Books about Islam for children and teens

Books about Islam for children and teens

Books about Islam for children and teens include both informative nonfiction and stories with Muslim characters at their centre. The most effective titles explain beliefs, practices, festivals and history clearly, while also reflecting ordinary family life, school, friendship and identity. For teachers, they are valuable because they broaden representation, support religious literacy and help pupils encounter Muslim lives and experiences in accurate, varied and age-appropriate ways.This list features books by Ibtihaj Muhammad, Hiba Noor Khan, Zanib Mian, Adiba Jaigirdar, S. K. Ali, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Muhammad Khan, Samira Ahmed, Tahereh Mafi, and Sabaa Tahir.

Islam themed books for children and teens – our recommendations

Islam picture books

The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S. K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly

Faizah’s first day of school becomes even more special because her older sister Asiya is wearing hijab for the first time, a blue so bright it feels like ocean and sky. Perfect for 4-7 year olds, this picture book explores sisterhood, pride and the sting of unkind words without making the story feel heavy. Hatem Aly’s expressive artwork gives young readers plenty to notice and discuss.

A Golden Eid by Hiba Noor Khan, illustrated by Singgih Cahyo Jadmiko

Hafsa is looking forward to Eid al Fitr and the special food that comes with it, especially her favourite halwa. When her father packs the treats to share with neighbours, Hafsa feels disappointed at first. But watching the food bring comfort and happiness to others, including a neighbour who is alone, helps to change her mind. This thought-provoking and vibrant picture book for 4+ year olds looks at themes of generosity, community and celebration, and there’s also a halwa recipe and craft activity included for sharing at home or in class. It’s ideal for EYFS classes.

Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr by Sara Khan and Nadiyah Suyatna

Raya invites children into Ramadan with iftar, cookie baking, mosque visits, good deeds and cards for her friends before the family celebrates Eid al-Fitr together. Perfect for 5-7 year olds, this bright picture book blends story, facts, a quiz and simple activities, making it useful for home reading or an EYFS and KS1 classroom.

Not Now, Noor! by Farhana Islam and Nabila Adani

Noor has a big question: why do her mum, aunties and other hijabi women in her family wear headscarves? Great for 3-6 year olds, this funny family story lets Noor imagine snacks, spies and superheroes before Ammu gives her a warm, clear answer. It’s a sensitive way to introduce hijab through curiosity and affection.

Lailah’s Lunchbox by Reem Faruqi and Lea Lyon

A new country, a new school and the start of Ramadan all arrive together for Lailah, who is excited to fast but nervous about explaining why she is not eating lunch. A thoughtful choice for 6-12 year olds, the story shows how a librarian and teacher help her find the words to share her faith with classmates.

Dear Muslim Child by Rahma Rodaah and Aya Ghanameh

Muslim children around the world are addressed directly in a lyrical celebration of faith, family, prayer, names, clothing and belonging. Ideal for 4-8 year olds, this affirming picture book gives Muslim readers a joyful mirror and offers classmates a warm introduction to Islamic identity and pride.

Islam books for 7-12 year olds

myDeen magazine

myDeen ‘makes learning about Islam fun’. Aimed at children aged 3-12, in three age categories, these magazines include activities, lessons, knowledge and Arabic lessons. There are free sample magazines available on their website.

Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik

Omar’s family move house and school at the same time, which means new friends, a class bully and a lot of imaginative panic. A funny 9+ KS2 read, it mixes cartoon-style illustrations, everyday Muslim family life and Eid excitement with a light-hearted but thought-provoking look at prejudice and settling in.

All About Eid: Things to Make and Do by Sarah Shaffi and Aaliya Jaleel

Lanterns, henna patterns, recipes and fill-in pages turn Eid into something children can learn about by making and doing. A hands-on activity book for 7+ year olds, it introduces Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha through facts, crafts and food traditions from different cultures, and will work well for classroom festival displays in KS2.

A Kids Book about Being Muslim by Nadia Hasan

Questions about worship, customs, words and community are answered in a direct, conversation-starting style. An introduction for 5+ year olds, this outstanding book draws on one Muslim American experience while helping children think about faith, belonging and the many ways Muslim families live and practise.

Nadia Islam, on the Record by Adiba Jaigirdar

When eight-year-old Nadia travels from the UK to Bangladesh during Ramadan, she decides to report on the trip for her school newspaper. Guided by her aunt, a journalist covering flooding and climate change, Nadia learns how to ask questions and record facts, balancing interviews with family life and Ramadan routines. Useful, informative notebook pages and illustrations share insights into journalism, faith, daily life and the environmental challenges facing Bangladesh in this gripping and distinctive contemporary middle-grade novel for 9–11 year olds. Read our full review.

Rumaysa: a Fairytale by Radiya Hafiza, illustrated by Rhaida El Touny

The worlds of Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty are thrown together in this uniquely imaginative story about Rumaysa, who uses her hijab to escape captivity and embark on adventures with characters from classic fairytales. Using South Asian cultural elements and Islamic references, this chapter book for UKS2, with illustrations by Rhaida El Touny and Areeba Siddique, offers a diverse perspective on traditional stories. Highly recommended.

Reading Planet KS2: The Golden Age of Islam by Sufiya Ahmed

Rehan guides readers through the ideas, inventions and discoveries shaped by mathematicians, astronomers, scientists and thinkers during the Golden Age of Islam. This book is a useful KS2 choice for building confidence, with a short non-fiction format, carefully levelled text and questions to support comprehension.

Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan

Explore life in Paris during World War II through the eyes of Safiyyah, who becomes a key figure in the Resistance. When her father is detained by the Nazis, Safiyyah takes on dangerous missions to help persecuted Jews, funnelling them through Paris’s catacombs to safety. Shedding light on the little-known role of the Grand Mosque of Paris, this memorable class reader for KS2 highlights the bravery of those who risked their lives. Based on true events, Safiyyah’s War is an unforgettable story of courage and resilience.

Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan

Twelve-year-old Nura works in Pakistan’s mica mines and dreams of finding a legendary treasure that could lift her family out of poverty. A gripping middle grade fantasy, the story takes her from the mines into the glittering world of the jinn, where pink seas, purple skies and tempting riches hide sharp questions about greed and inequality.

Once Upon an Eid by S. K. Ali and Aisha Saeed

Eid is celebrated through many different voices in this anthology of stories, a poem and a graphic-novel chapter by Muslim writers. Perfect for 8-12 year olds, the collection moves between food, clothes, gifts, family gatherings and more complicated feelings, showing how one festival can hold many kinds of joy.

Islam books for teens

Fight Back by A. M. Dassu

13-year-old Aaliyah faces discrimination and bullying after a terrorist attack at a nearby concert changes how people see her. Choosing not to hide, she wears a hijab with pride and challenges stereotypes and misconceptions where she sees them. But when her resolve is tested she has a decision to make – to lay low or ‘Fight Back’. This gripping young adult novel explores themes of identity, resilience, and unity in the face of Islamophobia. A powerful call to positive action, it’s ideal to discuss in book clubs.

Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar

Former friends Tiwa and Said reunite to save their Islamic Center from demolition and face personal challenges along the way. Tiwa appreciates the centre’s importance to the community, but Said has a secret reason. Their story, rich with cultural depth and family conflict, will appeal to 12+ year olds. Highlighting themes of friendship, identity and community resilience with a deftly light touch, this refreshingly original romance is bound to be a popular summer-term read for KS3 and KS4 students. Highly recommended.

Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy

A move to Dearborn, Michigan, upends Huda’s sense of self because she is no longer the only hijabi girl at school. A funny, sharp graphic novel for 12+ year olds readers, it follows her attempts to fit into different cliques before she starts working out who she is on her own terms.

The Secret Diary of a British Muslim Aged 13 3/4 by Tez Ilyas

Blackburn in the late 1990s is seen through the eyes of a teenage Tez, whose dreams of becoming a doctor sit alongside hormones, school chaos, family life, racism and growing religious awareness. Ideal for 14+ year old readers, this compelling comic memoir has an Adrian Mole vibes but gives British Muslim adolescence its own distinctive voice.

Zara Hossain is Here by Sabina Khan

Seventeen-year-old Zara is trying to keep her head down in Texas while her family waits for green card approval, but the Islamophobia she faces at school keeps escalating. A powerful read for 13+ year olds, it turns a racist act of vandalism into a tense story about immigration, safety, family and the cost of speaking up.

Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali

Janna sees the people around her as saints, misfits and monsters, but the hardest monster to expose is the one everyone else thinks is untouchable. Best suited to 14+ year olds, this YA novel follows a Muslim teen navigating family, faith, friendship, a crush and the aftermath of harm within her community.

You Think You Know Me by Ayaan Mohamud

Seventeen-year-old Hanan Ali is a high-achieving Somali Muslim student at a British grammar school, where she keeps quiet through racist bullying and tokenising assumptions. When a local man is murdered and Muslims are blamed, the abuse around her grows harder to ignore. This powerful KS4 read explores Islamophobia, family refugee history, school pressure and the cost of silence as Hanan decides whether to speak out.

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

Nishat has just come out to her family, and falling for Flávia only makes things more complicated when a school business competition turns henna into a rivalry. A thoughtful YA romance, it explores cultural appropriation, family expectations, Bengali-Irish identity and the courage it takes to be honest about love.

I am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

Fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem is used to feeling invisible until Arif Malik begins to notice her and draws her towards a dangerous secret. A powerful YA read, it examines Islamophobia, radicalisation, first love and the pressure on a girl who must decide whether to stay silent or speak out. Highly recommended.

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

Salama works in a hospital in Homs as the Syrian revolution tears through the life she once knew, with only Layla and her unborn baby left from her immediate family. Perfect for 14+ year olds in KS4, this intense YA novel blends love, grief, trauma and resistance as Salama is pulled between leaving Syria and staying to help.

Odd Girl Out by Tasneem Abdur-Rashid

A move from Dubai privilege to a very different London life leaves a once-confident girl feeling suddenly overlooked, just when friendship, romance and belonging start to matter more than ever. For 13+ year olds, this contemporary YA story mixes unrequited love, an awkward first encounter and the painful business of working out where you fit. Highly recommended.

Islam books for sixth-formers

Sonita: Daughters for Sale by Sonita Alizada

A girl nearly sold into marriage becomes a rapper, activist and global voice against child marriage. A powerful memoir for 16+ year olds, it follows Sonita Alizada from Afghanistan and Iran to international attention after her viral video “Brides for Sale”, showing how music, education and courage can become forms of resistance.

Internment by Samira Ahmed

Seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into a Muslim-American internment camp in a near-future United States. A gripping and powerful YA novel, it follows Layla’s fight for freedom with friends inside the camp, help from outside and the growing realisation that silence protects the people in power.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Shirin has learned to keep her guard up in post-9/11 America, using her music, headscarf and breakdancing crew as armour against racist classmates. A moving YA coming-of-age romance, it follows her connection with Ocean, a boy whose attention forces both of them to face the cost of being seen. Highly recommended.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Salahudin and Noor were once inseparable, but a shattering fight leaves them isolated in the small California desert town they both long to escape. A YA novel for more mature readers, it moves between Lahore and Juniper as family secrets, grief, addiction, racism and impossible choices test what forgiveness can mean.

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Islam resources for teachers

• Cardiff University’s Discovering Muslims in Britain offers a free, editable KS3 scheme of work built around the question of what it means to be a Muslim in Britain today. The materials include nine lessons, an assessment, PowerPoints, worksheets and lesson plans, and there is a free accompanying CPD course for teachers.
• RE:ONLINE’s Islam as a Worldview brings together free classroom materials from KS1 to KS4. Particularly useful are the units on Birmingham, mosques, Muhammad Ali and Malala Yousafzai, all of which move beyond textbook summaries and foreground lived Muslim experience.
• Voices from Muslim Worldview Traditions on RE:ONLINE is useful when you want first-person material rather than second-hand explanation. The responses are written directly by believers and work well for classroom discussion, comparison work and teacher subject knowledge.
• Oak National Academy has ready-made Islam units across key stages, including KS2, KS3 and KS4. These include slide decks, quizzes, videos and, at GCSE level, worksheets as well, so they are practical for cover, revision or adapting into your own sequence of lessons.
• Dr Chris Hewer’s GCSE Religious Studies: Islam is a strong subject-knowledge resource for secondary teachers. It includes video extracts, downloadable transcripts and material covering Sunni and Shi’a perspectives, while the wider Understanding Islam course offers forty-six free video-and-article sessions for deeper background reading.
• RE:ONLINE’s Islam GCSE Support Material is another useful secondary option. It is designed as a thorough introduction to Islam for GCSE students and teachers, with all content by Dr Chris Hewer, so it works well as a planning and confidence-building starting point.
• TrueTube remains one of the handiest free video libraries for RE. Its Islam resources include films such as Holy Cribs: The Mosque, which introduces the East London Mosque, and Islam: Prayer Positions, which is useful for teaching salah.
• NATRE’s free Why do Muslims…? is a helpful primary resource for introducing practices such as prayer, fasting and charity through pupil questions. NATRE’s wider Islam collection is also worth browsing, especially the Inspiring RE: Muslims materials for primary teachers.
• RE Today’s Understanding Muslims Understanding Islam series is a paid option, but it is substantial. It combines detailed lesson plans, classroom materials, authentic sources and over forty contemporary Muslim voices, so it is well suited to departments that want a fuller scheme rather than a few stand-alone lessons.
• The Diocese of Llandaff’s Islam resources page includes six Upper KS2 lesson plans on foundations, belonging, character, commitment, giving and messages. It also points teachers towards Cardiff University support materials and free KS3 resources, which makes it a useful page for primary subject leaders.
• Good Learning in RE on RE:ONLINE is not exclusively about Islam, but it includes free downloadable exemplars such as A Slave Set Free for 5 to 7 year olds and The Art of Allah for 11 to 13 year olds. These are useful if you want model enquiry lessons as well as content.
• For a history link, the British Museum’s The world in AD 900 workshop for KS2 covers Anglo-Saxon England alongside Abbasid Iraq, Maya Mexico and early Nigeria. It is a good cross-curricular option for teachers who want to place early Islamic civilisation in a broader world-history frame.

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