Hind's Hands by Umm Juwayriyah & Juwayriyah Ayed

📚 BOOK REVIEW 📚 Title: Hind's Hands: A Story About Autism Author: Umm Juwayriyah & Juwayriyah Ayed Illustrator: Emma Apple Publisher: As Sabr Publications Type: Non-Fiction Age: 5-11 Rating: 7/10 🌟 ⭐ Islamic Content: Creation of Allah ⭐ Concerns: None ⭐ Summary: Juwayriyah is nine years old, and she is a big sister to Hind. Hind has autism and she has a hard time communicating. When Juywayriyah was younger, she would get easily frustrated with Hind when she would make a mess in a clean room or have an outburst. With Ummi's help and guidance, Juwayriyah made lots of dua for patience and asked Allah to help her deal with her little sister better. When Hind would scream at the grocery store Juwayriyah says 'Bismillah' and she would take Hind's hands to gently rub them together. Hind loved this as it made her feel calm. ⭐ Review: This book is so sweet, mashaAllah. It is written by a mother/daughter duo, narrated by Juwayriyah herself. She is describing a unique reality that is close to her heart, her relationship with Hind, her special needs younger sister. A few things that I love about this story: #1 - "Autistic kids are special, just like Allah has made us all special." Those with autism are created by Allah (swt) no different from everyone else He created. I appreciate the Islamic touch on this sensitive topic as this is very rare amongst Muslim books. #2 - I loooove the honesty Juwayriyah shares about their sisterly relationship. The truth wasn't always easy sailing and that there was a time when she didn't fully comprehend her little sister. She is sharing the growth she has experienced towards her. #3 - Her reliance upon Allah, through persistent duas. ⭐ It is clear that this is a personal experience of the authors' and truly commend their work to publish it and make it available for us to use as a tool to introduce Autism to our kids as well as support those with similar family dynamics. In order to show the rawness and authenticity of the narrations, the text has been kept simple and direct, from 9-year-old Juwayriyah. With that said, I feel that this book has so much potential to become an incredibly deep story emotionally only if it had been further embellished in its language. I really like the symbolism of the hand gestures to communicate and to build a connection between two individuals. Also, the physical quality of the book is not great. There is a page dedicated to why this book was written and includes websites for more information about autism. This book would be a very beneficial addition to your Muslim community/school bookshelf. ⭐ Available: Amazon. #hindshands #astoryaboutautism #ummjuwayriyah #juwayriyahayed #muslimkidsbooks #islamickidsbooks #muslimauthor #muslimkidslit #raisingmuslimreaders

Feb 11/2020