I received the following book for review. All opinions are my own. Please see my disclosure policy with any questions.
I get really excited when I find great Islamic books for my little ones, so I’m always anxious to find new resources to build on our home library. Finding high quality Islamic books for preschoolers isn’t easy, but alahmdulilah, the list is growing! Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah is definitely on that list.
Ilyas and Duck Search for Allah is about a boy and his best friend, Duck, trying to answer the question, “Where is Allah?” They search high and low, encountering interesting animals along the way to help them solve this basic, yet deep question.
Fantastic for toddlers and preschoolers
With bright pictures and short phrases, it’s easy to keep the short attention span of even toddlers throughout the entire book. I loved that the vocabulary was mostly at an easy level, and anything that may have been new was easily figured out within the book. There’s no ultra-formal voice here. Just a boy and his best friend.
Learn new animals!
Since we have been giving more attention to nature study recently, I absolutely love that there are a variety of animals, each with their specific name. Instead of simple descriptions that all kids are familiar with like monkey, bird, goat, and fish, you have a mandrill, hoopoe, alpine ibex, and anglerfish. We’ve been working on sometimes using more specific descriptions for plants and animals so Aamina can start to realize the variety of species in the world around her, in sha Allah. Ilyas and Duck tied in beautifully with a goal we have already been working on.
Easy reading for both native and non-native English speakers
Can I say this? Hmm. There are some books out there that are clearly not written by a native English speaker. I greatly appreciate their contribution to Islamic publishing, but when it comes to reading to my kids, stumbling through awkward wording and formal speech disconnects both myself and my kids from the flow of the story. I loved I was able to pick up Ilyas and Duck, and just start reading. No going back to rephrase the sentence with proper inflection. Just a smooth sailing story.
Adorable pictures
Too, too cute, mashaAllah! Just see a couple for yourself!
Giveaway!
Now, on to our giveaway, in sha Allah! We purposely timed this giveaway so you can in sha Allah get a book for your child just in time for Eid! A couple giveaway rules:
- Ends at midnight on July 22nd (morning), in sha Allah.
- Open to participants in US and Canada only
- Winner will be randomly selected
Best wishes and in sha Allah you’ll get something great for your little one for Eid!
thank you for sharing the giveaway. I am a homeschooler too and I am always looking for new islamic books to read to my girls.
I’m glad you enjoyed the review and giveaway! In sha Allah you win!
I agree with you about books translated into English, especially as the material get harder. I’m curious how the author answers the question Where is Allah?
There is a line where the author says that Allah is everywhere, and in a class I took, the shaykh said that isn’t exactly the answer we want to give, but I do think it’s appropriate for little kids, Allahu alim (Allah knows best). The author then goes on to say that through the miracles and beauty of the earth and universe around us, we know Allah to be true, so the “everywhere” statement isn’t left without further clarification. Personally, I’m really happy with how it’s presented for my 4 year old, alhamdulilah.