A visit with Grandmother in the Middle East is always special for Yasmin, but this time it is even more so in this picture book about faith and family.

On her first night visiting her grandmother, Yasmin is wakened by the muezzin at the nearby mosque calling the faithful to prayer. She watches from her bed as her grandmother prepares to pray. During her stay, Yasmin's grandmother makes her prayer clothes, buys her a prayer rug, and teaches her the five prayers that Muslims perform over the course of a day. When it's time for Yasmin to board a plane and return home, her grandmother gives her a present. When Yasmin opens the present when she gets home, she discovers a prayer clock in the shape of a mosque, with an alarm that sounds like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.

Maha Addasi's warm and endearing story, richly illustrated by Ned Gannon, is the recipient of an Arab American Book Award, Honor Book. Featuring text both in English and Arabic, this is a perfect title for children learning more about Middle Eastern cultures and language.

School Library Journal says: "A beautifully woven tale of grandparent affection and spiritual development."

Booklist says: "An affectionate, intergenerational story."

 

This book was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Middle East Book Award.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2010 by Boyds Mills Press .

Ned Gannon is the illustrator of The White Nights of Ramadan by Maha Addasi. He lives in Wisconsin.