Rating: *** 3 stars

Katie Dicker and Zohal Azizi,
I Belong to the Muslim Faith
Wayland, 2008.

Ages 8-10

As the title suggests this book is about the Muslim Faith. The aim is to explain how the followers of the religion of Islam live their lives, and in particular, how children growing up in a family understand and learn to follow their faith.

This book focuses on one family and is introduced by a child who explains her religion in her own words as she learns and begins to understand the basic principles of the religion and its tenets. The book covers various aspects of Muslim faith including some basic principles of the religion and how it applies to encompass all the facets of daily life.

There are nine brief chapters and each chapter covers one specific topic. Colourful and relevant photographs are used to illustrate the book. An index, glossary and further information is provided at the end of the book.

Further clarification is however required in order to explain to the reader that Muslim festivals do not always fall in the months mentioned in the book because the Muslim calendar is based on the lunar year and this is shorter than 365 days. As a result, each year, the festivals move forward on average 10 days with respect to the Western calendar and over time the Islamic festivals will fall in any month of the year.

Khalida Alvi
March 2009, No. 175

Guide to the rating system:
***** 5 stars, unmissable
**** 4 stars, very good
*** 3 stars, good
** 2 stars, fair
* 1 star, poor