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For Kids

Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant

By Mehded Maryam Sinclair
The greedy and power-hungry vice-regent Abrahah intends to divert the world’s pilgrims from the Kaaba, the House of Allah, in Mecca, to the cathedral his slaves have built for him. But when the cathedral’s spires finally slice the brilliant Yemeni sk ... Read More The greedy and power-hungry vice-regent Abrahah intends to divert the world’s pilgrims from the Kaaba, the House of Allah, in Mecca, to the cathedral his slaves have built for him. But when the cathedral’s spires finally slice the brilliant Yemeni skies and the magnificent doors are opened, the throngs Abrahah has been boasting about do not arrive. In a rage, he vows to destroy the Kaaba, but Allah, the Causer of all causes, has other plans. True happenings, stranger by far than fiction, demonstrate that if He says, “Be!” it is, it surely is.

From Abu Yusuf, (Amman): At last! A story from Islamic history written in vivid, compelling style, and on top of that, accompanied by an audio telling (not 'reading', but authentic 'telling') that will delight and fascinate children of all ages. Children who have been given just the audio CD enthusiastically report that they feel they've 'seen' the story....one child (brought up without television) even referred to the CD as 'a movie.' The illustrations, on the other hand, provide the child with some visual information about how things might have looked so long ago, even if they are a bit over-done and cliche. Nevertheless it's a beautiful hard-cover book, one your children will want to read again and again with or without the CD, improving their grasp of well-written English along the way. As for the CD, even very young children love the language and walk around repeating parts of it as they listen...the best language instruction you could ever give a toddler. Last but by no means least, the story is carefully researched and verified by scholars of sunna and tafsir.

From Umm Hamza, (UAE): My husband and I purchased the audio recording of this story when our daughter was about 15 months old and I played it almost every day for a few weeks. It was the first recorded story that I ever played just for her and I wasn't sure how she would react. She LOVED it! Even though she was too young to understand the content of the story, she would obviously be paying close attention to the sound effects and the voice of the storyteller. She would bounce up and and down to the beat of the drums, and repeat "Allah!" whenever she heard it being said in the story. Playing the story would almost immediately quiet her if she was feeling cranky and put a big smile on her face especially as she "danced" to the drumbeats. Now, as a 20-something-year-old adult, I have to say that I was a bit surprised by how much *I* really enjoyed the story! I am not ashamed to admit that I actually cried during my first listening of the story because of Mehded's vivid descriptions and storytelling style. A few of the more dramatic points in the story got me quite emotional! I read the book after listening to the story many times and was mildly disappointed by the illustrations because I had already developed very detailed images in my mind of the whole story. But the book is still great for allowing young readers to review and retell the story in their own voice and is a fine example of a beautiful Islamic story in very descriptive and well-written English--definitely a must-have book for one's growing children's library. Additional positive aspects of the book and recording include the fact that they teach the reader/listener about the history tied to a chapter of the Qur'an and about reliance on God when facing any difficulty. PLUS the story is very well researched and has been checked by reliable scholars. Overall, Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant--both the book and recording--are great tools for developing your and your child(ren)'s love for reading stories and storytelling, while learning about Islam and developing love for God and the Prophet Muhammad at the same time. Look out for other books and audio stories by Mehded such as Bowing of the Stars (an audio story about the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph)--yes, I cried listening to this for the first time, too!). May God continue to bless Mehded's storytelling!

From Mothering Magazine Forums: YES!!!!! We LOVE LOVE LOVE her stories - 'when I grow up' I want to tell stories like her too. In fact, she has inspired me to try a little more with my own storytelling to children, but her CD's never fail to give even me goosebumps as the story unfolds and carries you to a time and place as if you were to almost witness it. I could rave a long time masha'Allah. We have the Bowing of the Stars and the Year of the Elephant. The Qur'an recital is superb masha'Allah too. I forget who recites, but it's beautiful.

FROM MUNA: I just wanted to share with you something i think is amazing :)

I've been playing miraculous happenings for a few days straight and noticed that my daughter has actually memorized parts of the story, and she is only 18 months old!! I was doubtful at first so I've kept playing it everyday so I could pay attention.

When the part comes where you say "and he drank long and greedily..." Nafeesah says "Ahhhhh!" before Abrahah does. Then when you mention he stuffs a handful of grapes in his mouth she makes smacking sound with her mouth. The part when the soldiers start whispering to each other, she starts doing the "whispering" sounds before they start on the recording. and I've noticed that before some dialogue is about to come up Nafeesah seems to me imitating the sound of the voice of the person who is about to speak, only in babble of course.

I can tell she has memorized parts of the story because her actions usually precede the sound effects/dialogue that she seems to be imitating rather than afterwards.   Hide
Format: MP3 audio files (plays on iPod and all MP3 players)
1 downloadable audio file
Total Time: & 29 Minutes total
9 Downloads
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Cost: 10 Point(s) for entire Album

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