To publish at least 9 books a year.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: Zareen Jaffery, an executive editor of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, is heading a new children’s imprint, Salaam Reads, dedicated to publishing books that feature Muslim characters and stories.
The imprint, which Simon & Schuster announced this week, will release 9 or more books a year, ranging from board books and picture books to middle grade and young adult titles, reported The New York Times.
Jaffery, a Pakistani American who grew up in Connecticut, was quoted as saying by the Times that she grew up devouring novels by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume, hoping those stories would offer some clues for how to fit in.
“I remember looking at books to try to figure out, ‘What does it mean to be American? Am I doing this right?’†Jaffery said. “The truth is, I didn’t see myself reflected in books back then.â€
NBC reported Jaffery as saying: “I accepted it as the way it was, and internalized the message that certain stories are more worth telling and sharing than others. That changed once I got older and realized that everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in literature and in the arts in general.”
She added: “In the children’s book world we talk a lot about books being mirrors and windows—mirrors that reflect the experiences of kids back to them and validate them, and also windows that offer kids a view into a character or family or culture that is very different from their life,” she said. “Books also offer readers the opportunity to empathize with the characters in the stories, and expand hearts and minds in that way.”
The creation of a Muslim-themed children’s imprint is likely to further fuel the continuing discussion about diversity in children’s publishing. Salaam Reads is also arriving in the middle of a fractious and polarizing political debate about immigration and racial and religious profiling, when minority groups, and American Muslims in particular, feel they are being targeted, said the Times report.
Jaffery, 37, had long been bothered by the lack of Muslim characters in children’s literature. But the problem started to feel more acute about three years ago, when she began reading books with her young nieces and nephews. “It was hard not to notice that none of those books really reflected their experience,†she said.
So far, Salaam Reads has acquired four books that will come out in 2017, including “Salam Alaikum,†a picture book based on a song by the British teen pop singer Harris J. Others planned for release next year are “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, and “Yo Soy Muslim,†a picture book by the poet Mark Gonzales.
Gonzales, an alumnus of HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam†who converted to Islam, said he was immediately game when Jaffery recruited him to write a book for the imprint, reported the Times.
When Jaffery started looking for writers to work with on Muslim children’s books, she turned to Justin Chanda, the vice president and publisher of the Young Readers imprint. Through their discussions, Jaffery said, they realized they could create a separate imprint specifically for these stories, reported NBC.
“I knew the announcement of the imprint would be an important moment to highlight the diversity within the Muslim community, and I reached out to authors, and in the case of Harris J, artists, who I felt could reflect that right out the gate,” Jaffery said of the initial list. “We hope to inspire many generations of artists from under-represented communities with the books we publish at Salaam Reads, and it looks like we’re already off to a great start.”