- MuslimMommyblog
Fatima's Great Outdoors
Genre: Advanced Picture Book⠀
Ages: 6-9⠀
⠀
Available: Amazon⠀
⠀
Islamic screening: music mentioned⠀
⠀
This adorable story about young Fatima and her first time camping touched my soul, and I am not even a fan of the outdoors at all! (I love my AC and no bugs, thank you very much😅)⠀
⠀
Through the story, the reader understands that Fatima has immigrated recently with her family from India to America. Her mother and father both work two jobs and are super busy, and she is having a hard time adjusting to the new school, language, and culture. It doesn’t help that she gets teased for her accent, food, and hair.⠀
⠀
So when her dad suggests they go camping, she is super excited. But Fatima’s confidence wavers at times, and she struggles to help her father put up a tent, start a fire (and eat the halal bacon), and sleep in the tent while seeing the shadow of a spider.⠀
⠀
But after the trip is done, and Fatima successfully tackles all the obstacles in her way, she feels like a superhero: strong enough to stand up and talk about her trip to her classmates. ⠀
⠀
I love how the story isn’t an average immigrant story. It is about becoming stronger and overcoming your fears, and I love the way nature plays a big role in Fatima’s confidence.⠀
⠀
I love how the past of Fatima’s mom in her village in India helps her start the fire (as well as show the mom be unafraid of scary bugs), and this shows how the past of Immigrants can help them in their future life, and isn’t always a scary depressing time they want to escape. Also, kudos to the author for making the mom such an awesome strong character (as we all know immigrant moms truly are!!)⠀
⠀
The author includes a lot of authentic camping references, and the reader can tell it is something she is passionate about. In fact, the author’s note mentioned her page @brownpeoplecamping which is all about poc camping and enjoying the outdoors!
My only critique would be that there seemed to be too many stories in one. I feel like the book might have been better with a more narrower focus on one aspect, and would help the reader connect more emotionally!
price: 13 usd
Follow @muslimmommyblog on IG and FB for more!
