I recently had the pleasure of reviewing a children’s book titled: Amal’s Eid. It is written by Amy Maranville with illustrations by Joshua Stevens. It is a wonderful little story describing the cultural traditions of a Muslim-Bengali family celebrating Ramadan and Eid. These traditions are told through the perspective of a young boy named Amal, who is excited to celebrate his favourite holiday, Eid-ul-Fitr.
This book could not have come at a perfect time. With Ramadan around the corner I had been looking for stories to read to my 4-year-old daughter to teach her about this Holy Month and instil a similar excitement towards Eid.
The traditions described in the book took me back to my own childhood. Having spent many Ramadan’s and Eid’s both in Canada and Pakistan, it didn’t matter where I was as long as I spent it with family and got to sneak off with extra chum chum! I still remember keeping my very first fast. Memories of this time are an integral part of my growing up. I hope my daughter has the same fond experience.
Amal’s Eid wonderfully captures the essence of fasting in Ramadan, which is reflection and prayer. It shows the beauty of Eid laid in the foundation of family, unity, food, love and laughter. It is guaranteed to bring back child-like joy to any adult who reads it and will definitely have your children looking forward to the fun, frolic and of course the gifts!
As parents, we are always looking for ways to share our culture with our children, and books are a great way to do that. I can’t wait to read this book to my daughter and hope to create warm memories of Ramadan & Eid with her. I would love for you to have a chance at the same. So guess what? Bharat Babies, the publisher of Amal’s Eid, is offering a discount just for Driving Ms. Desi readers! Click here and use the discount code DMD5 at checkout to get 5% off your entire order. And, I also discovered that if you buy more than one copy, you can save an additional 20% off your entire order. Talk about the perfect Eid gift for children!
Please feel free to share the link to anyone who may enjoy this.
Thanks for dropping by and have a blessed Ramadan!
A little more about Bharat Babies:
Bharat Babies is a children’s book company bringing culturally diverse literature to libraries, schools, and homes all over the world. They tell stories of South Asian culture in a way that is developmentally appropriate for young children, using vocabulary and illustrations that children will respond to and understand. For more information on their company mission, click here.
I think it’s wonderful that these types of books are becoming available. I will have to keep this in mind for when I have my own little ones 🙂