Time to Pray

by Maha Addasi, Ned Gannon (Illustrator)

Overview

A visit with Grandmother in the Middle East is always special for Yasmin, but this time it is even more so in this picture book about faith and family.

On her first night visiting her grandmother, Yasmin is wakened by the muezzin at the nearby mosque calling the faithful to prayer. She watches from her bed as her grandmother prepares to pray. During her stay, Yasmin's grandmother makes her prayer clothes, buys her a prayer rug, and teaches her the five prayers that Muslims perform over the course of a day. When it's time for Yasmin to board a plane and return home, her grandmother gives her a present. When Yasmin opens the present when she gets home, she discovers a prayer clock in the shape of a mosque, with an alarm that sounds like a muezzin calling the faithful to prayer.

Maha Addasi's warm and endearing story, richly illustrated by Ned Gannon, is the recipient of an Arab American Book Award, Honor Book. Featuring text both in English and Arabic, this is a perfect title for children learning more about Middle Eastern cultures and language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635928464
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Maha Addasi was born and grew up in Kuwait, and has worked as a correspondent for Jordan Television, Dubai Television, and the BBC. She lives in Virginia.

Ned Gannon is the illustrator of The White Nights of Ramadan by Maha Addasi. He lives in Wisconsin.

Editorial Reviews

A girl's visit to her grandmother in an unnamed Middle Eastern town introduces her to her spiritual heritage in this visually arresting tale, which subtly addresses the challenges and importance of passing on faith traditions from one generation to the next. English text appears with Arabic translation against a beige wash, opposite earth-toned scenes. During her visit, Yasmin observes her grandmother's devotions, involving ritual ablutions, prayer clothes, and a prayer rug, as well as the way the community's shopkeepers and vendors integrate prayer into their daily lives. An appendix describes the five "Fard prayers" required by Islam. Ages 7–9. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"The oil paintings are rich in tone, and the geometric patterns of cloth, rugs and the mosque are engaging." —Kirkus Reviews



"A beautifully woven tale of grandparent affection and spiritual development." —School Library Journal

"An affectionate, intergenerational story." —Booklist

From the Publisher

Gr 1–4—Yasmin is visiting her grandmother in the Middle East. She hears the muezzin making his first call to prayer before dawn but is too tired to get up. She watches Teta make wudu (ablution) to prepare for worship. Yasmin wonders how she will know when to pray at home because there are no mosques where she lives, but her grandmother assures her they will find a way. Sadly, the visit comes to an end, and Teta takes Yasmin to the airport. When the girl arrives home, she unpacks her gifts, her prayer costume, and her mat, and she finds a surprise box from Teta. In it, she discovers a miniature mosque that gives the adhan (prayer call) five times a day. This is a beautifully woven tale of grandparent affection and spiritual development. Gannon's illustrations present a warm and authentic balance of Islamic geometric designs and Arab architecture and culture. This bilingual, English and Arabic book ends with an explanation of Salah—the five times during the day of worship for Muslims. Familiarizing Islamic prayer through realistic fiction makes this a fine choice for most collections.—Fawzia Gilani-Williams, An-Noor School, Windsor, Ontario

School Library Journal

In an unnamed Middle Eastern country, Yasmin learns about Islamic customs and prayer on a visit to her grandmother. Coming from a suburban U.S. home, the girl says that she does not live near a mosque, but she also has not yet learned about the five prayers of the day in her own home—this contrivance sets up the didacticism that follows, but it feels utterly unrealistic. Her grandmother makes her prayer clothes, buys her a prayer rug and takes her to the mosque. Best of all, she gives the girl a surprise gift to help her with her prayer at home. The oil paintings are rich in tone, and the geometric patterns of cloth, rugs and the mosque are engaging, but Yasmin and her grandmother look different on almost every page. This distracts from the story, which, given its evident educational intent, is almost too simple. The names of the different prayers are only given in the explanation for adults, for instance. It is unusual and therefore praiseworthy to see a bilingual English and Arabic book from a major American publisher, but this bland effort fails. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews