We all want our children to be avid readers but we also want to make sure that what they are reading is appropriate for them. When you have speedy readers who can go through a few books in one day it can be a little difficult to keep up! Pre-reading and screening requires quite a bit of time. Alhumdulilah there are some helpful sites that have done some of the work for you. These sites screen for religious and sexual content, violence and language. They also write a description to give you an idea of what the book is about. Here are some sites that I found to be the most helpful:
The following is a list of good chapter books for Muslim children compiled by me and my daughters:
1. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Beloved by T. Morrison
3. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
5. A Garland For Girls By Louisa May Alcott
6. Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss.
7. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
9. Aunt Kipp by Louisa May Alcott
10. Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
11. Laura Ingles Little House on The Prairie (series)
12. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggen
13. Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
14. Dear America Series
15. Royal Diary Series
16. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
17. Five Little Peppers and Their Friends by Margaret Sidney
18. Chains (Seeds of America) by Laurie Halse Anderson
19. Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
20. Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
21. The Moon Bridge by Marcia Savin
22. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chadler Warner
23. Emily’s Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
24. Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
25. The city of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
26. First Light by Rebecca Stead
27. The Land of Elyon Book 1 by Patrick Carman
28. Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
29. Remnants by KA Applegate
30. American Chills by Elizabeth Massie
31. Kidnapped by Gordon Korman
32. Island by Gordon Korman
33. The Wright 3 by BlueBalliett
34. Ribbon by Laurence Yep
35. Thief of Heart by Laurence Yep
36. Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix
37. Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix
38. Escape From memory by Margaret Peterson Haddix
39. The House on The Gulf by Margaret Peterson Haddix
40. Don’t You Dare Read This Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix
41. Take offs and Landings by Margaret Peterson Haddix
42. Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix
43. Esperanza Rising Pam Munoz Ryan
44. Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolf
45. Sounder by William H. Armstrong
46. The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
47. Now is Your Time by The African American Struggle For Freedom by Walter Dean Myers
49. Young Samurai series by Chris Bradford. (suggested by a member of Successful Muslim Homeschooling)
50. Hariet Tubman : Conductor on The Underground Railroad by Ann Perry
51. The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
52. Alex and The Ironic Gentleman by Adrienna Kress
Here is a list of Islamic chapter books for teens that my daughters have read. I have read most of them and found them to be quite interesting and very well written. Admittedly this list is much shorter than the other but keep checking back as we plan to buy/check out more Islamic books for Muslim Teens in the future.
1. Layla Deen by Yahiya Emerick (series)
2. Ahmad Deen by Yahiya Emerick (series)
3. Isabella a Girl of Muslim Spain Yahiya Emerick
4. Invincible Abdullah Series by Haji U. Hutchinson
5. The Unveiled by Ameerah A Rahman
6. If I Should Speak by Umm Zakiyyah
7. The Size of a Mustard Seed by Umm Juwayriyah
8. A Voice by Umm Zakiyyah
I hope you found this information helpful. Please feel free to share more good reads for Muslim children and teens in the comment box. Many moms will benefit from your input. Thanks for stopping by and please come again. 🙂
“And those who believed and whose descendants followed them in faith – We will join with them their descendants, and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds. Every person, for what he earned, is retained…” [Quran 52:21]
Hi. Thank you for the list. I am curious what criteria you used to determine if a book was Islamically acceptable. Also, would you change your opinion on any of the books if the child is below a certain age? JZK.
Salamualaikum, I tried not to include any books that have magic as I know some Muslim parents do not allow their children to read books with magic in them. None of the books should have sexual content. We also screened for inappropriate behavior such as swearing, disrespect to parents or other unruly behavior. I did not put an age by each book as each child matures at a different rate so the parent will need to read the description and determine if the book is ok for their child.
assalamoalaikum sister my son does not like to read at all he is a typical teenager the only books he reads are magazines of WWE he is fascinated by these wrestlers any advice on how to get him interested to read
Salam sis! Great blog! Have you checked out the Jannah Jewels Adventure Series yet by Umm Nura? What do you think of them? I read Book 1 and it was pretty good! Wondered what you thought?