a biography of Bilal ibn Rabah, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, and through it Bilal learns courage and forgiveness. The next time his sister is bullied he stands up for her, but later on he makes amends with the bully. An absolutely beautiful story and that gives a real life illustration of how the lives of religious figures in Islam inspire Muslims. |
A unique feature about this book that should not go unnoticed is that it is centered on male characters, which is harder to come across when it comes to children's books that feature Muslims.
It’s Ramadan, Curious George
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Yes, you read that correctly. Even that famous monkey is befriending the Muslims! This book is an excellent primer for non-Muslim students on Ramadan and some customs surrounding it that Muslims practice. It shows that even a lovable mischief-prone monkey can make friends with a Muslim kid named Kareem! How can you not love this?
Added benefits to this book are getting to se the Man in the Yellow Hat wearing a yellow fez and seeing George mistakenly try to put all the shoes of the local mosque's congregants into the charity baskets he's helping them put together! Don't worry, the Imam stops him before things get out of hand. Yes, cross-cultural education for youngsters can and will be fun! |
Great read aloud book for K-2
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Night of the Moon
AR Level: 4.1
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This a great book to broach and educate about the traditions of Ramadan for a more sophisticated elementary audience. It follows the Ramadan journey of Yasmeen, an elementary school girl, through all the traditions and technicalities of Islam. It shows how the moon sighting and phases work throughout the month. How the Islamic calendar differs from the gregorian calendar. It has a wonderful scene Yasmeen is in her classroom and her teacher asks if anyone knows what fasting is and she gets to experience the excitement of being the one in class who knows and can share.
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Informational Texts
A glaring bias of K-12 education in the western world is its complete lack of acknowledgment of the contributions of Islam and Muslims to modern civilization and world history. Thankfully they are now books for upper elementary school students and up that bring this history out.
1001 Inventions & Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization
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This is the elementary book for National Geographic’s 1001 Inventions Event. This is book is very appealing visually, it uses a variety of visuals and text boxes to categorically show the wide spectrum of contributions of Muslim civilizations to the world. A great text for research and teaching about text features in the upper elementary grade. National Geographic, being wonderful and helpful as they are in their education-oriented way, has also created a teacher's guide to go along with this book. |
Reading Level: Upper Elementary Gold
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1001 Inventions - The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilizations
Middle and High School
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The more sophisticated text by National Geographic. This books is for High School readers. Organizing Muslim contributions to civilization into 9 categorical chapters. This book is also very visually appealing and quite detailed in its history and drawing connections between the historical development of the eastern and western world. |
The Genius of Islam - How Muslims Made the Modern World
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This book is awesome! Written by Bryn Barnard, a western academic of the Muslim world, this book tells the history of Muslim’s major contributions to the modern world in a more conscience narrative form. It also has beautiful visuals as well. Perhaps you did not even know that modern day hospitals, leather bound books, and optic surgery were all spawned from the inventions of Muslim scholars. Well, now you and your students can discover that and so much more with this awesome book. This would also be a great book for older Muslim students who are technically categorized as low readers. It has a high AR level, but this books topic is something that will draw on the background knowledge of Muslim students instead of working against it (similarly, the opposite phenomenon may occur for non-Muslim students, which could be why AR made the reading level so high in the first place. |
AR Level: 8.8
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Lost History - The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists.
High School - Upper Level
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A trade paperback narrative telling of the history of Muslim civilizations contributions to the modern world. Published by National Geographic and written for a commercial audience, this book has an interesting and engaging style of mixing narratives into each given period that is discussed (with which the author takes some artistic liberty) while elucidating information and connections to our modern times. |
The Grand Mosque of Paris - A Story of How Muslims Rescued Jews During the Holocaust
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An extraordinarily powerful book of a seldom told true story from one the world’s most well known events. The Grand Mosque in Paris is one of the oldest and largest Islamic Centers in Europe. This book tells the little known story of how Muslims turned the mosque into a hiding place for Jews during the Nazi invasion of France in World War II. There is an endless array of topics that this book can connect to. But perhaps most importantly it is a vivid portrayal of one of the numerous historical instances of cooperation and mutual assistance taking place between Muslims and Jews. Instances that far outweigh those of confrontation that are often pointed at in the media. We have student comprehension sheets to accompany the reading of this book available. |
AR Level: 7.1
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Literary Novels
Sophia's Journal
Lexile Level 800
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This is a compelling novel that centers on a teenage Muslim with an interesting twist that makes Sophia's Journal an unmatchable book in connecting to Muslim students with an American identity. Sophia is a 16 year old girl in 21st century Kansas who, upon falling into a river, finds herself back in time in the pioneer days of the 19th century. Still a Muslim, she must navigate explaining her identity to pioneer folk, such as being confused as being jewish by some, while also examining this historical period of America first hand; weighing things such as treatment of native-americans and slavery in the light of the teachings of her religion.
These because is an engaging narrative that easily intertwines to other academic topics and themes. Sophia's Muslim character comes out in her phrases and perspective that will be easily recognizable to Muslim students, but in need of explanation for non-Muslim students (just like it is unreasonable to the people of the pioneer days that Sophia confronts). A creative way of approaching the issue of people in America being confused about your Muslim identity - which of course still happens today. This book is stellar! We now have a fully comprehensive online teaching guide for it that takes you through chapter by chapter and points out specific connections to be made with Muslim students, and gives the instructor background knowledge on them. |
She Wore Red Trainers
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Incredibly, there is actually a quality young adult romance novel that is centered on the experience of Muslim youth in the West without being patronizing towards their Muslim identity; to the contrary it is brimming with authenticity.
She Wore Red Trainers tells the story of Amirah and Ali, two British children of immigrants who by happenstance find themselves developing a caring crush on one another. All the while they hold onto their ambitions to harness and discipline their feelings in a way that allows them to act on them without violating their religious ethos. Amidst this they have to navigate their religion beliefs, their feelings for one another, Western teenage culture, and the home culture of their immigrant parents all alike. The true experience that so many young Muslims go through in the West. Written by the critically acclaimed author Naima B. Robert, who is also a leading Muslim female voice within the broader Western Muslim community, this book is perfect for young adult Muslim readers who wish to read a love-centered novel. |
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The Road to Mecca
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Novels from the first half of the twentieth century are often considered a high time in literature and books from that era are often examined in AP Literature courses. These books often play on themes of existentialism and other philosophical trends of the time in Europe and Russia that were heavily influential in the world of literature and elsewhere.
The Road to Mecca is a memoir of sorts written by Muhammad Asad, formerly known as Leopold Weiss, an Austrian journalist in the early twentieth century who converted to Islam during his ventures in the Arab World. In one part this book articulates the place and worldview of a Muslim within the philosophical discussions that took place in European academia during the early 20th century, and is one of the few English language books from the era to do so in a narrative form. But it is also a gripping tale of Asad's journey in serving the founding King of Saudi Arabia, assissting the native Libyan's in a resistance against colonizing Italy, and moving on to being the United Nations ambassador to Pakistan and helping that country to write its founding constitution in the post-partition era. In a time where understanding the cross-cultural traverse between east and west is paramount, this book can add a unique perspective to classroom analysis. |
High School - AP Lit
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