Abstract
Religion remains an aspect of culture often missing from picturebooks, based on the misunderstanding that religion has no place in U.S. public schools. This absence is particularly critical for books reflecting the lives of Muslim children, given the rising Islamophobia in the United States. A critical content analysis to examine representations of Muslim children in contemporary picturebooks set in the United States was conducted through a postcolonial lens. Islamic religious practices are integrated into the daily lives of Muslim children in these books for an audience of Muslim and non-Muslim readers. The books represent Muslim children and their families as culturally and religiously diverse, portray religious differences as resources for communities, and reflect the hybrid identities of Muslim children. The books serve as counternarratives, creating a space for Muslim authors and illustrators to voice and validate their life experiences for a broad audience of readers.
The increasing availability of literature that reflects the cultural diversity of children's lives and worlds is a cause for celebration, but the one aspect of culture often missing, especially from picturebooks for young children, is religion (Juzwik et al., 2022). Even though religion plays a significant role in many children's lives, schools fail to address religious pluralism based on the belief that religion does not have a place in U.S. public schools and the fear that children will be unduly influenced by exposure to religions other than those of their families (Reagan, 2020). The result is religious illiteracy in schools, where ignorance about major religious traditions creates the danger of intolerance due to a lack of information and misunderstandings. Moore (2007) stated that religious literacy involves the ability to perceive and analyze the intersections of religion and life within a society through multiple lenses. The inability to do so is evident in current global conflicts, especially in the rising Islamophobia directed toward Muslim communities and the positioning of Protestant Christians as normal in mainstream social discourses, while Muslims are positioned as deviant.
In the United States, the separation of church and state has been misinterpreted as separating religion from public education, leading to the systematic exclusion of religion from public schools. Court rulings instead argue for religious neutrality, which indicates that schools are to provide information about a range of religions and not promote one religion over others (Taylor, 2011). Students need overviews of the main elements, beliefs, history, and practices of all major world religions, not to proselytize, but as a general knowledge base (Reagan, 2020).
The importance of schools providing religious knowledge is evident in studies showing that schools are the place where Muslim children most frequently experience religious bullying and microaggressions by peers, teachers, and administrators and the exclusion of their culture and history from the school curriculum (Farooqui & Kaushik, 2022). Research indicates that 53% of Muslim students report being bullied, in contrast to 25% of Jewish students and 10% of non-Jewish and non-Muslim students (Reagan, 2020). The exclusion of religious knowledge in schools usually results from parental protests, not against teaching about Islam, but for not promoting the superiority of Christianity over all other religions (Farooqui & Kaushik, 2022).
As a religion, Islam is often linked to negative media representations, terrorism, and fundamentalism that lead to fear and discrimination against Muslims (Farooqui & Kaushik, 2022). Children do not see positive representations of the lives and religious practices of Muslim people within mainstream media, and so need inclusive literature that challenges Islamophobia.
As children's literature scholars, we noted this exclusion of religion from picturebooks and were intrigued with recent picturebooks that integrate religion as a natural part of Muslim children's everyday lives. Khan (2006) pointed out that Islam is more than a religion—it is a way of life, and so the daily life of a Muslim child cannot be portrayed by separating secular and religious practices. We decided to analyze these books to examine their representations of religion as an integral aspect of children's everyday lives, in contrast to books about doctrine published by a religious press for children of a particular faith.
The purpose of our study was to engage in critical content analysis to examine representations of Muslim children in contemporary picturebooks set within the United States. We engaged in this analysis through a postcolonial lens of resistance to the negative depictions of Islamic religious beliefs and practices in news reports and social media and the representations of Muslim youth as backward, fanatic, radical, and violent (Alizai, 2021; Beydoun, 2018). Our initial impression was that these books offered depictions of religious practices integrated into daily life for children unfamiliar with Islam and an opportunity for Muslim children to see their lives reflected in books based on common childhood experiences.
After discussing our theoretical frame of postcolonialism, we review scholarly literature on the portrayals of Muslim characters in children's books and our implementation of critical content analysis to select and analyze six picturebooks. Given our focus on the representations of Muslim children in the United States, we identified four themes that reflect the ways in which these books serve as counternarratives to challenge religious illiteracy and intolerance.
Postcolonial Theoretical Frame
The critical theory that provided the lens through which we analyzed these picturebooks is postcolonialism and the social constructions of otherness and difference in Western societies. Postcolonialism examines the effects of colonization on people, places, cultures, and textuality, and includes what comes before and what comes beyond that colonization (Bradford, 2021). It deconstructs ideologies of power that privilege Western cultural and religious practices, challenges representations of colonized groups, and gives voice to those on the margins, thus providing a framework to resist social injustice and uncover unequal power and domination (Said, 1979).
Colonization occurs when one group assumes they possess priority and authority over another based on the belief that they have a more advanced state of civilization and the right to assume dominance (McGillis, 2000). The culture experiencing colonization is often depicted as “other” and inferior and is expected to assimilate into mainstream thinking. Eurocentrism, for instance, is the assumption that European values and traditions, including Christianity, constitute the norm against which non-European values and Islam are measured, which Said (1979) labeled as Orientalism.
Postcolonialism also challenges assimilation into mainstream culture by speaking to hybridity and agency. Hybridity recognizes that when people move into new contexts, they construct new ways of being but remain in control of negotiating those ways of being (Bhabha, 2004). This transculturation brings both loss and potential, as individuals balance their heritage culture with reaching out to negotiate possibilities in new cultural contexts. Hybridity, therefore, engages personal agency and resists universalizing to a Eurocentric view, emphasizing identity transformation without assimilation.
Although postcolonialism is often used to negatively critique representations of marginalized cultures within picturebooks, Yenika-Agbaw (2009) argued that this lens can also be used to examine narratives that complicate and trouble dominant narratives. Yenika-Agbaw analyzed a picturebook about an Egyptian child in Cairo to ask how the child acted with agency and negotiated space and cultural identity amidst conflicting experiences of living within the postcolonial reality of Cairo. Instead of using postcolonialism to critique oppression by asking how Arabs are portrayed in the book, she chose to ask how the child negotiates space and identity, thus supporting a postcolonial reading of agency. Her stance is based on Said’s (1979) argument that colonialism involves power struggles and an imbalance of power, domination, and degrees of hegemony. Authors can resist this imbalance by offering alternative images of a culture to challenge mainstream images and perspectives.
As we read through our selected picturebooks, Yenika-Agbaw’s (2009) stance of viewing picturebooks as resistance through a postcolonial lens increasingly informed our perspectives. Said (1979) argued that power is maintained by those in power making statements about a culture and silencing those who live within that culture. The issue of who speaks and who is silenced is connected to the rights of people to speak for themselves, to tell their own stories and to define their own subjectivities so that writers can reclaim their stories from the perspectives of people who were formerly objectified by colonial discourse (McGillis, 2000).
Spivak’s (1988) famous essay, “Can the Subaltern Speak?,” argues that the act of speaking for the colonized is a form of silencing that ignores the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of marginalized groups. Since language is the primary mode by which people encounter each other and challenge relationships of power, Bradford (2021) stated that postcolonialism frames the reclaiming of storytelling as an act of resistance.
This postcolonial reclaiming of stories produces what critical race theorists label as counternarratives to voice and validate a marginalized culture's perspectives and experiences. Counternarratives help heal wounds caused by racial oppression and challenge normative depictions of everyday life that ignore structural barriers to equality (Ladson-Billings & Tate 1995). Counternarratives disrupt and contest the legitimacy of dominant narratives, offering alternative perspectives and accounts of lived experiences (Milner & Howard, 2013).
Dávila (2015) pointed out that postcolonial perspectives are at the heart of narratives that label children and families as deviant when their religious beliefs are outside those of the dominant culture. Our theoretical frame for this critical content analysis engaged a postcolonial lens to focus on counternarratives as resistance to these dominant narratives about Muslim people and Islamic religious practices.
Literature Review
Religion has always been a controversial topic in American education, but Dávila and Volz (2017) found that exposing students to diverse religions promotes their understanding of people with religious beliefs from around the world. This attitude is aligned with the transformative power of diverse literature that Bishop (1990) referred to as mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. By reading diverse books offering windows and sliding glass doors, readers can come to see the world through the author's eyes and explore new perspectives; however, books set in unfamiliar cultures can instead create misunderstandings and stereotypes since students’ experiences influence how they interpret the content (Short, 2019). Readers’ cultural heritage and religious traditions influence their perspectives, so they need to be aware that they bring these lenses to interpretation (Ginsberg & Glenn, 2019).
Religion and religious beliefs often result in misunderstanding, stereotyping, and a sense of superiority among people in the United States. Dávila (2015) found that preservice teachers expressed religious biases and ignorance that indicated the need to learn about religious neutrality and contemporary cultures and religions. If students can be provided with religious literacy while staying neutral, they build knowledge rather than bias, despite challenges to engaging with religion in schools (Juzwik et al., 2022).
Muslim children's literature is defined as literature that focuses on Muslim children in terms of cultures, beliefs, and practices, whether fictional or nonfictional. Panjwabi (2020) argued that Muslim children's literature combats stereotypes, underrepresentation, racism, and misrepresentations, including Islamophobia. In a study of curricula regarding perceptions of Muslims and children's literature, Panjwabi (2020) identified the absence of Islamic figures, the presence of stereotypes, omissions due to the small number of Muslim authors and publishers in the field, and a lack of knowledge about the literacy of Muslim immigrants.
Torres (2016) noted that the media reinforces negative attitudes by focusing only on violence within a subgroup of Muslims. Jackson (2010) described this unbalanced representation as reinforcing a stereotype of Muslims as engaging in exceptional events, such as 9/11, through focusing on spectators’ thoughts and actions toward these stereotypes. Torres (2016) argued that these unbalanced stereotypes in books are understood by Muslim children as messages about their identities. Torres's analysis of Muslim representations in U.S. picturebooks indicated that Muslims are often viewed as “other,” with a lack of positive interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims. The issues she identified include the inadequacy of the presence and expression of Muslim children's identities, the lack of accuracy in Muslim representations, and the extent of marginalization for Muslim Americans in books.
Liou and Cutler (2021) examined the representations of Muslims in three middle-grade narratives through critical content analysis, using the frame of racialized curricular expectations. They analyzed the extent to which these texts illuminate the life and historical context of Muslims as rich sources of knowledge. Their findings revealed the perpetuation of dominant narratives through subtle idealization of white Christian values and the perpetuation of Muslim stereotypes, especially in portraying Muslim girls as oppressed, needing to be liberated through Western intervention, and Muslim males as having a tendency for violence.
Gultekin and May (2020) did a content analysis of winners of the Middle East Book Award, given by the Middle East Outreach Council in the United States, examining 36 picturebooks that received the award between 2000 and 2017. They found that the majority were authored by writers who were not Muslim, with the books highlighting ancient practices through history and folklore or the experiences of refugees fleeing war and conflict. In contrast, Abas et al. (2021) used geocriticism in a critical content analysis of four picturebooks of Muslim child migrants to the United States and found more positive portrayals of personal and social adjustment and self-determination. Even though characters initially struggle with societal expectations and the desire to fit within mainstream culture, they are depicted as having agency and responsibility to change difficult situations. Three of the four books are written and/or illustrated by Muslim immigrants from the Middle East.
The significance of books with Muslim characters was evident in a response study by Ginsberg and Glenn (2020) on the impact of young adult novels on non-Muslim students’ understandings and perceptions of Islam and Muslim characters. They examined the extent to which literature can promote critical thinking and empathy and challenge stereotypes about religions and cultures through immersion in the experiences of Muslim characters to develop connection and empathy. Their research identifies shifts in adolescents’ perspectives over time and the importance of carefully framing activities to create space for rich student engagement with multiple novels.
Our research involved critical content analysis of recent fiction picturebooks with Muslim characters. Past research informed our study, both in the use of critical content analysis and in comparing the representations within recent books to past research to create new potentials or obstacles for religious literacy in understandings about Islam.
Critical Content Analysis
Content analysis involves the use of research strategies to analyze texts and describe and interpret the written artifacts of a society (Krippendorff, 2003), while critical content analysis adds a critical theory framework to think within, through, and beyond the text. Researchers who adopt a critical stance focus on locating power in social practices to critique conditions of inequity embedded in the texts created by a society. Johnson et al. (2017) provided detailed descriptions of the processes and procedures involved in thoughtfully engaging in critical content analysis.
Given our research question on representations of the lives of Muslim children in contemporary picturebooks set within the United States, the critical theory that provided the most effective frame is postcolonialism. We selected the following theoretical tenets to bring to our analysis:
Postcolonialism deconstructs colonial ideologies of power that privilege Western cultural practices, including religious practices and beliefs. Postcolonialism highlights hybridity of identity to recognize people's agency in constructing new ways of being in negotiation with their own culture and language. Postcolonialism opens a space for counternarratives that resist mainstream narratives and gives voice to alternative images of a culture.
We used several sources to search for contemporary picturebooks published between 2000 and 2023 that involved a Muslim character, primarily the Children's Literature Comprehensive database and the Worlds of Words database. We gathered the identified set of 40 books and read through this broad set to develop our selection criteria. Our first criterion for selection was books that told a story about the daily life of a Muslim child in the United States, rather than books that taught about Islam or specific religious or cultural practices. We decided to examine books published between 2015 and 2023 because this set of books provided recent depictions of Muslim children. Given our research question, another criterion was that the book was realistic contemporary fiction in a U.S. setting. Examples of books that were eliminated include The Night Before Eid (Khalil, 2023) because it primarily focuses on explaining cultural and religious practices related to Eid. In Under My Hijab (Khan, 2019), a child shares the differing practices of people in her life related to the wearing of hijab. The book challenges stereotypes about hijab but is not a story. Mama Shamsi at the Bazaar (Hassani & Irvani, 2023) is set in Iran rather than the United States.
We identified six recent picturebooks that met all of our criteria for close critical analysis. Table 1 provides a summary of these picturebooks and the backgrounds of the authors and illustrators.
Picturebook Summaries.
Once we identified the six books, we first read them as readers to enjoy and share our connections and experiences. We then did a close read and charted our initial observations, which helped us decide on our theoretical frame. After reading about postcolonialism and locating related research around Muslim literature for children, we returned to the books to do initial coding of the content within this theoretical lens. This first analysis included identifying the Islamic religious practices integrated within each book and researching the authors and illustrators of these picturebooks.
Botelho and Rudman (2009) argued that an examination of power in children's books includes a recursive process of analysis of focalization (whose story is being told and from whose point of view), closure (how the story is resolved and by whom), and power and agency (who has power and who has agency). We engaged in a second layer of analysis around these questions to chart how power is reflected, not just in language, but from institutional practices, power relations, and social position.
In addition, another layer of analysis involved systemic-functional semiotic analysis (Painter et al., 2013) to analyze the visual images, particularly gaze, social distance, and ambience, recognizing that messages of power are embedded in illustrations. Gaze involves the direction of a character's eyes in relation to the reader/viewer and was particularly significant given Said’s (1979) many critiques of the Western gaze in which characters cannot speak or see for themselves. Social distance involves the distance of the reader from the characters and the characters from each other in the illustrations, and ambience is the use of warm or cool colors and the familiarity of the colors.
Given our research question—What are the representations of Muslim children in contemporary picturebooks set in the United States?—we returned to our notes, charts, and codes from the three layers of analysis to engage in constant comparative analysis (Corbin & Strauss, 2008), developing thematic categories by constantly moving between theory, the data, and codes. We individually analyzed the six picturebooks through the lens of postcolonialism in all three layers of analysis to develop initial codes. After discussing and comparing our initial codes in research meetings, we came to agreement on the most significant observations based on a postcolonial lens, which we organized into possible themes.
We returned to our theoretical tenets to write reflective memos for each theme to connect the data examples and theory. Once we had decided on the themes, we created charts for each theme, with examples from the picturebooks, creating a coding scheme that included the description of each theme and multiple examples. This process led us to combine several themes and to redefine several overlapping themes. We identified broad categories, including the portrayal of Islam in daily life, cultural diversity, hybrid identities, audience, knowledge of Islam, and responses to Islamophobia, but after axial coding we grouped related codes and refined our initial categories. Portrayals of children's religious practices were consolidated under Children's Daily Lives as Inclusive of Faith, and instances of cultural negotiation formed the theme Cultural and Hybrid Identities of Muslim Children
The trustworthiness of our critical content analysis was based on triangulation and establishing an audit trail (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). We triangulated our observations and analysis across our four perspectives, continuously comparing our insights to note points of connection, question, and disagreement. When questions arose related to a specific cultural practice in a particular Muslim community, we consulted someone from that background.
Our positionalities are critical to this analysis. Three of us have long-term immersion into Islam in different cultural settings, while one had surface knowledge and so often asked for points of clarification. Rahaf is a Muslim from Saudi Arabia, where Islam is the official religion. The country's constitution is based on Islamic law (Shari’ah), which derives from the Holy Qur’an, and the Sunnah, the practices and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during his lifetime. Firman is a Muslim from Indonesia, who was born and raised in Aceh Province, the only province in Indonesia that implements Islamic law in conjunction with the state constitutional law. Narges was raised as a Muslim in Iran, where Islam is the dominant religion, and had just arrived in the United States for graduate school. Kathy is a white U.S. researcher from a Christian background, with knowledge of Islam gained from interactions with Muslim scholars and directing dissertation studies around Muslim children's literature.
We also varied in our knowledge of children's literature, with Kathy identifying as a scholar of global children's literature who regularly teaches graduate courses in children's literature. Firman and Rahaf are scholars of literacy and early childhood who use children's literature within their teaching, and Narges is a doctoral student focusing on children's literature.
The differences in our backgrounds in relation to Islam and to children's literature influenced our interpretations of specific Islamic practices within the books, such as wearing hijab and prayer. Narges was most familiar with Shia religious practices, while Rahaf and Firman are Sunni Muslims. In addition, since the books reflected religious practices of Muslim children in the United States, we needed to consult with Muslim colleagues who grew up in the United States. Our analysis sessions involved a great deal of debate, leading to further research and consultation, until we reached confirmation or consensus.
Representations of Muslim Children in the United States
Our research question was driven by our observation that religious and secular identity are not separated for Muslim children, as often occurs for white Christian children in the United States, where separation of state and religion is a long-held principle. Instead, religion is an inseparable aspect of Muslim children's identities and lives in their families and communities (Zine, 2000). In our examination of representations of Muslim children in the United States in contemporary picturebooks, we identified several key themes. Our themes include how Islamic faith is portrayed as a valued and integral aspect of children's daily lives, the representations of diversity within Islamic practices, the depiction of difference as a resource rather than a problem, and the ways in which Muslim characters actively negotiate their identities instead of being assimilated into the dominant culture. Given that the authors and illustrators were Muslim, except for one illustrator, we developed these themes through the postcolonial lens of these books as counternarratives to challenge dominant stereotypes and misperceptions of Muslims in the United States.
Children's Daily Lives as Inclusive of Faith
Although religion is often missing from children's books, all of the picturebooks about the daily lives of Muslim children included their participation in religious practices within their families and communities. The books appear to be written for a broad audience of Muslim and non-Muslim children, depicting how Muslim children engage in daily experiences in which their faith is a constant part of their lives. From a postcolonial perspective, this focus on daily life experiences challenges stereotypes of Islamic religious practices as deviant or forced onto children and provides a point of connection and empathy for children from many backgrounds.
This theme highlights the types of everyday experiences in these books, such as playing, enjoying family life, and going to school, and the common fears that children face, such as missing important events, wanting to be more grown-up, being marked as different by classmates, and disappointing parents. These shared everyday experiences and emotions connect across cultures to provide the context within which a child's faith is integrated, instead of segregating faith and daily life.
In Zain's Super Friday (Khan, 2023), Zain revels in the thrill of playing superhero during his first Friday prayer in the mosque with his father, his imagination soaring as he embarks on adventures. The bond they share is not only playfulness but love that shapes warm family relationships. This same family closeness and love is depicted in Salat in Secret (Thompkins-Bigelow, 2023), where seven-year-old Muhammad yearns for validation, driven by his desire to make his parents proud that he engages in daily prayer five times a day. His fear of being perceived as different when he prays in school casts a shadow, highlighting the complexities of identity and acceptance within family and school.
In The Proudest Blue (Muhammad & Ali, 2019), Asiya navigates the delicate balance between embracing her religion and fitting in as she experiences the first day of wearing a hijab in school. Despite her sister's fear that Asiya will be teased, their unwavering bond with their mother is a source of strength, illustrating the profound impact of familial love in shaping self-acceptance. Similarly, in Lailah's Lunchbox (Faruqi, 2015), Lailah grapples with the desire to be seen as grown-up during her first day of fasting in Ramadan, while fearing judgment in school. Her journey toward self-assurance is intertwined with family, emphasizing the pivotal role of familial support in overcoming insecurities.
Ultimately, despite their diverse experiences and challenges, each Muslim child finds solace and strength in loving family relationships. Through these relationships, they not only gain support and guidance but also learn valuable lessons about acceptance, identity, and the transformative power of love. This closeness of family relationships is also evident in visual eye contact between family members, especially between Zain and his father and Asiya and her sister.
Within this frame of family love, the picturebooks portray the nuanced ways in which Islamic faith shapes children's experiences. Islamic faith is portrayed as a cherished component of children's daily lives in a complex interplay between family, school, community, and mosque. Children are portrayed as happily integrating their faith into their daily lives, particularly the acts of praying, fasting, and wearing a hijab. They are not forced to engage in these religious practices but do so because they want to emulate their parents and value the practices. The adults are portrayed as accommodating and valuing children's decisions to practice Islam.
In Salat in Secret, Muhammad is excited to receive a prayer mat from his father as a birthday gift. He is encouraged to use the prayer mat for Salat (the five-times-daily prayer) but faces challenges at school in finding a safe space for praying, as he fears being seen as different by peers. This fear comes from observing his father being bullied when praying in public near his ice cream truck. His father's calm response gives Muhammad the courage to tell his teacher that he needs a space for praying, with the teacher depicted as quickly accommodating his needs.
In Zain's Super Friday, Zain's father takes him to his first Friday prayer at a mosque, worried he will misbehave due to his love of playing superhero. The father tells Zain the steps of Friday prayer, such as doing ablution before entering the mosque, listening to the sermon, praying, and giving to the needy, with Zain doing each step playfully and imaginatively. The imam (congregation leader) and other adults are not bothered by Zain's playfulness. After the prayer, the father pulls out his own superhero cape and plays with Zain on a playground near the mosque.
In Lailah's Lunchbox, the mother encourages Lailah to fast during Ramadan as she is mature enough to do so. Lailah does not bring her lunchbox to school, and her mother writes a note to the teacher explaining that she is fasting; however, Lailah is afraid to give the note to her teacher and does not tell her friends that she is fasting. Her facial expression is happy as she skips and plays. When her friends offer to share their food, thinking she forgot her lunch, Lailah decides to spend recess in the library, telling the librarian that she is fasting. The librarian suggests she write a poem about Ramadan to give to her teacher, who comforts Lailah, telling her she can spend recess in the library during Ramadan.
In Aliya's Secret (Zaman, 2023), Aliya's fasting is a decision she makes out of the common childhood desire to be more grown-up, like her parents. When she accidentally breaks her fast and reveals her secret, her mother lovingly reassures her that she is a child and there are other things she can do to live her faith during Ramadan.
Asiya in The Proudest Blue celebrates her first day of wearing a hijab in school. Although Asiya looks unworried, her little sister, Faiza, is concerned that Asiya will be bullied by non-Muslim children. Their mother's words about Islamic faith give the two sisters courage throughout the day. Several children who do not understand the meaning of hijab make fun of Asiya's hijab; however, her classmates and Faiza defend her and stop the bullying.
Several picturebooks portray children as embracing their Islamic faith while facing the challenge of not wanting to be perceived as different by non-Muslims. Children navigate the tension between embracing their religious identity and resisting external pressures to conform to prevailing norms. Through observing their parents, they long to become more grown-up and have a deeper connection to their faith. This inclination is often evident through the child's fasting or prayer, behaviors that signify their commitment to religious practices. Additionally, the child's desire to keep these actions secret underscores the personal and transformative nature of their religious journeys. It is noteworthy that three picturebooks do not portray tension over being perceived as different, a significance we discuss in another theme.
This set of picturebooks takes a postcolonial stance in that the focalization and point of view are from the perspectives of Muslim children in both the text and illustrations, not of mainstream characters focalizing or observing them. Muslim children are depicted as subjects with consciousness and motivation, not treated as objects of the narrative discourse (McGillis, 2000). They speak for themselves and gaze directly at readers to invite them into their world and engage readers’ empathy (Painter et al., 2013). By embedding Islamic practices within daily life situations and emotions familiar to many children, these books create a stance of universal connection within a recognition of religious differences as a valued aspect of life. They invite readers of all backgrounds to feel a strong emotional connection to the character.
Children's Lives Reflect Cultural and Religious Diversity
The picturebooks in our analysis challenge two common stereotypes about Islam: (a) Islam and Muslims are monocultural entities regardless of geographical origins and Islamic thought, and (b) Islam is a strict religion that limits self-expression and cultural practices. Reagan (2020) cited demographic data indicating that Muslims are extremely diverse ethnically and linguistically, a direct contradiction of media stereotypes of a monolithic global Muslim person. Said (1979) pointed out that speaking for the other allows for construction of a “generic other” that transcends individuals and culture, particularly in portraying a generic Islamic mind.
The narratives and illustrations in the books signify the cultural and religious diversity of the lives of Muslim children, particularly the customs of families from different global origins. This diversity is connected to the cultural backgrounds of the authors and illustrators. In Amira's Picture Day by author Reem Faruqi (2021), whose origins are Pakistani, and illustrator Fahmida Azim, who is from Bangladesh, Amira and her family wear outfits for Eid that reflect Bangladeshi culture. Characters in a prayer scene for Eid wear traditional Pakistani clothing, but there are also people in clothing from countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Ethnic diversity is evident when Zain engages in Friday prayer at the mosque (Jama’a), where people from different ethnicities and cultures are depicted as performing the same task of worship. In Alya's Secret and Amira's Picture Day, people from many cultures and ethnicities gather to celebrate Eid. These examples embody the Islamic principle of valuing cultural and ethnic diversity within Islam, accepting differences across locations and not separating based on skin color or race (Robina et al., 2019).
One aspect of diversity that is not portrayed is regional differences related to two main branches of Muslims—Sunnism and Shi’ism. Historically, Shias have been concentrated in Iran, parts of Iraq, and other regions, while Sunnis are the majority in most Muslim countries. The two branches differ in many ways, including how they pray and perform ablution (Marranci, 2004). These six picturebooks only illustrate Sunni Muslims in ablution and praying, and this may mislead readers in thinking there is only one branch of Islam.
Another common stereotype is the portrayal of Islam as an extremely strict religion with little room for deviation or self-expression, and Muslims, especially men, as stern and unforgiving (Robina et al., 2019). In Salat in Secret, Muhammad's parents give him a prayer rug as a gift when he reaches the age of seven. Although Muhammad is not yet an adult and required to pray, the prayer rug encourages him to establish prayer as a habit for when he is older. This act could be interpreted from a non-Muslim perspective as depicting Islam as a strict religion that demands young children perform religious obligations. Muhammad searches for a suitable place to pray at school, where his parents are not present, indicating he values the importance of daily prayers. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) indicated that children praying when they reach seven is a guideline and not a requirement. Muslims follow the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a role model, reflected in the father choosing to pray in front of his son.
Alya's Secret provides another example of parents as role models for Islamic practices. Alya tries to fast like her parents even though she has not reached the age for fasting to be obligatory. When Alya eats baklava and feels guilty, her mother tells her: “First, let's get you something to eat. Then we’ll talk about other ways to celebrate Ramadan.” This discussion about finding other ways to celebrate Ramadan occurs because Alya is still young. The conversation embodies the flexibility of Islam in religious practices, as a young child is not required to fast the entire month of Ramadan and can break the fast. Children are not accountable for their actions until they reach the age of maturity. This flexibility in religious practices in Islam is based on the hadiths and the Qur’an, and these flexibilities are present in the picturebooks.
This diversity and flexibility within Islam is not adequately addressed in schools or understood by teachers, often leading to unfair judgments about the religious practices of students (Reagan, 2020). As noted, Said (1979) viewed Western discussions of Islam as homogenous, regardless of cultural and national differences, as a means of maintaining power. Rissanen et al. (2020) shared the example of a school with many Somali Muslims, so that being Muslim is seen as Somali and religion equals only Islam, and students’ religious practices are viewed as representing Islam and Muslims in all parts of the world. The cultural diversity within Islam is often overlooked, and misunderstandings contribute to the formation of stereotypes about Muslims and feed Islamophobia.
Marranci (2004) argued that Islamophobia is motivated by concerns about the influence of Islam on Western societies and the desire to impose Western cultural hegemony and resistance to cultural change, hindering multiculturalism. Marranci emphasized that Muslim society is multifaceted, reflecting ethnic, cultural, and regional diversity. Islam does not constitute a single cultural identity but rather multiple cultures with diverse customs from countries around the world.
Difference as a Resource in a Community
The media often portrays conflicts in relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims to highlight difference as a problem rather than a rich resource within a multireligious community like the United States. Ruiz (2010) argued that difference is viewed as a problem that must be solved based on the belief that difference creates political and social divisions, resulting in programs aimed at assimilation, such as English as a second language programs that suppress languages other than English or political initiatives against religions other than Christianity. Difference as a resource highlights diversity as a valuable resource for all members of a community, transcending an “us versus them” mentality. Through this lens, difference is viewed as enriching the sociocultural life of a community instead of threatening the values of those in the mainstream culture.
Given significant increases in Islamophobia in Western nations and the resulting violence, prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry, these perspectives on difference gain importance. Fear of Muslims stems from historical factors like colonialism and imperialism (Riaz et al., 2023), along with misunderstandings of Islam. Because of perceived differences, Muslim students are often victims of bullying and overt and covert discrimination from teachers, peers, and institutional policies, through actions ranging from verbal insults to social exclusion (Abu Khalaf et al., 2023).
In The Proudest Blue, although the story of Asiya and her sister illustrates the power of family in overcoming bullying related to religion, it also reflects the impact of Western thought on Muslim students in schools. Two other examples are Laila's hesitation to tell her teacher about fasting and Muhammad's hesitation to ask his teacher for a private space to pray. According to Zine (2000), these examples indicate the impact of dominant views marginalizing Muslim students.
Rissanen et al. (2020) argued that the dominance of Protestant culture and religion in schools reduces the importance of religion for students, contradicting the recognition of religious identity. They highlighted Protestant biases in the interpretation of religion and secularism within schools, leading to the marginalization of non-Christian viewpoints. This marginalization was evident in The Proudest Blue, when Asiya is bullied for wearing a hijab. Support from the school and teacher is not evident; instead, the prominent support is family and friends.
Said (1979) maintained that Orientalism is a concept created by the West to define the East. Westerners are the dominant group and define themselves as “us,” while marginalized groups like Islamic societies in the Middle East are defined as “others.” Therefore, anyone who is not from the dominant society is judged as deviant and treated negatively. This attitude is present in several picturebooks, but there are always individuals who challenge unfair treatment and stand up for inclusivity and respect. In Salat in Secret, a woman crossing the street calls the police when she sees the father praying, but the police recognize that he is praying and not a threat. In The Proudest Blue, bullies taunt the older sister, but her non-Muslim friends support her, clearly viewing her as part of their community. Both books challenge those who treat religious differences as a problem by including characters who instead view difference as a normal part of life in a community that should be respected and valued.
In Salat in Secret and Lailah's Lunchbox, the protagonist is afraid of being labeled by non-Muslims (teachers or peers). Neither are mistreated or judged in their schools, but they are afraid of being misunderstood or viewed as different. Although both children want to stay true to their religious practices, they keep their beliefs a secret so they can be accepted in the dominant environment. In both cases, once they have the courage to speak with their teachers, they are given space to engage in their religious practices. Muhammed and Lailah encounter only supportive teachers and classmates when their religious practices are revealed.
Muhammad grapples with difference in Salat in Secret when he struggles with practicing daily prayers in schools, while also fitting in with friends. One illustration shows him directly gazing in confusion at the reader to invite the reader to empathize with his fear of being laughed at. The last page of the book is the only other direct gaze in the book, and this time the reader is invited to share his happiness when he has the courage to request a place for prayer and the teacher responds positively, “Let's find you a place.”
Difference is not raised as an issue in three of the books, a strong message that difference is not an automatic problem between Muslims and non-Muslims. Zain, Amira, and Aliya do not worry about differences between themselves and non-Muslims. The plot in Amira's Picture Day, for example, is based on her desire to be in two places at once. These protagonists are not preoccupied with the fear of being labeled or misunderstood by non-Muslims, indicating a normalization of diversity and acceptance within their environments.
Cultural and Hybrid Identities of Muslim Children
This acceptance of diversity is also evident in the depictions of Muslim children as not conforming to assimilation into dominant culture or struggling with a split personality at home and school. They embrace hybrid identities reflecting an intersection of their cultural and religious identities with the dominant culture. They negotiate their identities, not automatically rejecting or taking on either culture as evident in the detailed illustrations, specifically the characters’ clothing, engagement with popular culture, and experiences in school.
Examining the clothing in Zain's Super Friday reveals a deliberate fusion of modern and Western styles, indicating a conscious effort to bridge cultural identity with the contemporary world. Similarly, in Amira's Picture Day, the characters wear modern Western attire but switch to traditional Pakistani clothing for observance of Eid prayer, which underscores the coexistence of multiple cultural influences. The Proudest Blue features characters in hijab paired with jeans and African American hairstyles that present a combination of religious expression and contemporary fashion. In Lailah's Lunchbox, the characters navigate between Western and modern clothing that exemplifies a seamless integration of Islamic identity into daily lives.
Furthermore, the representation of popular culture in Zain's Super Friday encapsulates the essence of hybridity that combines modern superheroes with the sacred context of Friday prayer in Islam. Zain wears a cape throughout the prayer, assuming a superhero persona as he carries out a mission during the Friday prayer. This combination symbolizes the blending of cultural and religious aspects that emphasize a dynamic and multifaceted identity.
The other picturebooks (Salat in Secret, The Proudest Blue, Amira's Picture Day, Lailah's Lunchbox, and Aliya's Secret) unfold within a public school setting. The characters maintain positive relationships with their peers while simultaneously practicing their Islamic faith. This portrayal challenges the stereotype of a strict, isolated, or insular existence for individuals practicing Islam. The hybridity of these characters is apparent as they navigate the complexities of public school life and engage positively with their non-Muslim peers and surroundings, while upholding their religious practices.
Postcolonialism speaks to identity and hybridity rather than assimilation or universalization and recognizes that people construct new ways of being as they shift across contexts. The issue is whether they remain in control of negotiating those ways of being (Bhabha, 2004) instead of being forced to assimilate into a Eurocentric view. McGillis (2000) argued that diasporic authors, such as the authors of these books, understand how to draw cultures together without erasing one or the other and how to position the globally dispersed communities out of which they write.
The deliberate choice of hybrid identities in these picturebooks challenges monolithic narratives and fosters a more inclusive portrayal of diverse cultures and religions. By showcasing characters who integrate their cultural and religious practices into their everyday lives, these books contribute to a broader narrative that celebrates diversity and encourages acceptance. This nuanced representation not only enriches the literary landscape but has the potential to promote religious literacy among young readers.
Discussion of Muslim Picturebooks as Counternarratives
As we analyzed these picturebooks and compared our findings with earlier studies of Muslim children's literature, we identified the complexities and nuances in how these picturebooks serve as counternarratives. Torres (2016) and Gultekin and May (2019) found that the majority of books in their studies were created by non-Muslim authors and illustrators. Given that the authors and illustrators in our set of picturebooks are all Muslim, except for one illustrator, it's no surprise that they take a stance of creating counternarratives to challenge dominant narratives that judge Islamic religious practices as “foreign” and “deviant.”
Unlike in Gultekin and May (2019), the characters in our books are not depicted in situations of extreme challenges, such as war and displacement, but in everyday playful situations. Liou and Cutler (2021) found male-oriented violence and oppressed females who lack critical agency in their set of books. The fathers in our books are loving, positive portrayals. Mothers take action to support family members, such as in The Proudest Blue, where the mother's words constantly resonate in her daughters’ minds. Girls are depicted as agentic in problem-solving, quickly moving past any initial reluctance to take action.
Our findings also contradict Torres (2016), who found that Islam is depicted as homogenous in children's books and that the major audience appears to be Muslims because incomplete information about religious practices would confuse non-Muslim children. We noted that our authors provide additional information in author's notes and glossaries to support non-Muslim children and visually depict diversity within the Muslim community. The one finding from Torres (2016) that was similar is that three of our books revolve around Ramadan or Eid. Descriptions of celebration of these events, however, are not the major focus; instead, the focus is dealing with fears of difference or not missing a special day at school.
The most interesting contradiction is that Torres (2016) found that interactions between Muslim and non-Muslims were portrayed as negative or superficial. In our set, the one book in which there is an actual conflict of bullying due to wearing a hijab, Asiya's non-Muslim friends stand with her against the bullies, making clear that she has strong non-Muslim relationships. In two other books, Mohammed and Lailah worry about being seen as different by their peers, but once their needs are made known, teachers and peers find space for their religious practices within the school context. The books depict differences in beliefs as positive to life within a community, not as a problem.
The presence of both universal values of childhood along with specific references to religious practices signals that these picturebooks are written for an audience of both Muslims and non-Muslims. Muslim children are portrayed as engaging in playful behaviors within loving families and as experiencing fear of being judged as different by peers in school. Children from a range of cultural contexts can relate to these feelings and actions, providing a point of empathy and connection even if the religious practices are new. The illustrators also use direct eye contact of the main character with the reader at points of strong emotions for the character as an invitation for readers to feel the character's confusion or happiness, as occurs in Salat in Secret, The Proudest Blue, and Aliya's Secret.
For Muslim children, these books provide mirrors in which they can see their lives and families reflected and valued, and for non-Muslim children, the books are a window and door into Islamic practices. For both Muslim and non-Muslim children, the books provide knowledge about Islam as lived in religious practices that are a natural part of daily life, not a difference that threatens the mainstream.
These picturebooks challenge the dominant narrative of Muslim people as engaged in foreign religious practices, Islam as a rigid and unforgiving religion, Muslim females as oppressed, and Muslim relationships with non-Muslims as difficult or nonexistent. Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) argued that counternarratives by authors from an oppressed group challenge racism—in this case, Islamophobia—and communicate the experiences and realities of that group of people. These picturebooks provide a space for Muslim authors and illustrators to voice and validate their life experiences, particularly in relation to the integration of religious practices into the everyday lives of children and families. The books thus are a means of resistance for Muslim children and families to claim a voice and visibility in schools and society.
Implications and Conclusion
These picturebooks promote religious literacy and combat Islamophobia by providing demonstrations of the integration of religious practices into the daily lives of Muslim children as the norm, not a problem. The books also provide explanations about these religious practices through the characters’ discussions with parents and teachers.
In addition, these books provide demonstrations of how teachers can interact with Muslim children and parents; for example, several books show parents reaching out to send a note to a teacher or stopping at school to explain religious practices. Inviting open communication between school and home is critical to how easily children in these books are integrated into their classroom contexts. Teachers demonstrate their willingness to listen to children and recognize that their classmates (and the teacher) may need information to understand a classmate's religious practices. In several books, teachers invite a class discussion around religious practices related to Ramadan so that classmates understand what is happening in Muslim children's families. In addition, these books remind parents that their children need explanations to understand the meanings behind religious practices.
This set of books also provides a demonstration for authors from other religious backgrounds of how to integrate religion into a picturebook for young children that connects to a range of audiences and contributes to religious literacy. These books are not primarily written to teach about religion or to promote a specific doctrine, but instead to invite readers into the lives of children for whom religious practices are life. They are not produced by a religious press aimed only at a religious audience or nonfiction to provide information. Instead, readers are invited to experience a story world and live within a world that includes Muslim children.
The authors of these books use author's notes to provide non-Muslim children with additional information that they might need to understand the practices woven into a book, a strategy that authors from other religious traditions could use. Five of the six picturebooks present additional information about religious practices in an author's note or a glossary. The author's note of Salat in Secret provides information about the five prayers, such as their names, method, and times and a glossary defining terms, such as “Masjid,” “Dua,” and “Wudu.” The author's note in Lailah's Lunch Box discusses Sehri (Suhoor in Arabic) and Iftar. Amira's Picture Day has an author's note about the importance of Eid and a glossary with religious and cultural terms, such as “masjid” and “mehndi.” The author's note for Zain's Super Friday provides information about Friday prayers and Wudu. The author's note for Aliya's Secret discusses the significance of the moon as a symbol and the reason for fasting during Ramadan, along with a glossary of terms such as “Iftar,” “mosque,” “Muslim,” and “Eid al-Fitr.”
These picturebooks could be used as a text set on Muslim religious practices in a classroom to build religious literacy, but they also could be integrated into themes related to the books. Some might become part of a text set on fathers and sons, secrets, or perceptions of difference within classrooms. This integration into various text sets normalizes Muslim faith as a regular part of life, not just a special topic.
Further research is needed on children's responses to these books, given that we found only one study that examines how interacting with books about Muslim characters influences children's thinking. We are also curious about critical content analysis research on picturebooks in which other religious practices are interwoven into the daily lives of children to determine whether this trend goes beyond books about Muslim children.
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-1-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 - Supplemental material for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children by Rahaf Naseef, Firman Parlindungan, Kathy G. Short, and Narges Zandi in Journal of Literacy Research
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-2-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 - Supplemental material for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children
Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children by Rahaf Naseef, Firman Parlindungan, Kathy G. Short, and Narges Zandi in Journal of Literacy Research
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-3-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 - Supplemental material for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children
Supplemental material, sj-docx-3-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children by Rahaf Naseef, Firman Parlindungan, Kathy G. Short, and Narges Zandi in Journal of Literacy Research
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-4-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 - Supplemental material for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children
Supplemental material, sj-docx-4-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children by Rahaf Naseef, Firman Parlindungan, Kathy G. Short, and Narges Zandi in Journal of Literacy Research
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-5-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 - Supplemental material for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children
Supplemental material, sj-docx-5-jlr-10.1177_1086296X241300348 for Religion as Life: Critical Content Analysis of Picturebooks About the Lives of Muslim Children by Rahaf Naseef, Firman Parlindungan, Kathy G. Short, and Narges Zandi in Journal of Literacy Research
Footnotes
Authors’ Note
The authors’ names are in alphabetical order to signal that all authors contributed equally to the manuscript. Our project is collaborative, with all authors involved in all aspects of the analysis and writing.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
