Fasting and Dates: A Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr Story (Festival Time!)

I disliked this book for two reasons. First, the author’s writing style is inconsistent. The first few pages of the short book have just one to two sentences on each page, and there are huge colorful pictures alongside the text. The last two pages are completely different, though. There are no

Show More

pictures, only paragraphs in an essay format full of information about Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr. I found this to be extremely confusing because when beginning to read the book, I assumed from the author’s writing that it was intended for readers as early as kindergarten age. The last two pages, however, completely threw me off because I think only fourth graders and up would be able to read and comprehend the longer, more complex language and sentences within large paragraphs. I disliked the language as well because I also found it to be extremely confusing. I know nothing about Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr, and I actually had to use the internet after reading this book to discover that Eid-ul-Fitr is the holiday that is celebrated at the end of Ramadan. There were several words native to Muslim culture that weren’t clearly defined or were completely undefined throughout the book. I don’t know how this book could be used to teach children or even adults who are not Muslim, about Muslim traditions and celebrations as it is intended to do. I think the author should have definitely included a glossary at the end of the book to clearly define the plethora of words used by Muslim culture that were included in the book. The main idea of this book is to explain Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr.

Show Less