The Great Big Beautiful Podcast, Episode 212: Hena Khan
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This week, we’re talking to author Hena Khan, whose book Amina’s Voice was one of the launch titles for Simon & Schuster’s Salaam Reads imprint. (You can check out my review of that book here.) She’s also written a series of middle-grade books about Zayd Saleem—“Chasing the Dream”—a 4th grader with dreams of basketball stardom, a few board books that spotlight Muslim traditions, and even a book starring Curious George (It’s Ramadan, Curious George)! On this episode, we talk to Khan about getting attached to Salaam Reads, using her and her children’s experiences as a foundation for her books, recognizing the differences between those experiences, and telling diverse stories where the characters aren’t being marginalized or overcoming dramatic adversity—they’re just being kids. Oh, and we also talk about Spain and Skor toffee bits.
Connect:
- Hena Khan is Twitter here.
- The show is on Twitter here and Facebook here.
- Jamie is on Twitter and Instagram as @theroarbots.
- Shiri Sondheimer is on Twitter here.