It Must Have Been You

This is an old book(2015) from @zanibmian and @sweetapplebooksand so that might be why it is different than the new books by this author.⠀ ⠀ I honestly was just confused by this book..⠀ ⠀ First off, the only thing “islamic” about this book was the mom wearing a hijab. That isn’t in itself a big deal,but the book just seemed strange to me. ⠀ An issue I had was the message. I did not like the big finger pointing at the little girl at ALL! To me, a finger point in a book makes a kid look small and feel small, and it made me uncomfortable. Books should uplift kids, not the opposite.⠀ ⠀ I was also uncomfortable with the accusation “it must have been you” to things like making a mess with food, or mud, or beads, especially to a little girl that was really sweet and was trying to be good but was “hungry” and sad. It actually worried my kids and they kept asking me why the little girl’s family was mean to her.⠀ ⠀ The ending didnt make sense...the girl had to clean and put a nice card on the fridge to get affirmation and love from her family. I just felt like it indirectly tells kids that if they don’t tidy/clean, they aren’t worth love.⠀ ⠀ Now don’t get me wrong: I do believe kids should clean up after themselves. And I love notes from my kids. I just don’t think this is the way to teach them that in a children’s book. ⠀ Positives: I thought the font was cute and creative, and the pictures were very cute and fun for the kids to look at, especially the scribbly drawings at the end. The book also was said in rhyme, which is always enjoyable for my kids! They absolutely loved just looking at all the different fun styles of words in the books. ⠀ This was from @crescentmoonbookstore

Follow @MuslimMommyblog on Instagram and Facebook for more.