Picture Books about Diverse Religions
Every month, Montessori For All selects an anti-bias, anti-racist book for our teachers to read to their communities. First we select one for 3-6 year-olds, then one for 1st-3rd graders, and finally one for 4th-6th graders. You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter. It includes links to book guides with discussion questions, vocabulary words, and extension activities to be used in the classroom or at home, you can sign up here. This month we are focusing on picture books about diverse religions. Further, you can find books about peace/justice/empathy here or immigration and refugees here.
Picture Books about Diverse Religions: 3-6 year-olds
Hats of Faith is a beautifully illustrated introduction to the shared custom of head covering. Using accurate terminology, phonetic pronunciations and bright, beautiful imagery, Hats of Faith helps educate and prepare young children and their parents for our culturally diverse modern world. The book celebrates head coverings from faiths including: Christian Jewish Muslim Rastafarian Sikh Hats of Faith is a 12 page, 18cm x 18cm sturdy board book, perfect for rough and tumble babies and toddlers.
Picture Books about Diverse Religions: 6-9 year-olds
In Lailah’s Lunchbox: A Ramadan Story, Lailah is in a new school in a new country, thousands of miles from her old home, and missing her old friends. When Ramadan begins, she is excited that she is finally old enough to participate in the fasting but worried that her classmates won’t understand why she doesn’t join them in the lunchroom.
Lailah solves her problem with help from the school librarian and her teacher and in doing so learns that she can make new friends who respect her beliefs. This gentle, moving story from first-time author Reem Faruqi comes to life in Lea Lyon’s vibrant illustrations. Lyon uses decorative arabesque borders on intermittent spreads to contrast the ordered patterns of Islamic observances with the unbounded rhythms of American school days.
Picture Books about Diverse Religions: 9-12 year-olds
In One World Many Religions, religious understanding is as important today than any other time in history. In this highly acclaimed book, Mary Pope Osborne introduces readers to the six major religions of the world. One World, Many Religions covers the history, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. All have had a deep effect on the laws and customs of every country. They have shaped art, literature, music, and education. They have given the world magnificent stories, songs, buildings, holy objects, ceremonies, and festivals.”
From the Introduction to Many Religions, One World. Best-selling children’s author Mary Pope Osborne presents an accessible and elegantly crafted volume that introduces young readers to the world’s seven major religions. Six short readable chapters–perfectly targeted to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders–detail the history, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Handsomely designed and featuring fifty oversized color photographs and a full complement of reference materials, including a map, time line, and bibliography, this book provides a thorough and thoughtful presentation of the diverse ways people worship around the world.