Lailah's Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story

I read the story to my daughter on the morning of April 18th, a morning many of us will remember with the Houston floods. Time had stopped in our household, schools were closed and the children sought extra outlets. And so I read the story, though admittedly I was distracted by the flooding, my own pending work deliverables and a unexpected day off schedule. Later that evening, as the waters abated and we readied for bed, my daughter asked me to reread the story. Odd, I thought. Didn’t we read this book just 10 hours earlier. “Ammi, please read it again.” And so I consented, knowing full well that I had not given it the attention it deserved in the first pass. This time many things caught my eye–the beautiful water colored illustrations, the anxiety of the little girl, but also the power to overcome and find solutions. As I read, I watched my daughter’s face. It was as though she was nodding, agreeing with each page, identifying with little Laila and the trials she faced. As I closed the book a second time in one very long, wet day, I realized just how much the story had helped and inspired my own little girl. Apart from giving this book to the local public library, we’ll also be sharing it with her 2nd grade class next week in the local public school. We’ll combine it with a simple Ramadan craft for the class. I pray that Laila’s Lunchbox reaches many and is of benefit, as it has been for us.

Hands-down my favorite Ramadan story. The story centers around a little girl, Lailah, who moved from Abu Dhabi to Atlanta. She was finally old enough to fast during Ramadan but felt huge anxiety about explaining it to her classmates and teachers. It started slow, but once we got to the gripping conclusion, I was a mess of bubbling tears. My son, Kian, kept asking me why I was sad, and I had to reassure him I was happy. This is an essential book for little Muslim girls and boys over the age of 5. It explains Ramadan's purpose and the real-life emotions that many little children in the U.S.A feel during this time.

A heartfelt book for brining awareness. Well written and illustrated!

I have a student in my class who was fasting for Ramadan for the first time. They were very excited and I bought this book to help the other kids in the class understand what they were doing and why. This was the perfect book doing this!

I am a teacher of upper elementary students, and a few of my students have fasted during Ramadan. I wanted the other students to have a simple explanation of the fasting, and this book was perfect. I asked a student who honors this holiday to read it to the class and share her experience. She was so excited to have the opportunity. It led to a nice discussion of traditions that other cultures and religions have. I recommend this book.

I'm an ESL teacher. I bought this book near the end of Ramadan and shared it with two 5th grade classrooms that I push into. The best part of this book is that my Muslim students could see themselves in the experiences the main character was having. These kids became the experts and were able to share their own experiences and answer classmates questions that came up as a result of this read aloud! This book is a great mirror for Muslim kids and a great window for their classmates.

I love this story about Lailah, who is celebrating Ramadan by fasting at school. Her teacher does not understand why she wasn't getting lunch, but Lailah is too shy to tell her why. After spending her lunch hiding in the library, the librarian helps her find a way to share with her teacher and classmates.

This is a lovely book. It is relatable to children not only of the Muslim faith, but children from other faiths whose traditions do not follow the U.S. calender which is largely based on Christian holidays. I am reminded of a Jewish family living in rural Tn whose mama sent a note stating that the kids would be absent for some Jewish holiday. Those kids were the first known Jews. And really, at some point in our lives we are all different in some way. It is empowering to see a story about learning to talk about and handle differences and the emotions from those experiences.

Lailah is super excited to fast for the first time this Ramadan. However, sharing this with her new classmates and teacher is harder than she imagined. She finds comfort and guidance from her school librarian which enables her self-confidence to overcome her struggle to speak about Ramadan. This story is relatable to many muslim kids who experience shyness or lack of confidence in their muslim identity, especially newcomers. It is not Islamically preachy, rather the focus is on a girl's internal conflict of expressing her story and the possibility to be misunderstood by her peers. This book would be an asset to any classroom and library.

What a perfect book to help children understand their Muslim classmates honouring Ramadan. It is very timely for us as many refugees are making their home in Canada. Add it to your classroom library and/or borrow it from the local library and share it with your children and grandchildren.

It's a great tool to help teach children a little bit about a Muslim tradition.