Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children's Author<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children's section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children's Author\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children's section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslimah Media Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-22T08:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/files\/2011\/02\/Khan.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lara Alamad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lara Alamad\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/\",\"name\":\"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children's Author\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-22T08:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-22T08:00:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/48fdcbddf3176c3a2d3c263ecd814ce6\"},\"description\":\"Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children's section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children’s Author\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\",\"name\":\"Muslimah Media Watch\",\"description\":\"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/48fdcbddf3176c3a2d3c263ecd814ce6\",\"name\":\"Lara Alamad\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1c3a38e62a7da8acbb4e40a0ef5e891?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1c3a38e62a7da8acbb4e40a0ef5e891?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lara Alamad\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/safiyaoutlines\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children's Author","description":"Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children's section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children's Author","og_description":"Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children's section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/","og_site_name":"Muslimah Media Watch","article_published_time":"2011-02-22T08:00:51+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/files\/2011\/02\/Khan.jpg"}],"author":"Lara Alamad","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lara Alamad","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/","name":"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children's Author","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-02-22T08:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2011-02-22T08:00:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/48fdcbddf3176c3a2d3c263ecd814ce6"},"description":"Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children's section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children’s Author"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/","name":"Muslimah Media Watch","description":"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/48fdcbddf3176c3a2d3c263ecd814ce6","name":"Lara Alamad","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1c3a38e62a7da8acbb4e40a0ef5e891?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c1c3a38e62a7da8acbb4e40a0ef5e891?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lara Alamad"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/safiyaoutlines\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":7760,"date":"2011-02-22T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2011-02-22T08:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.org\/?p=7760"},"modified":"2011-02-22T00:00:51","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T08:00:51","slug":"rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2011\/02\/rukhsana-khan-a-wonderful-childrens-author\/","title":{"rendered":"Rukhsana Khan: A Wonderful Children’s Author"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Recently, I was in a bookshop with my daughter. We were in the children\u2019s section, enjoying the vast array of colorful books. Lift-the-flap books, tactile books, storybooks, craft books, there is a great selection available. However, this diversity only goes so far. While books now will make a small effort to have characters that aren\u2019t white, this tends to be one black or generically Asian child. Definitely no Muslims, not one. Sadly, it would appear Muslims are considered too \u201ccontroversial\u201d to be featured in children\u2019s literature. And the Arab community in the U.K. is fairly small, meaning that of all the characters my daughter meets in literature, she\u2019s not likely to meet anyone like her.
\nI\u2019ve looked for children\u2019s books in Islamic shops and while it\u2019s good that color is making an appearance there too, the books they stock, understandably, tend to be focused on imparting religious knowledge, rather then telling a story in itself.<\/p>\n

So when I heard that the winner of the 2011 Charlotte Zolotow award for Outstanding Writing in a Picture Book was Rukhsana Khan, a Canadian Muslim woman, I was pleased and intrigued in equal measure.<\/p>\n

Khan has written eleven books for a variety of ages. Some of the books deal with the immigrant experience, something Khan is very familiar with, having moved to Canada from Pakistan when she was 3 and suffering racist bullying throughout her childhood. Other settings include Pakistan and also Afghanistan, where she sponsors some children and has also established a libraries-in-orphanages project. The children she has met during this have inspired two of her books, Wanting Mor<\/em> and The Roses in My Carpet<\/em>. The latter book, won the Janusz Korczak Award and here you can watch Khan both explain the award and read the book aloud (Trigger Warning: for those who aren\u2019t familiar with the life of Janusz Korczak, it is very a distressing story).<\/p>\n

In The Roses in My Carpet,<\/em> while it is clear that the characters are Muslim, it\u2019s not the main point of the story. This is not unintentional, with Khan stating that she sees Islam as wallpaper rather then a major plot point, with universal themes taking the central role. She describes this as an organic decision, saying that while the adage \u201cwrite what you know,\u201d means her cultural heritage is often reflected in her work, she feels that ultimately people share more similarities than differences, hence the wide appeal of her work. Certainly, The Roses in My Carpet<\/em>, while featuring a child with a life very removed from its readers, uses the child\u2019s perspective very effectively, with Kareem\u2019s thoughts being the framework for the story.<\/p>\n

However, Khan\u2019s position in the mainstream came after frustrating experiences trying to get a Muslim publisher to print her work. She also makes the point that by using a non-Muslim publisher and competing with the wider market, her and other authors are showing that they are good enough to compete with the \u201cbest of the best.\u201d This is a valid point, though it is sad to hear of Muslim businesses being so disorganized.<\/p>\n

While, I have not been able to look at many of Khan\u2019s works, from what I have seen, in presentation and quality, they do fit into the mainstream. Hopefully, Khan success will inspire other Muslims and children\u2019s books with some Muslim characters will be commonplace, not controversial.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"