Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story

Reem Faruqi

Tilbury House Publishers and Cadent Publishing, May 1, 2015 - Juvenile Fiction - 32 pages

*2019 Daybreak Children's Picture Book Award -- Recognizing Muslim Women's Contributions to Literature*

*Notable Social Studies Trade Book For Young People 2016, a cooperative Project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council*
*Featured Book of the Month, Anti-Defamation League*
*American Library Association Notable Book for Children 2016*

*Skipping Stones Honor 2016*

*International Literacy Association Choices Reading List*

 
Lailah is in a new school in a new country, thousands of miles from her old home, and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won’t understand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom.

Lailah solves her problem with help from the school librarian and her teacher and in doing so learns that she can make new friends who respect her beliefs. This gentle, moving story from first-time author Reem Faruqi comes to life in Lea Lyon’s vibrant illustrations. Lyon uses decorative arabesque borders on intermittent spreads to contrast the ordered patterns of Islamic observances with the unbounded rhythms of American school days.

Fountas & Pinnell Level N

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - RaeganZuyus - LibraryThing

This is a really good read for upper elementary students to learn more about the Jewish culture and what Ramadan is. It offers beautiful illustrations and the journey to self acceptance as the main ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - paula-childrenslib - LibraryThing

Now that she is ten, Lailah is delighted that she can fast during the month of Ramadan like her family and her friends in Abu Dhabi, but finding a way to explain to her teacher and classmates in Atlanta is a challenge until she gets some good advice from the librarian, Mrs. Scrabble.

About the author

Reem Faruqi based this book on her own experiences as a young Muslim girl immigrating to the United States. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Lea Lyon is an award-winning children’s book illustrator, painting teacher, and portrait artist who has made a childhood dream come true. Lea loved to draw and paint as a child, and she wanted to be a children’s book illustrator. She ended up raising a family, going back to school for an MBA, and working in the corporate world, but she kept painting. Now, at long last, Lea is a children’s book illustrator with five published picture books: Say Something, Playing War, Keep Your Ear on the Ball (all with Tilbury), The Miracle Jar and Operation Marriage. She lives in Richmond, California.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story
• Author: Reem Faruqi
• Illustrated by: Lea Lyon
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers and Cadent Publishing, 2015
• ISBN: 0884484327, 9780884484325
• Length: 32 pages
• Subjects: Juvenile Fiction / Holidays & Celebrations / General; Juvenile Fiction / Religious / General; Juvenile Fiction / Social Themes / General