Perfect Picture Book Friday: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns

Title: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns

Author: Hena Khan

Illustrator: Mehrdokht Amini

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2012

Age: 4 - 6

Themes: Colors, Cultures and Religions (Islam)

Opening: Red is the rug dad kneels on to pray, facing towards Mecca five times a day.

Summary: A young girl guides very young readers on a colorful adventure as she shares simple and easy to understand facts about her culture and religious traditions.

Resources:
Color hunting: Try singing this chant with your child(ren) as you go on a color hunt around the room.

We Are Going on a Color Hunt

We are going on a color hunt, we going to find the color red
We are going to look high and we are going to look low
until we find the color red.

Blue, Gold, White, Black, Brown, Orange, Purple, Yellow, Green and Silver.

The book explores a lot new and probably unfamiliar vocabulary, create word puzzles, and word finds to help learn the new words.

Talk about the architecture of the buildings, the domes and minarets, how do they differ from other houses of worship.

Henna Designs: Allow children to copy or draw their own designs using this hand template. Or find inspiration using these. Learn more about the history of henna here. 

Make a fanoos, a traditional lamp used during festivals.

What I like about the book:

I really enjoyed the illustrations. They were rich, vivid, and colorful. They brought to life the words on the pages. Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns is a wonderful addition to any classroom library as it beautifully reflects both Middle Eastern culture and the Muslim religion. Children are able to explore and learn about the traditions and celebrations of Muslims.