
Maymoona’s Moon: A Special Eid Story by Razeena Omar Gutta illustrated by Zayneb Haleem

I love the illustrations of this book and have been trying to get it since it released in Australia to no avail, it finally is being released here in America and the 32 page hardback book is so cute to look through. The story is, well, sigh. It isn’t bad or wrong, but for a religious centered book, it has no Islam, no Eid feels, no faithful reliance. Rather than using religion to bring the sighting of the moon to little Muslims and non Muslims, and blending it with the protagonists desire to be an astronaut as the framing of the story, it just focuses on the celestial intrigue. “Cosmic compasses,” “galactic goggles,” and a cheering squad are needed for “Operation Galaxy Gaze,” there are no “Bismillahs” or “Alhumdulillahs” when looking for the moon, and ultimately seeing it. Again, it isn’t wrong, it just seems a little unfortunate. This book will be read in Islamic and public schools, libraries, and everywhere else children, preschool to early elementary, gather with hopes of hearing a Ramadan or Eid story. I’m just fairly confident, none will leave knowing what Eid is, or why it is important to Muslims. They will get that Maymoona loves the stars, there is an “inshaAllah” when she dreams of being an astronaut some day, but even the backmatter entitled, “Why is Seeing the Moon so Important for Eid?” focuses on just that, the seeing of the moon, not the month of Ramadan ending and Eid joy prevailing. I know I’m harsh when it comes to Islamic rep, this one just skirted the line of telling us about searching for the moon, leaving Ramadan behind, and the excitement of Eid, when it so easily could have shown us, and left a lasting impression long after the book closed.
The book starts with the sights and sounds of Eid approaching. There is only one thing left to do and that is something Maymoona takes very seriously, looking for the moon. It is the most exciting part of Eid for her, as she dreams of being a future astronaut. She assembles her team to plot and plan, her gear to give her the best chance of success, and she squashes her nerves and makes her ascent to the best vantage point. And then she waits, patiently to see if the wind will move the clouds, if her dreams of landing on the moon will come to fruition, if tomorrow will be Eid.
The large 8.5 x 11 pages with a matte finish make this book easy to share in small groups or at bedtime, and really let the pictures charm the audience on each and every spread.