Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd ; Hard Cover, Nonfiction ; Not Recommended

Ramadan

Ramadan by Betsy Rathburn is part of a Blastoff Beginners series of the Happy Holidays. This set is geared towards kindergarten, with sight words, short sentences, and bright color photographs. Each book is 24 pages and starts with the sight words for review before beginning the book content. As a parent of a kindergartner, I like that they provide a list of sight words to review before we begin reading the book together.

This book includes a table of contents, headings, bolded words, glossary, index, and labeled photos – perfect for introducing a holiday to preschool through second grade and working with them on identifying non-fiction text features. 

Each section includes 2-3 sentences and a photograph describing when Ramadan is (p. 6), and how to celebrate the holiday (p.12). 

This book is a good, quick overview of the Islamic holiday Ramadan. The photos show different aspects of the holiday really well, from fasting and praying to celebrating Eid-al-fitr. I love the Facts page (p. 22) as it summarizes the traditions talked about in the book, with simple photos, labels and key words. The one adjustment I would make in this book is a pronunciation guide for Allah and Eid-al-fitr.

This series also includes a page referring you to Factsurfer (factsurfer.com) for additional kid friendly web sources. I liked this website and feel like it would be a great place for your beginning researchers to find online sources, or broaden their knowledge base. At the website you type in the title of your book, click the picture of the book cover that pops up, and then are given three age appropriate sites to go to for more information. 

I find these Blastoff Beginners a go-to in my library because I know I can count on them for their eye-catching covers and photos, their quality, and their consistency in content and readability. 

If you need books for primary students about holidays or books that provide a simple to understand overview of a holiday, I recommend adding this book to your library collection. 

photo of the cover of Ramanda by Betsy Rathburn - showing two laturns and a bowl of dates

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About Katy Beattie

Katy Beattie is the Teacher-Librarian at Pioneer Elementary School (Olympia, WA). She has been teaching for 16 years and been a Teacher-Librarian for more than half that time. She has an Australian Labradoodle and two young boys (ages 7 and 10). Her favorite books are anything by Kate DiCamillo and Jason Reynolds, Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, and The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle. Her favorite things to teach are coding/robotics and Battle of the Books.