When Rabani Garg ran a library in India, a parent asked if they had any books about Ramadan for children. The library had two excellent choices — Ismat’s Eid and Ramadan Moon — but Garg wished they had more. And the memory stayed with her.
As a doctoral student in Penn GSE’s Reading, Writing, Literacy program, Garg studies children’s literature and the importance of representation. In recent years, she’s helped Penn GSE’s Ebony Elizabeth Thomas craft her annual list of best books for children.
This spring, she created a list of the best books about Ramadan for her blog that resonate with both Muslim and non-Muslim readers.
“Over the last few years, I have been reading and collecting books about Ramadan – books that represent crucial elements of the faith and its practices beautifully and respectfully, books and stories that are mindful about not essentializing, or reifying stereotypes, books that showcase the diversity of Muslim life across the world,” Garg writes.