{"id":34003,"date":"2014-07-24T14:07:19","date_gmt":"2014-07-24T18:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=34003"},"modified":"2014-07-24T14:07:19","modified_gmt":"2014-07-24T18:07:19","slug":"moon-watchers-shirins-ramadan-miracle-by-reza-jalali-illustrated-by-anne-sibley-obrien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/moon-watchers-shirins-ramadan-miracle-by-reza-jalali-illustrated-by-anne-sibley-obrien\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon Watchers: Shirin’s Ramadan Miracle by Reza Jalali, illustrated by Anne Sibley O’Brien"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Moon<\/a>Welcome to Ramadan at Shirin’s house: she sky-gazes with her father, listens to stories told by her grandmother, helps her mother sort squares for a new quilt … and, well, tries<\/em> not to get too annoyed with her older brother Ali. More than anything, Shirin wants to fast with the rest of her\u00a0family during the holy month. Deemed too young at age 9, she’s encouraged to participate in other ways: “‘remember there’s more to Ramadan than fasting. Why don’t you think of some good deeds to help\u00a0others in our family?'”<\/p>\n

As she learns\u00a0more about Ramadan each day\u00a0\u2013 about prayers, different traditions and expectations, the moon’s cycles, special foods, and more\u00a0\u2013 Shirin realizes that the one person who might most need her good deeds is actually\u00a0the\u00a0one person\u00a0she least expected. In spite of his know-it-all attitude,\u00a0her brother is still just a kid, and fasting is not nearly as effortless as he boasts …<\/p>\n

Of the many Ramadan-centered books I’ve read this month\u00a0(and no, I didn’t even post them all!),\u00a0Moon Watchers<\/em> is the most reflective of our 21st-century multi-culti American lives. Iranian-born\u00a0author Reza Jalali seamlessly incorporates the family’s Iranian American heritage throughout his narrative: Shirin’s grandmother’s\u00a0incantation of “‘Yeki bood, yeki nabood'” as she begins a story, which Shirin translates as “‘Once upon a time …'”; references about Auntie’s headscarves in “her country,” in contrast to “‘not every Muslim woman covers her hair'”; Shirin’s enjoyment of the\u00a0“crispy rice from the bottom of the pot,” a delicious result of the traditional\u00a0Persian style of making\u00a0rice called\u00a0tadik<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(my favorite!); the “Ramadan spa”-henna hand painting Shirin shares with her mother as Ramadan ends and Eid begins.<\/p>\n

Artist Anne Sibley O’Brien<\/a> (herself a bicultural, bilingual daughter of medical missionaries raised\u00a0in Korea) enhances\u00a0the multi-culti mix on nearly every page, from\u00a0the children’s jeans to Maman-Bozorg’s headscarf, from the typical kiddie\u00a0soccer league photo on top of the piano to the intricate prayer rugs, from the curvy glass Persian tea glasses to the bowl\u00a0of Wheaties-like cereal, and more.<\/p>\n

Yes, by\u00a0book’s\u00a0end, Shirin’s good deeds miraculously improve her relationship with her brother. Even more important, however, is how author and illustrator’s talented\u00a0efforts\u00a0have rendered\u00a0Shirin’s Ramadan lessons\u00a0into an undeniably all-American story, as well.<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Children<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2010<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Ramadan at Shirin’s house: she sky-gazes with her father, listens to stories told by her grandmother, helps her mother sort squares for a new quilt … and, well, tries not to get too annoyed with her older brother Ali. More than anything, Shirin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,6,788],"tags":[2858,6608,59,10,516,5847,55,5848,170,44],"class_list":["post-34003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children-picture-books","category-fiction","category-iranian-american","tag-anne-sibley-obrien","tag-bookdragon","tag-cultural-exploration","tag-family","tag-holidays","tag-moon-watchers","tag-religious-differences","tag-reza-jalali","tag-sibling-rivalry","tag-siblings"],"yoast_head":"\nMoon Watchers: Shirin's Ramadan Miracle by Reza Jalali, illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/moon-watchers-shirins-ramadan-miracle-by-reza-jalali-illustrated-by-anne-sibley-obrien\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Moon Watchers: Shirin's Ramadan Miracle by Reza Jalali, illustrated by Anne Sibley O'Brien - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome to Ramadan at Shirin’s house: she sky-gazes with her father, listens to stories told by her grandmother, helps her mother sort squares for a new quilt … and, well, tries not to get too annoyed with her older brother Ali. 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