BOOK REVIEW #5: Through My Eyes

We are back with another book review, this time of Tammy Wilson’s Through My Eyes. Along with being a first time author, Tammy Wilson is a school principal at Discovery Elementary school in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The inspiration for writing the book arose following Tammy’s realization that there were no books in her school library…

BOOK REVIEW #2: Going to Mecca

Book Review #2: Going to Mecca Author: Na’ima B. Robert Illustrator: Valentina Cavallini Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books     At the Somali Literacy Project, one of our goals is to find children’s books which are culturally responsive to the literary needs of Somali children. With that said, we were delighted to find Going to…

BOOK REVIEW #1: The Lion’s Share

Book Review #1: Qayb Libaax (The Lion’s Share) Author: Said Salah Ahmed Illustrator: Kelly Dupre Publisher: Minnesota Humanities Commision Qayb Libaax (The Lion’s Share) is a storybook rendition of a popular folktale in Somali culture. The book is one of four, published as a part of the Somali Bilingual Book Project of the Minnesota Humanities Commission.…

Culturally-Responsive Approaches for Working with Somali Children

By: Sirad Shirdon 1. Becoming culturally responsive educators Somali parents are attempting to educate their children with a backdrop of discrimination targeted towards Muslims, English language learners, Black students and immigrants and refugees (Bigelow, 2010). As Vygotsky stressed it is important that we connect children’s social worlds to the classroom, as this will be a…

Children’s Books on Ramadhan and the Holidays of Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha

Children’s books on Ramadhan and the holidays of Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha Here are a list of children’s books, which address Ramadhan (Islamic month of fasting), and Islam’s two holidays of Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha. All of these books are available through Amazon and/or Ebay, and may be available…