Books Like Once Upon an Eid

There is a specific feeling that comes from finishing Once Upon an Eid: the feeling of having been invited to a celebration. The anthology, edited by S. K. Ali and Aisha Saeed, gathers stories of Eid - the joy, the family, the food, the faith, the prayers and the presents - from some of the best Muslim writers for young readers. It has been loved by families because it welcomes every reader into the celebration. The problem after finishing it is the one every great book creates: you want more of the feeling - the joy, the family, the warmth. This guide collects the books that genuinely belong on that shelf.

What Made Once Upon an Eid Special#

Before the recommendations, it is worth naming what you are actually looking for, because the right next book depends on which part of the book stayed with you.

If the celebration stayed with you - the joy, the food, the presents - then the celebration stories will fit. If the family stayed with you - the gatherings, the love, the traditions - then the family stories will be your natural next step. And if the faith stayed with you - the identity, the community - then the faith-and-identity stories will carry it forward. Most readers are looking for all three, and the books below cover the range.

The Celebration Stories#

Amira’s Picture Day by Reem Faruqi#

If there is one book that the Once Upon an Eid reader should pick up next, it is Amira’s Picture Day. Amira is excited for Eid - the holiday, the party, the picture day at the mosque - and the picture book is a warm celebration of the holiday and its meaning.

The two books are siblings: the celebration of Eid, the joy, the family, the faith. For readers who loved the celebrations in Once Upon an Eid, Amira is the natural next character to celebrate with.

Content notes: A warm picture book, suitable for readers of all ages.

The Night Before Eid by Aya Khalil#

For readers who want the celebration story with the most tradition, The Night Before Eid is the book. The picture book follows a child and his family as they prepare for Eid - the baking, the decorating, the gathering - and it is a warm celebration of the holiday’s traditions.

The book shares Once Upon an Eid’s joy and its attention to the traditions of the celebration. For readers who loved the food and the preparations in the anthology, this is the natural next read.

Content notes: A warm picture book, suitable for readers of all ages.

The Family Stories#

The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S. K. Ali#

For readers who want the family-and-identity story with the most heart, The Proudest Blue is the book. Faizah watches her older sister Asiya wear her first hijab - the proudest blue - and the book is a celebration of family, faith and the courage of being yourself.

The book shares Once Upon an Eid’s warmth, its family and its celebration of faith. For readers who loved the family stories in the anthology, this is the essential next read.

Content notes: A warm picture book, suitable for readers of all ages.

Under My Hijab by Hena Khan#

For readers who want the family story with the most generations, Under My Hijab is the book. The picture book shows the women in one family - the grandmother, the mother, the aunt, the sister - and how each wears her hijab in her own way, and what each does in the world.

The book shares Once Upon an Eid’s celebration of family and faith. For readers who loved the family gatherings in the anthology, this is the natural next read.

Content notes: A warm picture book, suitable for readers of all ages.

The Faith-and-Identity Stories#

The Faith and the Community#

One of the quiet achievements of Once Upon an Eid is its community: the mosques, the families, the traditions, the faith that binds the stories together. The faith-and-identity stories on this shelf share that achievement - the faith taken seriously, the community rendered with affection, the reader welcomed inside. For readers who loved the community of the anthology, these are the books that carry the warmth forward.

Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi#

For readers who want the faith and identity in a beginning-reader series, the Yasmin! series is the book. Yasmin, a Pakistani American second grader, is curious, creative and brave - and the series follows her through the small adventures and discoveries of her everyday life, with her family and her faith at the center.

The book shares Once Upon an Eid’s warmth and its celebration of Muslim family life, delivered for the youngest readers. For readers who loved the family stories in the anthology, Yasmin is the natural next character.

Content notes: Warm early chapter books, suitable for readers from kindergarten up.

How to Choose Your Next Read#

The right next book depends on what you are ready for. If you want the celebration: Amira’s Picture Day or The Night Before Eid. If you want the family and identity: The Proudest Blue or Under My Hijab. If you want the early reader series: the Yasmin! series.

There is no wrong order, but there is a sensible one: start with Amira’s Picture Day for the same celebration, then The Proudest Blue for the family and identity, then the others as you go.

Reading the Shelf for the Welcome#

It is worth saying plainly what the Once Upon an Eid shelf is really for, because the welcome is the thing families carry away: these are books that invite the reader inside a celebration. The anthology does not explain Eid from the outside; it welcomes the reader into the joy, the family, the food, the faith - and the books on this list make the same invitation in their own registers. They are books that widen the circle.

The widening matters because it is the opposite of the world’s usual instinct. The books insist that the celebration is for everyone - the reader of any faith, any background, any family - and that the joy is shared, not guarded. For families who loved the welcome of Once Upon an Eid, the shelf is a collection of invitations - each one a reminder that the celebration is richer when it is shared, and that the sharing is the point. Read them together, read them aloud, and let them widen the circle of your own family’s table. It is also worth saying that the shelf is not only for Muslim families; it is for every family that wants to teach its children the joy of welcoming. The books are windows - for Muslim children, mirrors that show their own celebrations honored; for other children, windows into a celebration they may not know, opened with warmth rather than explanation. Both are gifts, and the best family reading does both: the child who sees herself honored, and the child who learns that every family’s celebration is worth honoring. The books on this shelf make both gifts available, and the family that reads them together receives both.

The Values the Shelf Carries#

Once Upon an Eid is, at its core, a book about values in action - the joy of celebration, the loyalty of family, the healthy relationships that grow in a community of faith. It belongs on the relationships shelf alongside the guides that explore those values directly. Our thoughtful guide to respect and manners walks through the value of the respect that the anthology’s stories embody - the seeing of people fully, the welcoming of the reader into the celebration - and it pairs naturally with this reading, because the collection is a demonstration of exactly what the guide describes.

The shelf also connects to the healthy relationships themes, in a specific way: the book’s deepest subject is the family and community that make the celebration possible. Our guide to healthy relationships explores the bonds that the anthology shows being practiced across its pages - the family gatherings, the community care - and it belongs with this reading because the stories are a study in the relationships that carry us. Together these guides frame the fiction, and the fiction makes the guides feelable.

Conclusion#

Once Upon an Eid has been loved by families because it welcomes every reader into the celebration - the joy, the family, the food, the faith, the stories gathered from some of the best Muslim writers for young readers. The books on this list are the honest responses to the question it leaves behind: what next?

The celebration of Amira’s Picture Day and The Night Before Eid, the family of The Proudest Blue and Under My Hijab, and the adventures of Yasmin - together they carry the same truth in different voices: celebration is shared, family is the ground, and the sharing is the point. Read the notes, choose where you are, and let the books take their time.