About the Book: Gossie and Gertie Are Best Friends.  They splash in the rain, play hide-and-seek, and they dive in the pond together. Everywhere Gossie goes, Gertie does too.

Skills Practiced: Children learn about the joy of having a close friend to share adventures with. They learn that it is okay to do things differently and be independent—even from your best friend.. It also models how friends can adapt and still enjoy being together even when they’re not doing the same thing. 

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

• This book  reflects the idea that while we can walk alongside others, we each have a unique path or purpose given by Allah.. Free will is essential to spiritual growth.

• Just like Gossie and Gertie were best friends, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.) and Hazrat Ali (a.s.) also had a very close, special friendship. They were best friends too.

• Make the connection that  whatever Prophet Muhammad did, Hazrat Ali followed his actions and they looked after each other

About the Book: This book is a celebration of the world’s diverse cultures, both similarities and differences. The innovative, colorful, folk art–style oil paintings of children from all corners of the globe are bordered with photographs of hand-carved, bejeweled frames—and they all reflect the message that no matter where we come from, within our hearts “Joys are the same, / and love is the same. / Pain is the same, / and blood is the same.”

Skills Practiced: Children will develop visual discrimination skills by identifying and comparing details in the illustrations throughout the book. They will build their own self esteem. They learn acceptance, respect, and recognizing both the differences and the common humanity of all people

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

• The core message encourages readers to accept and appreciate both the differences and the similarities between themselves and others. 

• Point out the fact that  although people are different in some ways, they are similar in many other ways (e.g. “Even though you may look different than your friends at school, you all show love and happiness in the same way.”)

• You can extend the discussion by pointing out that we are all made by Allah, and in order to show Allah that we love him, we must be kind to everyone we meet.

• We need to respect each other because we are all  brothers and sisters created by Allah

About the Book: School is starting in the forest, but Chester Raccoon does not want to go. To help ease Chester's fears, Mrs. Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to give him the reassurance of her love any time his world feels a little scary. This children's classic has touched the lives of millions of children and their parents, especially at times of separation, whether starting school, entering daycare, or going to camp. 

Skills Practiced: The book helps build emotional intelligence. It helps children recognize and name their emotions (e.g., fear, anxiety, love, comfort). They learn how to manage separation anxiety: it helps children process feelings about leaving home or being apart from a caregiver.

They learn coping strategies: to feel safe and loved even when apart from their caregivers or parents (parents can help build this)

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

•  Children can connect the special relationship between Mrs Raccoon and Chester Raccoon with the relationship between them and  parents

• Talk about how love is not bound by space or time — it travels with us. 

• Help children understand the “spiritual truth”; we are never truly alone when we are loved. You can further talk about our relationship with Mawlana Hazar Imam. Our Mawla’s love is always with us even though He is not physically present with us.

•  You might want to introduce the concept of reciting  a tasbih to invoke Allah’s help when feeling lonely or helpless. The practice of carrying a tasbih at all times helps to remind us that we can call upon Allah for help anytime.  

About the Book: This book was inspired by an Eastern concept of kindness that can help people of all ages notice and appreciate the kindness of others. The concept is this: any action that benefits you -- large or small, intentional or even unintentional -- is kindness. 

One night at dinner, author-illustrator Shelley Frost heard her two-year-old daughter exclaim, "Thank you, tomato workers! Thank you, lentil bean workers!" Shelley then realized that even young children could grasp this concept of kindness...and in the process, learn the language of gratitude and respect for others. 

Skills Practiced: The book helps children develop important emotional, social, and mindfulness-based skills. It teaches children to notice and appreciate the kindness in everyday things—food, clothing, shelter, and the people who make these things possible. It helps build a positive attitude.

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

•  No matter who we are or where we come from, when we take a moment to look around, we can see kindness everywhere.

• Children learn how to notice and appreciate everyday blessings 

• They learn to practice gratitude and build a positive outlook

• This book helps instill foundational values such as awareness and interconnectedness. These are the building blocks of emotional intelligence and moral development.

•  Our Prophets and Imams have taught us to be kind and respectful to all people and living things. These are  the foundation of our ethical values in Islam.

About the Book: In this engaging nonfiction picture book, five young friends --- Nick, Yulee, Pedro, Sally and Martin --- spend the day traveling around their neighborhood and participating in activities designed to raise money for their local library. Along the way, they learn about the people and places that make up their community and what it means to be a part of one.

Skills Practiced: Children are introduced to different elements of a community—like libraries, fire stations, small businesses, and charities. Children learn how different places within a community are organized and what purposes they serve. Children are introduced to vocabulary related to civic life, places, roles, and actions.By highlighting diversity in people and contributions, the book fosters an inclusive mindset and appreciation for different kinds of work and support., such as: respect for others’ roles and perspectives; cooperation and teamwork. 

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

• By highlighting diversity in people and contributions, the book fosters an inclusive mindset and appreciation for different kinds of work and support., such as: respect for others’ roles and perspectives; cooperation and teamwork

• It emphasizes how individuals, even children, can make a difference in their neighborhoods through simple acts like cleaning parks, raising money, or helping neighbors. It raises social awareness of collective well-being.

• You can enhance the concept of donation to our institutions, connecting it to the caption in the book  when the children stop at a yard sale, “Donating means you give something to help a good cause. You can donate money, things or your time.” You can make connection to how we donate our time and knowledge. As a nazarana (gift) to the Imam while serving the Jamat. 

• You can discuss how Ismailis live all across the world. We are all spiritual brothers and sisters, who may live in different parts of the world, yet we are all part of a global community. Just as we live in a community locally and globally, Medina was the first Muslim community during the time of Prophet Mohamed 

About the Book: Friends come in all colors and sizes; they can be funny or serious, musical or athletic, outgoing or quiet. This book reminds children to celebrate their differences because that is what makes each of us so special.The book celebrates differences in skin color, abilities, personalities, and interests, presenting them as something beautiful—like a rainbow

Skills Practiced: Children build social emotional skills as they learn to appreciate diversity,  cultural awareness, respect for individual differences and open-mindedness. They learn to empathize by noticing that friends can come in all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds, and accept how others feel and live. They develop their language as they hear the rhyming words

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

• The message in the book reinforces the idea that “everyone belongs,” regardless of how they look or act. It promotes creating friendships across differences.

•  The message of  how friends can help, listen to, and support each other, lays the foundation for healthy social interaction. Hazar Ima in his Farmansion instantly guides us about our ethical responsibility.to  look after the well being of others.   

• As you read the book, emphasize the rhyming words. When you are done reading, ask the children what the book was about. They should be able to tell you some of the differences among children. Ask if they have any friends that are similar to those in the story. Ask them if they have any friends who looks different than themselves; how do they treat these friends? Are they kind to them? Ask what the moral of the story is? Help them come to the conclusion that our friends make up a rainbow. 

About the Book: A girl in a red hat finds the courage to be kind to the new student in class. Her kindness spreads, kind act by kind act, until her whole community experiences the magical shift that happens when everyone understands—and acts on—what it means to be kind.

Skills Practiced: Social-emotional skills are enhanced: Children recognize the emotional impact of their actions and build sensitivity to the feelings of others’. The book encourages positive language use, gentle tone, and thoughtful responses when interacting with others, as it teaches peaceful ways of problem-solving

Key Messages and Religious Formation:

• The book presents kindness not as a random courtesy, but as a conscious, ethical choice. Small acts—like smiling or helping—are portrayed as meaningful gestures that honor our shared humanity. This resonates with our teachings from our Prophets and Imams which emphasizes each compassionate action is ethically (spiritually) significant.

• The examples of how to be kind range from simple gestures like smiling at a new student or holding a door for others, to more complicated actions like forgiving someone, learning from mistakes, or taking time to understand why a friend is sad. The examples include both kindness in deed and kindness in word, with saying “please” and sharing among the ways kindness is shown, and the pictures feature friendly children doing so. 

• The concept of diversity,featuring children of different races, and children of different sizes and with different personal styles is represented to build upon the concept of pluralism

About the Book: "Guess how much I love you," says Little Nutbrown Hare. Little Nutbrown Hare shows his daddy how much he loves him: as wide as he can reach and as far as he can hop. But Big Nutbrown Hare, who can reach farther and hop higher, loves him back just as much. Well then Little Nutbrown Hare loves him right up to the moon, but that's just halfway to Big Nutbrown Hare's love for him.

Skills Practiced: Children begin to understand and express complex, abstract feelings like love and affection by using tangible, physical actions. They learn to recognize emotions in themselves and others, while learning new descriptive words related to feelings, nature, and size.

Key Messages and Religious Formation: 

• Children learn “comparative thinking.” and empathy; Social emotional development is being enhanced as children begin to appreciate how others reciprocate their love.  They recognize and value the feelings of others. 

•  Learning to trust in a higher power, guardian, or loving presence, even when we can't fully understand it.

• Love and connection can be felt more deeply than words can express.

• Have children reflect upon the deep love that they share with their parents, and learn that Mawlana Hazar Imam, our 50th Imam, loves them very much

• You can extend the discussion about Love to include Mawlan Hazar Imam, our 50th Imam’s love for his spiritual children (His jamat)  You might  ask: did you know that Mawlana Hazar Imam is our spiritual mother and father?   

• Elaborate “Just like our parents, he loves us very, very much.”  

• If  they ask  what “spiritual” means, you may respond with: “special” or “Allah made him special”, “he has a lot of spiritual children; he doesn’t live with them but he cares about them very, very much.”

•  Ask the children to show with their arms How much they think  Hazar Imam loves them and then have them show how much they love Mawlan Hazar Imam? What can they do to show their love for Mawalna Hazar Imam?