This much-needed picture book about navigating the difficult experience of pregnancy loss meets young readers at their level to offer a tender look at grieving someone who never entered the world. Raya can’t wait for her baby sister to arrive. She’s already got a name–Nura–and Raya is certain they’ll be best friends. She’s got all kinds of plans for things they’ll do together like run through the sprinklers, play dress-up, and give piggyback rides. But one day, Mama returns from the doctor with tears in her eyes. Nura won’t be coming home after all. Raya feels confused and sad, like all the love she has for Nura is trapped inside her. With the help of family, friends, and her school counselor, though, Raya finds a way to grieve this loss and to share the love she’ll always feel for her sister.
A debut #OwnVoices writer, Saira Mir is a Muslim physician from Washington, DC, who has searched far and wide for books to help her daughter find feminist role models who share her heritage. Saira wrote Muslim Girls Rise for her, and hopes to share it with other children eager to learn more about these extraordinary, path-breaking women.
Shahrzad Maydani is an illustrator and storyteller living and working in Berkeley, California. She was raised in Africa by an Iranian mother and an English father, and she spent her childhood collecting and telling stories. She now spends her days frantically making up worlds to keep her toddler happy. Poetree is her debut picture book.
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