In teaching Anne Frank to 8th graders I allow kids to choose to learn about Judaism. I talked aRamadan and the Eid. They are truly culturally deprived. Sharon - I find its not always the teacher. Kathleen - It certainly can be read to younger children, the meaning and illustrations discussed.
People have such strong feelings about religion and how it presented in the public sphere.
The book is in alphabetical order and we decided not to include number of believers. We wanted children to assess the ideas of a religious tradition, not how many members it has. We are so afraid to exclude someone we are not celebrating our diversity and cultures anymore. I read many books and articles, then wrote my page and then ran it by someone in each religion to get final approval. Episcopalian was hard, I remember, to explain to kids that it is both American and British.