CELEBRATING RAMADAN

Hoyt-Goldsmith follows a young boy, Ibraheem, and his family during Ramadan. To make this holy month understandable, the author has included some background information about Islam in sidebars and integrated into the text. People of diverse cultural backgrounds practice Islam in the US; this variety is demonstrated in the text throughout the book and reinforced in the photographs of the celebration of Eid al-Fitr in the family’s mosque in Princeton, New Jersey. Pronunciation of Arabic words and phrases is given in parentheses inserted into the text. There are both glossary and index, but no bibliography. The book is illustrated with clear, often charming, full-color photographs and one map. But the work does have its flaws. The status of women in Islam, a fairly complex subject, is reduced to one sentence. Captions on some photographs could have been clearer and more consistent. For example, one picture of a young girl with henna designs on her hands is included, but the correct term for this art form, mehndi, is not given. Despite omissions and minor inconsistencies, Celebrating Ramadan provides a respectful, if superficial, introduction to Islam and Ramadan’s importance in that religious practice. It can’t help but be useful to librarians and teachers because of the rapidly increasing numbers of Islamic people in the US and the scarcity of books for children on the subject. (Nonfiction. 8-11)