10 Children’s Books that Celebrate Muslim Faith & Culture
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As the heartbreaking news of the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, fills this week’s headlines, we are painfully reminded, once again, how important it is to ensure that our children grow up being exposed to and respecting diverse voices, faces, and cultures. In response, Little Feminist book club founder Brittany Murlas rounded up her favorite ten kids’ books featuring Islam. “Now, more than ever,” she explains, “it’s time to confront Islamophobia at home, by celebrating, normalizing, and integrating Muslim faith and culture into our bedtime stories.”
Murlas, who has become known for her acute thoughtfulness around diversity in kids’ books, notes that it was important that each of the selected titles were written or published by Muslim authors and showed Islam in a positive, celebratory light—she excluded from the list books that focused on the common themes of Muslim refugees and Muslim girls who are prohibited from attending school. While she agrees these books are important, she also posits: “If our next generation only reads stories in which Muslim people are victimized and/or oppressed, then what future are we setting our kids up for?” Check out her top 10 list in our slideshow below.
For more stellar kids’ book roundups, check out 30 black history books for kids, 35+ books with strong female characters, great options to give as gifts, titles that boost self-esteem and empathy, and 20 awesome picture books without words.
You can also get a behind-the-scenes look at some our favorite children’s authors and illustrators within our “The Bookshelf” profiles of Yuyi Morales, Isabel Sanchez Vegara, and Jon Klassen.
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