SuitabookIbtihaj Muhammad and S. K. Ali, illustrated
Hatem Aly
- Reading
- Read together and pause after the comments to discuss feelings without requiring a child to defend or explain anyone’s faith. Revisit the ending to consider pride, choice and supportive action.
- Themes
- Religious identity and pride: Asiya begins wearing a hijab, and the sisters understand it as representing their Muslim faith and culture. The book presents this favourably.
- Responding to hurtful treatment: Classmates make unkind comments about Asiya’s hijab; Faizah worries, while Asiya turns away from the hurtful words. The story gives emotional weight to the comments through Faizah’s reaction, but presents Asiya as able to maintain her pride and model a response for her sister.
- Worth knowing
- Notice how the book presents hijab as meaningful within the sisters’ Muslim faith and culture, while showing classmates struggling to understand. Ask what respectful curiosity might look like instead.