By Karen Katz
A young boy walks you through his first Ramadan, the first year he's old enough to fast, one plain sentence and one bright collage page at a time.
A boy tells you about his Ramadan, a page at a time. This is the year he's finally big enough to fast like the grown-ups, and he's proud of it. He wakes up in the dark to eat with his family before the sun comes up. He goes to school and gets through the day without lunch. He prays. He gives some of his things to people who need them. He waits for sunset, when everyone eats together again. And when the month is over comes Eid, with new clothes, sweets, and the whole family together. Karen Katz builds every page out of patterned cut paper in strong color, and one spread folds out to show Muslim families of different races and countries all keeping the same month.
It's the plainest one on the shelf, and plain is what you want when your child is three or four and asking what Ramadan is. Short sentences, one idea per page, a boy saying I did this and then I did this. There's no story to follow and nothing to puzzle out. If what you want is a book that answers a direct question directly and takes four minutes, this does that job better than the prettier books do. Katz's collage is bold and bright enough to hold a small child from across the room.