October is Canadian Islamic History Month. The theme for 2025 is "Pioneering Muslim Communities in Canada ~ Cultivating Spaces for Comfort, Growth, and Learning Over Time." These books encourage young readers to appreciate the rich heritage, contributions, and diversity of Canada's Muslim communities.
Picture Books
Dear Muslim Child
Written by Rahma Rodaah
Illustrated by Aya Ghanameh
HarperCollins Publishers, 2024
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 2-3
Dear Muslim Child, your story matters. In this lyrical ode to Islam, Muslim children all over the world are encouraged to celebrate their faith and traditions.
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Khadija and the Elephant Toothpaste ExperimentIllustrated by Natalya Tariq
Second Story Press, 2024
IL: Ages 6-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Khadija is inspired by her visit to the science fair. There are so many different scientists all wearing safety goggles and lab coats! But how come none of them are wearing a hijab? After watching a scientist carry out the elephant toothpaste experiment, Khadija attempts to recreate it at home with mixed (and messy!) results.
Muhammad's Recipe for RememberingIllustrated by Shruti Prabhu
Annick Press, 2024
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 2-3
Muhammad wants to take part in his school’s assembly to honour veterans, but no one in his community, let alone his family, has been involved in the World Wars... have they? After discussions with his family and elders at his mosque, Muhammad starts to piece together his family’s lost history, and realizes that you don’t need a trophy or medal to remember those you’ve lost–it can be as simple as sharing a piece of roti.
Download the Educators' Guide and Colouring Sheets.
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For early and middle readers
The Bloodstone ThiefLaila Habib is having the worst birthday ever, as she’s just discovered that her family’s two-year stay in Houston, Texas, is going to be extended... indefinitely. With one foot in her current life and one foot back in her old home in Mumbai, she doesn’t feel like she truly belongs anywhere.
But her day only gets worse from there. Opening up what she thinks is a hidden birthday present, Laila unleashes an evil jinn from a magical amulet. Trapped there long ago by Laila’s father, the jinn is eager for revenge, and drags Laila's father back to the magical world of Qaf.
Inspired by Islamic mythology, this hilarious and richly-woven middle-grade fantasy from Sabina Khan sparkles with humour, magic, friendship, and heart.
Call Me AlOrca Book Publishers, 2024
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Ali is an eighth-grade kid with a lot going on. Between the pressure from his immigrant parents to ace every class, his crush on Melissa, who lives in the rich area of town while he and his family live in a shabby apartment complex, and trying his best to fit in with his friends, he feels like he’s being pulled in too many different directions.
Download the free Call Me Al Teachers' Guide.
Game Changers: Stories of Stories of Hijabi Athletes From Around the World
Meet 13 inspiring hijabi athletes who are changing the rules. Many of these women were the first in their sport to compete while wearing the hijab. Some were up against cultural traditions that didn't allow girls to play sports. And some fought to have institutional anti-hijab rules changed so that they, and Muslim girls after them, would be able to compete.
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Mehndi BoyAnnick Press, 2023
IL: Ages 6-11 RL: Grades 2-3
The first time Tehzeeb tries mehndi, his passion for the art form blossoms. Soon, he’s creating designs for all his friends and family, and dreams of becoming the most in-demand mehndi artist in town. So Tez is hurt and confused when his favourite uncle tells him mehndi isn’t for boys. His art brings people joy. How could it be wrong? Tehzeeb doesn’t want to disappoint his uncle. But when a crisis before his cousin’s wedding puts his talents to the test, Tehzeeb must find the courage to be his true creative self.
Download the Mehndi Boy discussion guide.
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The Secret Diary of Mona HasanIL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grades 5-6
The Unloveable Alina ButtOrca Book Publishers, 2023
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
For teen readers
As Long As the Lemon Trees GrowLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.
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Zara Hossain Is HereScholastic Inc., 2021
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas, since her family moved there for her father to work as a pediatrician. While dealing with the Islamophobia that she faces at school, Zara has to lay low, trying not to stir up any trouble and jeopardize their family's dependent visa status while they await their green card approval, which has been in process for almost nine years. But one day her tormentor, star football player Tyler Benson, takes things too far, leaving a threatening note in her locker, and gets suspended. As an act of revenge against her for speaking out, Tyler and his friends vandalize Zara's house with racist graffiti, leading to a violent crime that puts Zara's entire future at risk. Now she must pay the ultimate price and choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it.
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Book list curated by Spencer Miller