The Amazing Travels of Ibn Battuta by Fatima Sharafeddine
📚 The Amazing Travels of Ibn Battuta 📚
Author: Fatima Sharafeddine
Illustrator: Intelaq Mohammed Ali
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Age: 8+
Islamic Content: Historical contributions
Concerns: mentions his visit to a shrine but no other details regarding it.
Summary:
This non fiction biography details the travels of Ibn Battuta, a great traveler from the fourteenth century. His main journeys highlighted here in chronological order. He has spent 29 years of his life travelling starting with his very first destination to Mekkah for Hajj. This had inspired him to continue and explore new places, people and cultures. His travels included Jerusalem, Persia, Yemen, Turkey, Tanzania and more. He has written various books documenting his experience and some of his work is still preserved in various places in the world.
Review:
This book for middle graders reads like an autobiography as it is narrated in first person. The book wonderfully details various destinations, his observations and achievements in his lifetime. The illustrations are absolutely stunning with each flip of the page. Although this would be considered a picture book, the heavier text gives ample details with each new place he reaches. I really appreciate that this biography highlights his religious pilgrimage and his appreciation of the diverse of Hajjis has ignited his passion and curiosity for his lifetime of travels. In here the reader will get a tiny glimpse of different means of travel, on land and sea and the hurdles Ibn Battuta was up against. It mentions that he had visited the shrine of Ali r.a. in passing just as it states his visit to other landmarks but no further details provided. It can be used as an opportunity to have a discussion on the Sunni perspective since this book targets older readers. This author also has a book on Ibn Sina that I haven't been able to get my hands on. Over all a good resource that gives insight on one of the Muslim contributors to the modern world.
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