I had been dreading this week! Six days, non-stop. Not easy. I’m still processing it. On Monday I visited a small town outside Toronto. No Muslims in the school that I could see, only one or two brown kids! Part of me wondered if they’d cancel, considering the devastating attacks in Paris the Friday before. […]

Last week I did two out of town trips in one week! I shouldn’t be surprised that I got sick, sick, sick, as a dog! The first trip was down to Windsor, to one of my favorite schools: Al Hijra Academy. I tried something new, did a workshop on my new book with Pearson Educational […]

When you see the light go on in the eyes of someone whom you’ve been guiding along on a process! Today I feel like I had not one, but two breakthroughs! One of my sessions at Downsview Public library is attended by one boy mostly, who’s been coming pretty darn regularly. When he first began […]

I guess I have to change the way I measure how engaged the kids are when I’m storytelling or presenting. I’ve always looked at how much they move. If I can hold them completely spellbound, where they forget to even move, so they all start stretching when the last word is said, then I thought […]

Time flies when you’re really busy! And having fun! The second statement, the ‘fun’ one, I’m not so sure about right now. You know how when things are so intense, you’re just trying to keep everything straight, that you can’t really know if you’re actually having ‘fun’ or not. Well that’s where I’m at right […]

The first time I did my Saturday storytelling session at the Downsview Public Library I did it in the children’s section because I thought the kids would gravitate over and listen. Two kids did, and their mother sat with them and one person peeked at me around a bookcase, from where she was sitting, so […]

Maybe it helps that I do believe that everything I do, and everywhere I am, I am meant to be doing or being in that specific moment in time. There’s no such thing as no impact. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there are times I wish more people would take advantage of […]

Alhamdu lillah, this is the second week of the Artist in the Library residency. I’m feeling a little better about the refugee situation. As soon as possible, we’re going to be donating to some refugee camps in Jordan. We’re budgeting for about $500. (I wasn’t going to say the amount but hey, if it encourages […]

It’s weird what happens when you start getting successful. Within the Muslim community I’ve had lots of people come up to me and tell me how they want to get published. I’ve had a relative blatantly ask me for one of my editor’s names and phone number because his daughter had written something ‘brilliant’ and […]

And alhamdu lillah it feels so good! Getting up at a reasonable time (around 9 am) not having to rush to shower and have breakfast, even pottering around a bit before having breakfast and starting the day’s writing. It’s been so tricky working on this project. I’ve had to stop and start so many times, […]