Summary: This book is about a girl named Aneesa. Her parents are away and she spends this holiday with her grandmother. Aneesa learns the lesson of sharing and compassion and decided that this is the best Eid ever!
Personal Reaction: This book pulled at my heart strings. Aneesa showed the compassion and heart that everyone needs to learn how to have. She loved the presents she received but also understood that someone else needed them more than her.
Classroom Extensions:
1.In the classroom, we could talk about toys and other things that people often donate.
2.We could look up what Eid is and discuss the events that take place on and around it.

This book is about a girl named Aneesa. She is getting ready to celebrate Eid, a big holiday for the Muslim year. Her parent's are on a pilgrimage, so she celebrates with her grandmother. When they go t the prayer hall, Aneesa meets a couple of refugee girls who have lost everything to a house fire. This inspires Aneesa to help them and she and her grandmother make gift baskets for the family. I love the warm colors used in the illustrations for this book and it is a heartwarming story. I also love the positive portrayal of a Muslim family. ( )

Aneesa notices two poor girls at mosque on Eid. She 7 grandmother pack up their special Eid meal and new clothes and figure out how to give the gifts without embarrassing the poor girls or their father. Excellent.

A young Pakistani-American girl named Aneesa is despondent as the holiday of Eid-al-Adha begins in this engaging story, missing her parents, who are performing the Hajj pilgrimage in far-away Saudi Arabia. Nonni, her grandmother, soon cheers her up however, showing her the lovely new Eid clothes she is to wear - three sets, one for each day of the holiday! - promising her that they will spend some quality grandmother-granddaughter time together, and tempting her with some delicious lamb korma. Although comforted, Aneesa's thoughts are still far away with her parents (even during the imam's sermon at the mosque), until she meets two girls at the reception after the services, and realizes that the newcomers, Zayneb and Mariam, are refugees who have almost nothing. Suddenly, her mind on something other than her own problems, Aneesa decides just what will make this the best Eid ever...

After greatly enjoying this author's A Party in Ramadan, I have been meaning to read The Best Eid Ever, erroneously believing that it concerned the holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that this story concerns Eid-al-Adha! Unlike Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr, which are explored in a number of excellent picture-books (The White Nights of Ramadan, Night of the Moon: A Muslim Holiday Story, Moon Watchers: Shirin's Ramadan Miracle), I have never seen an English-language story about Eid al-Adha, so this book is particularly welcome, for that reason. It is also just a very engaging story, one that celebrates generosity, and the importance of giving, in the Muslim tradition. Recommended to anyone looking for Eid-al-Adha stories for children, or for titles featuring Pakistani-American families. ( )

I do not know much about Islamic faith so this story was a great introducation to an important holiday. The author's note and glossary help to clarify the holidays and references made throughout the book to someone outside the faith. I thought it had the perfect mixture of information that it could be enjoyed by children of this faith or not.

This book could go along with a library program which celebrates the different traditions celebrated my the many faiths around the world. ( )