Salat in ­Secret

PreS-Gr 3–Muhammad is Muslim, and on his seventh birthday he receives a rug to use when he performs salat, or praying. Salat follows a prescribed sequence of movements and occurs five times every day within stipulated time periods. One of the times for praying comes during the school day, and Muhammad is concerned about finding a secluded place in which to perform his prayers. He has watched his father worship alongside his ice cream truck and be laughed at by those who see him, and this makes the boy afraid to ask his teacher about a spot for him in which to pray. “Would Mrs. Baker think salat is funny?” Something happens one evening when he observes his father praying that results in the boy plucking up the courage to talk with his teacher. Cheerful illustrations in spreads and smaller vignettes show a multicultural town and school, as well as Muhammad’s brown-skinned family, which includes his father, his mother in a hijab, and young siblings.