Submitted by AYA KHALIL
Aya Khalil, debut author, has written a book titled The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story that is now out for pre-order. The author will present a book release parry at Gathering Volumes, 196 E. South Boundary St., Perrysburg, on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.
The book is based on true stories from her childhood as an Egyptian immigrant when she moved to the US at the age of one. In light of recent events, this book is perfect to shed light on experiences of immigrant children. Kids of all ages will enjoy the beautiful illustrations and emotions filed win this book. The book is scheduled to be released Feb. 18th, 2020 by Tilbury House Publishers.
Here is an excerpt from Amazon:
“Kanzi’s family has moved from Egypt to America, and on her first day in a new school, what she wants more than anything is to fit in. Maybe that’s why she forgets to take the kofta sandwich her father has made for her lunch, but that backfires when Mama shows up at school with the sandwich. Mama wears a hijab and calls her daughter Habibti (dear one). When she leaves, the teasing starts.
“That night, Kanzi wraps herself in the beautiful Arabic quilt her teita in Cairo gave her and writes a poem in Arabic about the quilt. Next day her teacher sees the poem and gets the entire class excited about creating a “quilt” (a paper collage) of student names in Arabic. In the end, Kanzi’s most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one.
This authentic story with beautiful illustrations includes a glossary of Arabic words and a presentation of Arabic letters with their phonetic English equivalents.”
Aya Khalil is a freelance journalist and educator. She’s been featured in Teen Vogue, Yahoo! and other publications. Her work has been published in The Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Toledo Area Parent and many others. She’s done sensitivity consultation for DK Publishing/Penguin Random House. She lives in Toledo, Ohio, with her husband, Abdalrahman, and their three children.
Illustrator: Born in Kazakhstan and raised in Armenia, Anait now lives near Seattle with her husband, twins, and a shaggy Labradoodle. She studied Economics, but Art has always been a big part of her life, she spent hours copying Disney characters as a kid. Much later her passion for creating characters and capturing their emotions led her to children’s book illustration. Anait joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and now most of her time is dedicated to drawing for kids.
