One Wish by M.O.Yuksel
📚 One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World's Oldest University 📚
Author: M.O. Yuksel
Illustrator: Mariam Qureshi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Age: 4-8
Islamic Content: Story of Fatima al-Fihri, mentions
Concerns: Illustrations -see below for details
Summary/Review:
This lyrical non-fiction book is a wonderful account of Fatima al-Fihri and her legacy. It begins with her as a little girl and her one true wish that she carries with her as she grows into a young woman. Her faith and Islam play a huge role in her daily life and is woven beautifully in the story, the words can really touch your heart.
Fatima's story is a powerful example that can be used to teach about Muslim women's accomplishments in history. It can also be used as a tool to bash the narratives that as commonly misunderstood about Islam and Muslim girls and women.
While I love the text in which the story is told, I wish I could say the same thing about the illustrations. Why they have Fatima (and every woman in the book) looking like Malala is frustrating to me. One of the main questions I have is if this was a conscientious and intentional decision considering that both women are known to be passionate about education. Keep in mind that they come from different times of history and different cultural backgrounds. This, subconsciously adds to the narrative that anyone that looks like Malala is a normal and educated Muslim, but anyone who is religious and conservative just cannot make as big an impact in the world. My 2nd question would be how accurate are these illustrations to the culture of that region in that time of history?
If you can see past the illustrations, there are definitely gems to be learned from this biography.
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