By Sylvia Whitman
A short, rhythmic picture book that follows an American Muslim family through the month, ending every page on the same line about the moon.
There's no plot here, and that's on purpose. Each spread shows the family doing one ordinary piece of the month: eating a meal before the sky lightens, praying, reading the Qur'an, visiting relatives, giving to people who have less, waiting through the day for the sun to set. Then every page lands on the same words: under the moon, under the moon, under the Ramadan moon. It reads like a lullaby. The moon in Sue Williams's pictures actually changes shape from spread to spread, so a small child can follow the whole month with a fingertip before they can read. The paintings are soft, in blues and warm darks and pastels, and the family in them is plainly American.
It's the shortest book in this bunch, built for the youngest lap on the shelf. The refrain does all the work. By the third page a two- or three-year-old is already chiming in with under the Ramadan moon, and that joining-in is what makes a book a favorite at that age. Twenty-four pages, one line that keeps coming back, a moon that keeps changing shape. If the other Ramadan picture books feel too wordy for the child you're buying for, reach for this one.