The Proudest Blue

This is a book about being proud of your roots and your culture: in this case, being Moslem.

Faizah watches her big sister, Asiya, as she gets ready to wear the hijab to school for the first time. We see the day unfold through Faizah’s eyes and see the other students’ reactions to something alien to their own culture that clearly signals the wearer as being different to her peers.

Despite some of the negative reaction, Faizah regards her sister as a princess, and longs for the day when she can also wear a hijab.

If this book is just aimed at young Moslem women to encourage them to be confident in their identities, then it has achieved its purpose, but if it is also for the wider community to help learn acceptance of cultural differences, I feel that it would have been helpful to explain why the hijab is such an important part of the Islamic faith. When introducing this book to classes I can imagine students asking what a hijab is for and why is it worn, but as a non-Moslem, I don’t feel equipped to answer those questions adequately.

Having said that, I think it has a universal message to anyone who feels they belong to a minority culture, and I recommend it (especially as a read aloud book) to students 6yrs and up.