Today is Z’s last day of first grade. I can’t believe she will be a second grader, the grade I used to teach.
It doesn’t seem like yesterday in which I packed up my crayon-filled second grade classroom and had a newborn in the sweltering June summer. It seems ages ago. To be precise 7 years ago! For me, those newborn baby days were long and slow, tiring and tedious. But to have that slow time was a gift in which I could find pockets of peace.
Once Z transformed into a running toddler and child, that was when time caught up with Z and then A and started to run too.
Ramadan for Muslims starts this Saturday. It’s nice to see my book Lailah’s Lunchbox pop up on people’s radars again and to see it displayed proudly for Ramadan.
I love seeing how creative people get with their displays. If you do use my book in a Ramadan display, please send me a picture. Sometimes while I sit on a computer cranking out words on a plain old Microsoft Word document, it can be hard to see my words as a book.
Spotted at Dallas Museum of Art!
Thank you @masalnurstory for this fun picture!
Love the gold and blue @learnlittlemuslims
Awesome blog post by this teacher @thecaterpillarcornerSpeaking of books, I am excited to say that I should have two picture books coming out in a couple of years I believe!
Amira’s Picture Day (Holiday House) for Spring 2019
Ramadan is over and Amira can’t wait to celebrate Eid. Spotting the new moon, she celebrates because Eid is tomorrow and she gets to miss school to go to the mosque for the Eid prayer and brunch. But then she realizes that tomorrow is Picture Day at school. How will her class remember her if she’s not in the class picture? What will Amira do?
2. Let Me Show You The Way (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers) TBD
The main character often happily volunteers to help a fellow classmate who needs a little extra assistance in school. It is only when she gets picked on by two popular students for helping him, she decides to distance herself from the fellow classmate to fit in more with her popular classmates. Later, she feels regret for her actions, but it is too late. Now, she decides to take matters into her own hands…
I will share more about these two projects soon. A big thank you to those who helped me thus far with these stories, editing, critiquing, printing, submitting! The publishing industry is quite a prooooooooooooooocesssssssss. And a long one at that! And an additional thank you to all of you who have read Lailah’s Lunchbox and supported me. I hope you all will like these two picture books as well.
I hope for all those of you who will be celebrating Ramadan that it is a beautiful and peaceful month full of growth, renewal, and that you find time to enjoy the slow moments. Meanwhile…
Five Fun Things:
- a heartwarming Middle Grade book I read recently by Lisa Graff with a strong, emotional male character’s voice:
“My dad’s face, you should’ve seen it. It went from normal to chili-pepper red in seconds. He was angry. [. . .] The fire, it was all the way to the tips of my fingernails. Digging down to the bottoms of my heels.”
2. A teacher’s blog post I liked about my book.
“Lailah’s Lunchbox is a fantastic story based on Reem Faruqi’s own life experience moving to the United States and explaining what Ramadan is to classmates and friends in Peachtree City, Georgia. This story captures many different and important social issues, including moving somewhere new and different religions. This story emphasizes the humanity of the children and their experiences and promotes understanding and empathy of others.”
3. A beautiful Ramadan Read Drummer Girl by Hiba Masood and illustrated by Najiyah Maxfield about a spunky female character Najma and the tender relationship she and her father share during Ramadan. I love how author Hiba Masood loosely based this story on a true one of a female drummer girl. The imagery, language, and pictures are gorgeous. I am a fan of Hiba (Drama Mama)’s words and this book showcases beautiful language. I have been saving this story for Z and A to read during Ramadan so I know they will savor it this Ramadan.
“Najma held her breath. Would he be angry? Would he say she was being foolish? No woman had ever been a musaharati in her neighborhood…”
4. A fun activity to do. Envelope decorating with nail polish. It kept Z and A busy for a while…
5. the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta will be doing a Ramadan puppet show at the Children’s Museum on June 24th for your children. Check our newsletter here for more details. (scroll to bottom!)
Have a Blessed Ramadan and Beautiful Summer!
Doodling Through Life 
Mabrook on the new books – can’t wait to read them! THANK YOU for writing Lailah’s Lunchbox – we loved it last Ramadan, and I’ve got it hidden away to pull out again on Saturday isA 🙂 Thanks also for the recommendation of Drummer Girl! I’m always on the look-out for more picture books to add into our Ramadan collection, and it’s rare to find one that actually has a good plot, rather than just being an illustrated description of what the month is about. Those are good too, of course, but it’s so much more meaningful to my kids when there’s a plot and characters they can connect to!
Hope you and all your family have a blessed and peaceful month isA! Ramadan Kareem 🙂
thank you so much Vila for your support; I’m so glad you liked my story. Yes, you will like Drummer Girl too. Have a beautiful Ramadan. I have recommended a few Ramadan books on my blog under Children’s Book recommendations here so check them out: https://reemfaruqi.com/published-writings-by-the-doodler/childrens-book-reviews-by-the-doodler/
Ramadan Mubarak!!