Mommy’s Khimar is Lovely

A young American-Muslim girl tells about her mother’s colorful khimars (or headscarf). She plays dress up in them (she is a princess, a mamma bird) and her mother shows her how to properly wear it as well. The girl talks about all the things she does. Just like any other child. She talks about a grandmother who does not go to the mosque, but is loved and is a member of her family. And she talks about her extended family in the mosque. She talks about how her father loves her. And how she protects her baby brother and her mother’s reaction to this act.

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Ebony Glenn show a family who happen to be Muslim. They show how we are all the same within our differences: What child does not play dress up? What child does not at least know someone with a sibling? Thompkins-Bigelow’s text is straight forward and told in a typical child’s voice. The more darker elements of current events surrounding Muslims-Americans is not even hinted at. The only thing shown is a welcoming, loving family and the extended community that is another type of family.

The amazingly bright illustrations of Ebony Glenn capture the different brilliant rainbow of colors that the mother has for her khimars. Dark colors are not really represented, but when they are, they are truly rich and soft but vibrant. These illustrations perfectly represent the positive, whimsical and joyous feeling of the story itself.

While it is obvious the family is Muslim this never overwhelms the story of a child talking about herself and her family.