Below is a guest blog post by Shirin Shamsi, author of Zahra's Blessing: A Ramadan Blessing. When she's not busy writing for children, Shirin spends her days sharing her love of Barefoot Books as an independent bookseller in her community. In this blog post, she shares the inspiration behind her exciting new picture book.
It really is a dream come true that Zahra’s Blessing is now a book — and published by Barefoot Books!
I have loved Barefoot since I first discovered them in the 1990s. I immediately knew this company was different from anything I had ever seen. At that time, I was busy raising my three children. Writing children’s books was a quiet dream that I held in my heart — an impossible and elusive dream.
I wrote stories for my children, stories that were relevant to their experiences. I illustrated them too, albeit pretty awfully! But my children loved them, as they saw themselves reflected in these stories.
The idea for what is now Zahra’s Blessing came to me when my children were very young, but it was very different then. It was about a teddy bear who accidentally ended up in a thrift store and wanted to find his way home. It was rejected twenty years ago, so I put it away for many years. One day, the school librarian mentioned my teddy story. She told me she still shared it with her students. It lit a spark of hope inside of me: hope that this old laminated story, that I had thought was forgotten to the world, may yet have possibilities.
I went home, took it out again and decided to rewrite it from the child’s perspective. I thought perhaps with revisions, with some polishing, I might discover a gem. I began revising, rewriting and submitting to critique partners.
Zahra was the main character, and she lost her bear in the month of Ramadan.
I initially wanted to write about Ramadan, so that my children would have a holiday book they could relate to.
The Amazing Twist of Fate
I wanted to make a difference in the world, in the lives of all children. So I read stories to children in schools. Twenty years later, I learned that a story I had written and illustrated inspired one six-year-old child named Manal.
Manal went on to study art and media at Columbia College in Chicago. She’s become a graphic designer and illustrator whose artwork on Instagram often explores the experiences of contemporary South Asian Muslim womanhood.
As fate would have it, Barefoot Books chose her to be the illustrator of Zahra’s Blessing! Twenty years after hearing me read at her school!
This story still gives me goosebumps. When I learned of it, I burst into tears. It was such a humbling and gratifying moment. It emphasized the impact and power of storytelling on a young child. It made me realize that I need to continue sharing stories, and trust they will make a positive difference.
It also highlights the fact that we are all connected, and everything we do has ripple effects. I hope to keep on writing and sharing my stories with children everywhere. I trust that my stories inspire empathy and kindness, and that children who are raised reading Barefoot Books will grow up creating ripples of kindness and empathy that will bring about a tidal wave of goodness in our world.
Shirin with her great-nephew, Ali Asad Khan
About Zahra’s Blessing, written by Shirin Shamsi and illustrated by Manal Mirza
“A sweet story about the importance of sharing and caring that’s embedded in Islamic traditions” – Kirkus Reviews
Zahra hugs her cherished teddy bear and prays that Ramadan will bring her a longed-for sister. When her bear subsequently goes missing, Zahra finds herself grappling with intense feelings of loss. Over the next few weeks, as she volunteers with her mother at a local shelter for asylum seekers, Zahra befriends a displaced child, resulting in a newfound sense of gratitude and an unexpected Ramadan blessing.
