Ramadan Rain - Jamilah Thompkins-bigelow

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, MSEd, is a former English teacher who has educated children and teens for fifteen years. As an inaugural AMAL fellow with the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), she developed foundational curricular frameworks for youth and adult anti-racist programming. Her picture books and short stories, which feature young Black and Muslim protagonists, have been recognized as the best in children's literature by Time magazine, Read Across America, and NPR.

These works include Salat in Secret, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year and a Golden Kite Award Honor recipient; Abdul's Story; Hold Them Close; Mommy's Khimar, Once Upon an Eid (anthology contributor), and Your Name Is a Song. Aliaa Betawi is a self-taught Palestinian artist based in Alexandria, Egypt who developed her craft by observing her gifted mother. She believes that every kid deserves a childhood filled with magical, joyful memories and this is what she works to give to all kids, including herself.

Her debut, A Map for Falasteen, was her opportunity to capture a single elusive memory in Palestine, a memory she could not enjoy as a Palestinian child in exile.