Simon and Schuster to Launch Salaam Reads
Major publisher, Simon & Schuster, recently announced plans for Salaam Reads, a children's imprint that will be the first to focus on Muslim stories and characters.
With growing movements like #WeNeedDiverseBooks, this comes as a much needed progression for a large publishing house. This will be the first major imprint of its kind. Executive editor Zareen Jaffery commented:
"Our aim with the Salaam Reads imprint is in part to provide fun and compelling books for Muslim children, but we also intend for these books to be entertaining and enriching for a larger non-Muslim audience.”
In a diverse city like Toronto, this is a welcome development as we find more and young readers searching to relate to characters in the books they're reading. Consider the impact and popularity of Ms. Marvel, the first Pakistani-American Muslim female teenager to headline her own Marvel series. Not only are titles featuring Muslim characters compelling for a growing audience, but they sell too. This is in direct contradiction with some of the general notions that diverse books don't necessarily make money for publishers because people don't buy them.
Canadian children's author, Rukhsana Khan, who is best known for picture books including Big Red Lollipop and King for a Day, is one who is excited about these upcoming changes. It took nearly a decade for Khan to find a publisher to take on her first title, Bedtime Ba-a-a-lk. “To write it as a Muslim story changes the whole perspective," Khan notes in a recent Macleans article. "It goes outside the mainstream. People in publishing are open-minded, but I think they worried about the audience.”
Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel – just your average teenaged, gum-popping superhero. No big deal.
Toronto Public Library consistently works to include diverse and representative books for all ages and abilities in its collection. However, with a large-scale publisher on board, it definitely makes our job selecting high-quality items a little smoother. Here are some examples of fiction titles we already carry focusing on Muslim characters and experiences.
Books for Adults and Older Teens
In The Language of Miracles
Rajia Hassib, 2015
Painted Hands
Jennifer Zobair, 2013
Ms. Marvel
Willow G. Wilson, 2014-2015
American Dervish
Ayad Akhtar, 2012
The Harem
Safia Fazlul, 2012
The Submission
Amy Waldman, 2011
American Taliban
Pearl Abraham, 2010
Boy vs. Girl
Na'íma bint Robert, 2010
Skunk Girl
Sheba Karim, 2009
Fashionably Late
Nadine Dajani, 2007
I Dream of Microwaves
Imad Rahman, 2004
Books for middle-school aged kids and younger teens
The Garden of My Imaan
Farhana Zia, 2013
Many Windows
Rukhsana Khan, 2008
Ask Me No Questions
Marina Tamar Budhos, 2006
Does My Head Look Big In This?
Randa Abdel-Fattah, 2005
Books for younger kids
Nabeel's New Pants: an Eid Tale
Fawzia Gilani-Williams, 2010
My First Ramadan
Karen Katz, 2007
The Best Eid Ever
Asma Mobin-Uddin, 2007
The Hundredth Name
Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, 1995
Salaam Reads has several children's books already in the works. Based on a New York Times article, some of the upcoming titles include:
Salam Alaikum, a picture book based on a song by the British teen pop singer Harris J.
Musa, Moises, Mo and Kevin, a picture book about four kindergarten friends who learn about one another’s holiday traditions.
The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand by Karuna Riazi, about a 12-year-old Bangladeshi-American who sets out to save her brother from a supernatural board game.
Yo Soy Muslim, a picture book by the poet Mark Gonzales.
Salaam Reads is set to officially launch its first list in 2017.
16 thoughts on “Simon and Schuster to Launch Salaam Reads”
Thanks TPL for covering this! So proud of our public library system here in T.O.!
Thanks for the kind words, Sajidah!
Fascinating and intriguing with the focus on children’s literature. Thanks for sharing!
Nitin
Thank you for the great title suggestions! I had no idea some of these were even available at the TPL.
Soon enough, there will be but one book available.
Astute comment.
You’re very welcome, Nitin – thanks for reading!
Thanks, Fatema! There are many more titles available, but this is just a scattering. Be sure to ask at your branch if you need more suggestions!
Unfortunately, polarizing comments like this only further prove why, in part, we need to support projects like Salaam Reads.
Reading has been, for myself, a chance to broaden my perspectives and see the world as the complex and nuanced place it is. I hope you get a chance to pick up some of these titles and enjoy a similar experience. Thanks for reading.
There is an over abundance of books written by women, and very few by men. That alone is an example of a lack of diversity and male influence in the levels of boys and children.
lives, not levels.
Hi R,
It can be a challenge sometimes to find high-quality books for children by men, but they exist – I promise! It can be harder still to discover titles by Muslim men (if we’re speaking in context of this original post).
Some children’s books authored by men are very popular (think: Robert Munsch and Dr. Seuss) while others are relatively less known in North America, like Kampung Boy by Lat, which is a children’s graphic novel about growing up in rural Malaysia:
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM272840&R=272840
There are also more information titles for kids that still share a story like Salaam: A Muslim American Boy’s Story by Tricia Brown and Ken Cardwell:
http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM207453&R=207453
If you need help finding more titles, be sure to drop by a library branch and a children’s librarian will be happy to take a look.
Great article! You seem rather young for such a great depth of knowledge and tact. Well done, indeed.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Zap!
Have you heard of William Shakespeare? Perhaps you should look him up, he has been dominating reading lists in the school system for decades.
I am a fan of Shakespeare for two reasons. The stories have a universal appeal and everyone has to translate the words, regardless of English fluency.
As for your lack of diversity comment, I cannot believe I am replying to someone who has a handle of “R”. I think I know what it represents. Many female writers use a pseudonym for fear they won’t be published. That is one example of how they are underrepresented. JK Rowling is a brilliant example.
Thanks for reading! Good Luck!!
What book with that be?
Or is that a rhetorical comment?