Under the Ramadan Moon by Sylvia Whitman

illustrated by Sue Williams

Historical Fiction

Evaluation of Book

This simply written book is a good introduction for children celebrating the Islamic feast of Ramadan. It begins with the crescent of the new moon and is in the 9th month in the religious year celebrated by Muslims. Ramadan is a time of fasting and prayers with family during the fast breaking meal.

The use of pastels suits the words in this rhythmic story. When referencing “under the moon” the illustrator uses blues and purples. When it is daylight and the families are fasting or when they are celebrating with family, yellows and oranges are used to signify the time of day. The illustrations tend to alternate between the warm and cool colors of the day marking the passing of time.

The illustrations fill the page and the text is integrated. Only two pages use white space and they are both dedicated to fasting and praying. The illustrations that contain a moon dominate the text. With the illustrator’s use of cool colors the bright white moon is the focus of the page which relates to the feast itself.

The illustrations also represent diversity of the American Muslim community. Some of the females are wearing the hijab, but some are not. This keeps the book culturally accurate and open to both Muslim and non-Muslim readers.

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Response

This year I had a few 5th grade girls ask if they could help me in the library during their lunchtime because they were fasting for Ramadan. It was at this point that I realized I didn’t know much about this holiday and so I asked these students to explain more to me to aid in my understanding. This book provided a basic introduction to how and why it is celebrated.

I’m thankful that the author included an information page to help explain Ramadan to non-Muslims. The story does not provide very much information about the specifics of the feast. It resembles a bedtime story and not necessarily an informational one.

Conclusion

The rhythm of this story makes it a great read aloud and a great story to share with children of all backgrounds. This book will appeal to readers and is a recommended read aloud.

Citation

Whitman, S., & Williams, S. (2013). Under the Ramadan moon. New York, NY: Weigl.