Charity Balls Book Review

 

Title: Charity Balls

Author: Jameela Ho

Illustrator: Aishah Ho

Publisher: Self-published Amazon

Age: 3-5 years old

When Rabeah discovers the meaning of zakat, she goes in search of her balls. She wants to give them away so that other children will have balls to play with too.

This is an interactive book that encourages children to search and count with Rabeah as she searches for her balls. Children will practice counting to 10 with one to one correspondence.

The intention behind this book was to help children with counting to ten and also to practice counting with one-to-one correspondence. I wrote this book about 20 years ago for my nephews and nieces who were at that age. I was also volunteering at a playgroup and doing book readings. A lot of preschool children needed practice with counting in a fun way.

I believe that this book does that. It makes it fun for children to look for the balls on each page and try to count them. The counting is cumulative is the first page with the counting with have one ball then the next page will have two balls. And on it goes up to ten balls.

Children will have fun searching for the balls and counting with Rabeah

The illustrations are detailed with the balls placed so children can see them. The last page though has oranges on a tree - just a bit of fun to help children with making observations.

There are 10 balls on this page...but don't be tricked!

The more children can practice counting in different ways and different contexts then the better they'll become, insha Allah. At the end of the book, I've also included a number line. This will help children not only with 1-to-1 correspondence but also with associating the counting numbers with its written form.

Counting on the number line

I also wanted to put this counting practice into an Islamic context for children to subtly learn about charity. As children read and count, they're also learning about giving what they have away. Perhaps this will lead to a discussion on what they can give away and doing their own charity giving.

If you'd like to purchase this book and you're in the US then you can use the link below. Otherwise just go to the Amazon in your country and search for it.

Get this book here (my affiliate link)

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As Muslims, we all know the benefit of listening to and memorising the Quran. In this world, we can find a comfort and a cure: Allah says in the Quran, 'We send down the Quran as a healing and mercy for the believers...' (17:82) and guidance '...It is a guide and a healing to the believers...' (41:44), among other things. In the Hereafter, we can attain a higher status in Jannah according to what we've memorised. Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “It will be said to the companion of the Quran: Recite and ascend as you recited in the world. Verily, your rank is determined by the last verse you recite." ( al-Tirmidhī)

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