Creating a print-rich home means making sure that your children see and notice many of examples of print.  By making children aware of functional print,  like labels and directions, and environmental print, like signs and packaging, they begin to make the connection that letters serve a real purpose. (SOURCE)

Creating a print-rich environment is easy. Here are some ways to get started:

Label objects and items around your home

From the refrigerator to the door to the chair, any object in the home can be labelled. Make labels using paper or card stock (even an index card works) and a marker. Or if you prefer you can print the text out and paste onto construction paper. The font size should be clear and large enough to be read from anywhere in the room. Tape labels to objects and at eye level as much as is possible.  If you’d rather not put labels all around the house, then chose one room to label (maybe your child’s bedroom or the kitchen).

Words (almost) everywhere

Books and Other Things with words: Have books and other reading materials (such as magazines) in view and in close reach so that they are always available for browsing and/or reading. These books and magazines can be on a shelf or on table or anywhere that your child can see and access them easily. Maybe you have take-out menus hanging around somewhere. Put them out so children can read about foods.

Foods and Recipes: Read out loud the recipe that you are using to prepare dinner. Ask your child to find the ingredients that begin with a certain letter. Enlist your child’s help in making the grocery list. Let him/her help you find items on the shelf while shopping. Look at the name of items as you unpack and store away after grocery shopping.

magazines

Playing: Empty cereal boxes and other cartons in a pretend supermarket provide another way for children to play and interact with words. Provide lots of blank paper with crayons or pencils so that children can draw and write.

By having print, words and letters all over your home (starting when your child is an infant) you can build interest in reading, phonological awareness, letter knowledge without even trying. (SOURCE)

Charts or posters 

Like labels, informative charts or posters in the home can encourage children learn new words. These charts could be as simple as showing the alphabet to numerals or related a specific interest of you child such as vehicles, vegetables etc. calendars and maps are also items with text which you can post to a wall or bulletin board in your home.

One of the first things you should post is your child’s name within clear view. Point to and read aloud the name everyday. Indicate the first letter that your child’s name begins with.

Magnetic Letters on Refrigerator or White Board

Magnetic letters placed on the door of the refrigerator provides your child an opporunity to play with letters and form them into words.  

Note: All these tips can be applied to helping a child to learn to read and write Arabic or any language for that matter.

What are some ways that you make your home a print-rich environment? Please share in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

If you find the information above useful, you can share a link to it on Twitter and Facebook or even post a link to it on your blog.

If you would like to copy or use this information please credit the source as Ummah Reads with URL – http://muslimkidsbooks.wordpress.com/

Shukran (Thank you) for your support and cooperation.

Just popping in to the blog to post what I’ve come across recently.

Great Review of book for Muslim girls

image via jannahjewels.com

Some time ago I mentioned  the Jannah Jewels series. A few days ago I read a description of why one parent loves the first book in the series. “Perfect for a young Muslim girl to lose herself in, imagining herself as a powerful young Muslima like the Jannah Jewels.” [source]

The book is titled Treasure of Timbuktu and is authored by Umm Nura.

Read more of this review here. Visit the Jannah Jewels website for more information about the author and her books.

Bilingual Islamic Children’s Books - English/Spanish

If you are looking for Islamic books in Spanish for your children then check out the books from Hablamos Islam Ninos. They books are produced by a husband and wife team and feature simple faceless illustrations.

Read an article in The Muslim Link newspaper that describes the reasons why this family began publishing these bilingual books for Muslims in the U.S.

Summer Reading Programmes

If you live in the U.S. check out this post over at American Muslim Mom that lists some free summer reading programmes.

I’ve come into contact with many talented and hard-working Muslims from around the globe: poets, writers, publishers, editors, journalists, newcomers to writing and those who love just love reading. I’ve learnt more about the world of publishing and writing than I had ever known before. What’s more I’m happy to work with Muslims who value and advocate literacy in the Muslim community. 

That is why I want to tell you about the IWA’s campaign, Be a Muslim Champion, because it is an opportunity to support a unique Muslim organisation that is working toward a worthy goal.

Here are some of the activities and accomplishments of the IWA:

• Grants book awards to Muslim schools.
• Conduct annual poetry and writing competitions.
• Publishes a quarterly online magazine
• Published two anthologies that feature the works of members

If your child is a student in an Islamic school, it’s possible he may have access to books in his/her school library through a school award given by the IWA. Maybe your teenage child or a friend or even you would like to enter a Muslim run writing/poetry competition, then you can with the IWA. Maybe you’ve read some of the Islamic stories or poems you liked in the IWA’s magazine and anthology. 

The IWA is a non-profit organisation based in the U.S. that would love to have your support. You can join the IWA and/or give a donation.

- To find out more about the IWA or how to become a member visit the website. 

- To make a donation and for more information on how to Be a Muslim Champion visit here. 

Give your support to a Muslim non-profit organization that works to benefit our Muslim children and teens!

So if you’re on either Twitter or Facebook please join me there and you’ll get to find out links to my recent finds (e.g. books), literacy and related news.

Ummah Reads on Twitter: http://twitter.com/UmmahReads

Ummah Reads on Facebook: http://facebook.com/UmmahReads  

image source: amana-publications.com

I can clearly remember the first time I saw The BFF Sisters: Jennah’s New Friends on the shelf of an Islamic bookshop nine years ago. I remember it because it was probably the only book on the shelf that made me want to pick it up and read it. It made an impression from the start. Why? The answer is because the cover of the book is attractive. With the pink colour and hues of blue and green, a beautiful bracelet and the shadow of a hand in the background, the cover of the book immediately evokes scenes of young girls sharing great times. Now I am not one to judge a book by its cover; but I have to say I do enjoy admiring well designed book covers. I like it when an attractively designed book cover is followed by a good story. The BFF Sisters: Jennah’s New Friends is such a book.

Yasmeen and I have always been the best of friends too, even though we’re really different. Yasmeen’s always real careful about what she says, and tries to make sure everyone is happy all of the time, while I can be a little bossy sometimes and I have a hard time controlling my temper when I get angry. It’s something I really am trying to work on.

“Earth to Jennah! Earth to Jennah! Jennah, what are you thinking about? You totally zoned out!” Khadija was waving her arms in front of my face and snapping her fingers as if she was trying to shake me out of a trance.

“Oh. I’m sorry guys. I didn’t mean to daze off like that,” I said. “I guess I’m just tired of Fatimah’s tricks all day today. So, what’s new with everyone?

“Khadija was just telling us about another new girl who moved close to her house. Her name is Lisa and she is going o be in sixth grade with us as Valley Hills School nest year too, insha’Allah,” Rahma answered.

“Speaking about being in the same school next year, insha’Allah, I’m so excited that Mariam’s going to be in my Islamic school,” Yasmeen chimed in. “We’ll probably take the same bus together and be in all the same classes….

As I listened to Yasmeen’s excited voice, I felt those same fluttering feelings of jealousy in my stomach again. It wasn’t fair. Why was Mariam going to go to the same school as my best friend? I could just imagine her sharing secrets with Yasmeen and calling her every night to talk about schoolwork or their teachers. Soon, Yasmeen would be so caught up with her new friend that she’d completely forget about me. (Excerpt from The BFF Sisters by Suzy Ismail, p. 19-20)

It’s the summer before Jennah and her friends enter sixth grade. They come up with the idea of starting a club which would meet to discuss Islamic ahadeeth as a way of spending their summer in a constructive way. The name of the club: The BFF Sisters. But friendship has its ups and downs and it’s no different with Jennah and her group of multicultural friends.

The author cleverly integrates the subthemes of jealousy, envy and anger into this story showing us how it affects the relationship between friends, in a general way and from an Islamic perspective. Jennah’s tendency to quickly flare up causes her to say hurtful things to family and friends alike. But situations are resolved through some self-inspection and with a little help from the wife of the Imam.

The main characters are all female. The four friends, the mothers and a sister from the masjid are vividly described through words and their actions, making them seem like someone you know. The girls get along for the most part for even though their parents come from different countries (Egypt, Palestine and Pakistan) they girls all have a connection through their upbringing in America. Readers I am sure will find one character who they could relate to. Whether it’s Jennah who is trying to responsibly handle the tendency to quickly lose her temper and control the jealousy that creeps into her relationship with her best friend; or Yasmeen who is the helpful, kind-hearted friend or Rahma who is easy-going or Khadija who is out-spoken. Then there is Jennah’s mother; pregnant, hard-working and trying to keep the household together while the father is away at work or Yasmeen’s mother; caring and always on the lookout for others or Sister Iman; the quiet and helpful wife of the Imam.

The story is told in the first person, a style used frequently in books for teens and middle grade novels as it quickly pulls the reader into the story. The story moves along quickly and comes to a satisfying end. While I enjoyed it, I felt as if I wanted it to go on. Another book, a series even, featuring the BFF Sisters would be great!  

At just about 60 pages this book may be a quick read for some. A glossary of Islamic terms and the meaning of the girls names, part of their Club’s notebook, appear at the end. With its energetic characters and witty dialogue, I think children, especially girls, between the ages of 8 to 11 years will enjoy this book.

image via flickr by Chocolate Geek

Today I am happy to share with you a guest post by Fida Islaih, a young Muslim poet. I stumbled upon her poetry about a year or so ago. Fida has kindly consented to my request and composed a short poem on reading and what it means to her. Read more of her poetry at A Poet Named Fida.

Reading

© Fida Islaih

Reading is like traveling

seeing, being in different worlds

all imaginable

if you let your mind go.

Reading is like pictures

but looking the way you want;

Reading is like writing

Letting the world know what’s on your mind.

First though, I want to mention the Tales of Dhikarville books that a reader of this blog introduced me to. I haven’t read these books but they seem to be simple stories that are aimed at encouraging good behaviour and Islamic habits in Muslim children. According to the publisher these books are:

“Colourful illustrated books with Islamic morals”

It appears that these books are based on the Mr. Men/Little Miss books which some of you may know. Each book featured a dominant character whose personality was based on his/her name for example, there was a ”Mr. Chatterbox”, a”Mr. Messy”, a ”Little Miss Bossy” and a “Little Miss Helpful.”

The writer of Tales of Dhikarville is H.B. Sahibzada and the illustrator is M. N. Sialvi. The illustrations follow the original series’ with short, chubby characters and simple, bold colours except that now they wear hijab, have beards and wear long clothing. Titles are catchy with some being Brother Dawah, Brother Hajj, Brother Tawheed, Little Sister Birr, Little Sister Salaam and Little Sister Taharah. Read a brief review of the series and about one title in particular, Brother Sawn here.

I haven’t been able to find a website, but according to the Facebook page, there seems to be more than thirty books in the series. I’m not sure if these books are available outside of the United Kingdom. Has anyone out there read the books in this series? I would love to hear about what you think.

A new book from the Islamic Foundation I’ve come across (which I haven’t read it as yet) is The Hijab Boutique by Michelle Khan. I am not sure what age group this book is geared toward but from the publisher’s site it may be for 7 to 10 years and according to the publisher’s website:

“Farah enjoyed her private girls’ school until the day an assignment to bring in something representing her mother to talk about for ‘International Woman’s Day’. Compared to her friend’s glamorous actress and tap-dancing mothers, what can her modest, humble mother have that is worth sharing with her classmates? To her surprise, her mother was quite a business woman!”

Last year I became a member of the Islamic Writers’ Alliance, an organisation of Muslim writers, editors, poets and authors. Members benefit from the support and advice that is shared. The organisation also produces a quarterly magazine and gives book awards and donations to Islamic schools among other things. Recently I was privileged to be interviewed by a fellow IWA member, Amina Malik, who asked me about what were my intention and hopes for Ummah Reads. Please stop by and read the online magazine here (scroll down, it’s the third interview).

Image credits: Tales of Dhikarville – http://alkokab.wordpress.com/ & http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Tales-from-Dhikarville/165515270169792

Do your children or your students like to draw, paint and colour? If you answered yes then you might be interested in this unique book project. It’s the Eid Book and it’s being published by Greenbird Books, a Muslim publisher based in the U.K.

The idea is to collect the varied artistic impressions of Muslim children from around the world based on the theme of charity, giving, kindness, sharing, helping, mercy etc. and publish them in a book that to be sold before Eid. The money from sales is to be donated to a Muslim/children’s charity.

I think this is a fantastic initiative on so many levels. Every contributor can benefit as well as those who receive the charity from the sales of the book. There are numerous joys and blessings you can obtain by being involved in producing such a book.

All children worldwide can send in their art pieces. Submissions are currently being accepted and continue up until July 10, 2011. 

So get little ones and slightly older ones excited and involved by having them put on their creative thinking caps (something that comes natural to children)! Let them create some fabulous works of art and see it showcased to the world. All for a good cause. 

Read more about this Eid book project and how to go about sending in your children’s artwork here or email info@greenbirdbooks.com.

Autism is general term used to describe a range of developmental brain disorders. Depending on the severity of it, autism affects a child’s ability to read. There are varying levels to this disorder which would mean that children with autism will have different reading development levels. In many cases actually being able to read is not an issue rather it is the child’s comprehension of what is being read that is the problem.

Based on my readings, here are a few things to keep in mind when teaching autistic children to read:

• Know what interests your child and use books based on these to attract your child’s interest in books and in listening to stories. It may be animals, foods,  etc.
• Keep reading sessions short to avoid the child becoming bored, frustrated or impatient.
• Keep distractions to a minimum and minimise noise levels.
• Use books with bright colours and clear pictures to aid comprehension (An example is Point to Happy, a book designed specifically for kids on the autism spectrum - see a review of this book here).
• Books that involve the child in the story (e.g. lift-the-flap, touch and feel) can help a child enjoy the reading experience.
• Use of games and interactive books on the computer may hold the attention of some autistic children. 

Kids and Reading: Autism

Resources on Autism and Muslims:

http://myautisticmuslimchild.wordpress.com/

http://www.bluehijabday.com/

What, if any, has your experience been with a child who has autism learning to read or just interacting with books? I’d love to hear from you.

Although, last year around this time  I did review the few books of poetry for Muslim children which I know of. If you haven’t already seen these then check them out. 

Rays of Truth: Poems on Islam is a collection of thirty-two poems meant for young adults. In this collection of powerful poetry readers are drawn into a world that makes them ponder about life, death, sacrifice, faith and Allah. The poetry itself is inspiring and uplifting while at once calling the individual to realise the meaning of life.  Read more about this collection of poems here.

Muslim Poems for Children by Mymona Hendricks is a collection of twenty poems for children between the ages seven and thirteen. The poems are about a variety of Islamic topics including the pillars of Islam (e.g. salah (prayer), hajj and fasting); Islamic identity, the Quran, brotherhood and parents.  The poems are written in a very simple form and rhyme.Read more about this collection of poems here.

The Muslim children’s author, Umm An-Nu’man has written some beautiful poetry. The rhymes and clear images the evoke make them great for sharing with a young child. Read aloud in the classroom or with young ones at home. See two wonderful poems by this wonderful author that I posted in the past here.

 PhotoCredits: Islamic Foundation store

Do you know of any collections of poetry for Muslim children or teenagers?

Do you or someone you know enjoy writing poetry? Then you have an opportunity to enter and win the only one of its kind for Muslims, the Islamic Writers’ Alliance’s  7th annual Poetry Competition. Submissions are being accepted until April 30th. Poems on any theme are allowed. View rules and details about the competition here.