Interview with Aya Khalil
Q1: Why did you write this book? I wrote this book because I want kids to see themselves in stories. It’s based on true stories growing up as an Egyptian-American.
Q2: Even though the title has immigrant in it, I think it’s for everyone! I think kids and adults (first, second, third generation) can relate to it!
Q3: Are you Kanzi? It is based on true events from my own childhood when I immigrated to the US from Egypt. I had a teacher in elementary school who created the same project that’s in the book. I just reached out to tell her this and she was so surprised!
Q4: I love that you made Kanzi with dark skin and dark curly hair. How did you decide on her look? It was important for the main character to not be white as only 31 percent of books feature a child of color and that’s way too low! There’s lots of curly haired girls and boys in my own family as well.
From muslimskidlit.com 2/21/2020
https://muslimsinkidlit.com/arabic-quilt-picture-book-review-interview-aya-khalil-author/
