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An Analysis Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective

Student Name
San Diego State University
CFD 375B: Human Development & Learning - Early/Middle Childhood
Fall 2022
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An Analysis “The Proudest Blue”

Introduction

In their book, “The Proudest Blue,” the author, Muhammad Ibtihaj tells the story of two

young sisters’ solidarity and meditation spirit in the face of bullying. Asiya and Faizah are young

Muslim girls on the first day of school and one’s first day wearing a hijab. Faizah looks forward

to joining school in the new school year and also marks her elder sister Asiya’s first day with a

hijab. Despite the excitement, the duo realizes that not everyone likes the hijab and they face ill-

treatment from other students. The sisters soon realize that solidarity and inner strength are vital

characteristics that they have to nurture and gain to overcome bullying and face new experiences.

Published in 2019, the story is both a mirror and window that educates and encourages respect

for and pride in wearing a hijab despite backlash and bullying. The 40-page illustrative book that

offers readers an exquisite blend of everyday aspects of life, emotional lyricism, and how to

survive new experiences. It contains colorful pictures and written in simple English, which

makes it ideal for preschoolers. Concisely, Muhammad Ibtihaj and S.K. Ali’s, “The Proudest

Blue,” is a powerful and inspiring book that can help preschoolers to understand the importance

of personal identity, pride, confidence, solidarity, and visibility when facing challenges and new

experiences.

Critical Analysis of Diversity

The themes of confidence, self-pride, solidarity, and visibility in the face of challenges

like bullying debut from the beginning of the story and brings diversity in children’s literature.

The story starts as Faizah, Asiya, and their mother shop for Asiya’s first hijab. From the

illustration and pictures, it is obvious that shopping for a hijab was an important activity for the

family. Through this, the family’s identity as Muslims and their Islamic culture is depicted,
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which marks the start of the author’s illustration of diversity. The story depicts normal behavior

in many instances including the behavior of children in school and veers of the dominant culture

portrayed in most children’s literature.

From the occurrences in the story, it becomes clear to the reader that the depiction of

diversity, solidarity, and confidence in the face of bullying comes from the author’s/insider’s

perspective. As a Muslim himself, the author seem to be illustrating the challenges that

marginalized children face in the form of bullying because of their cultural and religious

background. For example, Faizah views her sister as a princess because of her new hijab and

makes her feel like a princess too, which represents their pride and respect for their culture

(Muhammad, 2019). While the story is about the challenges that two Muslim sister’s experience

at school, the assumption is that the readers have differing ages, genders, cultures, and from

different social classes. However, he articulates the story to fit such diversity making it resonate

with a variety of readers. If the story was written or told by a dominant person, it is more likely

that the author would not have expressed the issue of culture and bullying as clearly as the actual

author.
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References

Anonymous, A.A., Author, B.B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,

volume number (issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Bacon, D. (2020). Gender development in early childhood [PowerPoint presentation]. San Diego

State University Canvas. https://sdsu.instructure.com

James, L. (2017). Debut in the Central Valley: A story not often told. Kid Lit Reviews.

https://www.kidlitreviewsblog.com/2017/02/12/792747323
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Johansen, E. (2016). The adventures of Ramón and Tatiana. Fake Publishing Company.

Lally, M. & Valentine-Frenche, S. (2019). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective.

http://dept.clcillinois.edu/psy/LifespanDevelopment.pdf. CC BY-NC-SA

Muhammad, I. (2019). The proudest blue: A story of hijab and family. Little, Brown Books for

Young Readers.