Mecca

Children's Literature

With the Middle East in the news everyday, American young people now regularly hear words like "hajj" and "Mecca" and this book represents a worthy beginning in explaining these places and practices. There are some inaccuracies that will certainly aggravate Muslim readers — there are no graves at the Ka'bah in Mecca, for example; Muslims pray toward Mecca but mosques themselves don't face in any particular direction; and Muhammad recited the Quran, he did not read it. But the book does find the common ground among Jewish, Christian and Muslim stories and holy texts; photographs are colorful, current and plentiful, and all the text follows the Muslim practice of writing "pbuh" (peace be upon him) after the name of the prophet Muhammad. There is an explanation of the pilgrimage to Mecca and a short essay by a young Muslim woman from England who had just completed her first hajj: "all the prayers and rituals help you to find peace inside yourself." There is a brief description of the Muslim year as well as the importance of Muslim sites in Jerusalem and Medinah. A short but thorough glossary and an easy-to-use index will help students just learning to use nonfiction books for research. Other titles in the "Holy Places" series visit Bodh Gaya, the Ganges, the Golden Temple, the Vatican and the Western Wall. 2003, Raintree,
— Karen Leggett