Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

Saddened by her classmates' and teacher's mispronunciations of her name, a girl is empowered by her discovery that names are like songs when she and her mom celebrate the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names.

"When Muhammad gets a special salat rug on his seventh birthday, he is determined to do all five daily prayers on time. But one salat occurs during the school day--and he's worried about being seen praying at school. His father parks his truck to worship in public places, and people stare at him and mock him. Will the same thing happen to Muhammad? From two powerhouse creators comes an empowering story about an important part of Islamic faith that...

"Hold happiness, trials, and triumph close. Written by Your Name Is a Song author Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow with stunning collages by debut illustrator Patrick Dougher, Hold Them Close is a moving celebration of Black children. Children will see that if they look to their glorious past, embrace their present feelings, and reach for a bright future, there is much to hold close, and they can light up the world" -- Front jacket flap.

When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim convention, four unlikely kids are thrown together. Feek is stuck babysitting his younger sister, but he's rather be writing a poem that's good enough for his dad, a famous poet and rapper. Hanna is intent on finding a lost cat in the airport--and also on avoiding a conversation with her dad about him possibly remarrying. Sami is struggling with his anxiety and worried that he'll miss...

Drum dream girl: A young girl fulfills her dreams in this video treatment of the acclaimed Pura Belpre' Award winner. -- Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music, no one questioned that rule--that is, until the drum dream girl. When at last her dream-bright music was heard, it was decided everybody should be free to drum and dream. Inspired by the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke...