Najma loves stars. She wants to swim with them in the ocean-like sky and paint them in all their different shades and sizes. Mama, an astronomer, sets up her telescope and walks Najma through the life-cycle of stars; how they're born in clouds of gas and dust called Nebulae and how they end up as stardust that helps the universe grow. They talk about Allah as the Creator of the stars and thank Him for everything they love.
Full of curiosity and wonder, Najma is written in simple yet whimsical prose.
Recommended Age Group: 5 years +
Published by MGP Books (Canada). MGP Books are thoroughly Muslim Girl Powered. Their books feature girls and women exploring STEM concepts with links to Islam. Their ultimate goal ان شاء الله is to provide children, both boys and girls, with more relatable and inspiring learning resources.
Book Review by Muslim Mommy Blog
"Rating: 9/10 - I absolutely love this book, and I love its name. Najma means “Star” in Arabic, and this book is about the stars in the sky.
The pictures are gorgeous, and they all flow with the theme of stars, and each page shows the night sky. I love how this is a girl-led book with Najma being the main character, and her mom, the astronomer, teaching her about the universe. The bond between the mother and her child really shines through in the book and gives the reader a strong feeling of their love. The book includes a lot of definitions of different stars, and clusters of stars, and my kids and I loved learning about them. I like how the book was organized, with the star names in bold and the definitions simple enough for the kids to understand. The definitions were explained in cute “child” terms and using fun explanations, but they were a little long.Each star is included with a picture of it to further teach the reader about it.
Najma comments on the stars and inserts her own quirky personality into the explanations, which was the best part for the kids. I love how Najma asks her mom the purpose of stars, and her mother answers that they are made by Allah for different purposes such as the sun being our signal to start our day and the stars being guides for sailors and travelers (this one is mentioned in the Quran!!) It helps teach children astronomy while also including the aspect that Allah created everything for us to remember him. This story is perfect for use as a teaching resource, especially for young children, but you might want to split it up into a few different reading sessions, because it has a lot of information about stars, and so splitting it up helps children retain the information. This book would be wonderful to use as inspiration to make some star crafts and paint the different stars.."
Book Review by Sarah Pervez
"Today I'll talk about my most favourite children's book I've read so far.
Najma loves stars. She loves how they twinkle and shine. She wants to swim with them in the ocean-like sky. Her mama is an astronomer and she takes her on the journey of life cycle of stars. Najma wants to paint them in all their glory. As they discover through a telescope how stars are born in a cloud and dust of Nebulae, mama tells her how Allah is the Creator of the stars and they thank Him for everything they have. Oh what a wondrous joy to go on this sublime journey with them!
I haven't come across a better children's book than this one that introduces one's faith so subtly along with curiosity and wonder, the joy of art and a lovely female hero. Anousha Vakani of mgpbooks has really hit the nail on the head with this one.The story is charming and the illustrations telling the story, enchanting.
Ayesha Sohail has produced stunning illustrations which combined with the story take you along on a whimsical and magical journey of stars and universe. You won't even realize you're actually learning along.
I really appreciate the subtle nuances in this one. These stories are the need of the hour, where my kids can read a mainstream story with a protagonist they can identify with. It is a faith based book no doubt, but it is not confined to the rituals of the faith. It talks about the universal love and fascination for stars and space, something that children all over the world share. Hence children from all backgrounds will be able to enjoy this one. The fact that a cool astronomer Mama has named her daughter Najma which means "star" in arabic is poetic and beautiful. They look at stars, they paint them and they reflect; on their purpose and their Creator.
So go on & order this book, you won't regret it. I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for us next. She is focusing on female centred STEM based books which sound an absolute treat."
Book Review by Shazia Rahman
"If you are doing a study of astronomy with the kids you must add this book to your library. Beautiful illustrations, descriptions of the nebula, supernova etc and best of all connecting it all back to Allah SWT."
Details
Title: Najma
Author: Anousha Vakani
Illustrator: Ayesha Sohail
Publisher: MGP (Muslim Girl Powered) - Canada
Recommended Age Group: 5 years plus
Pages: 28
Volumes: 1
Size: 15.6 cm x 22.7 cm
Binding: Paperback
Edition Number: 1st
Year Of Publication: 2019
