The Lewiston Public Library is set to host Hudda Ibrahim, children’s author of “Lula Wants to Wear a Badge” and “What Color is My Hijab?” at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, in Callahan Hall at the 200 Lisbon St. library.

The event will include activities to engage children, sambusas and tea and an author talk by Ibrahim. She will read her books, interact with children and share her inspiration behind her books and her publishing company, Diverse Voices Press. Additionally, 50 copies of her children’s books will be given away first-come first-serve.

The book, “Lula Wants to Wear a Badge,” is about a black Somali Muslim girl who dreams to be a police officer when she grows up, but she encounters some pushback from her classmates. It takes some surprising help to reveal that stereotypes are just something that come from other people that ultimately mean nothing, and that they shouldn’t hold anyone back from pursuing their dreams, according to a news release from the library.

The book features professional women wearing their colorful hijabs. Ibrahim got the idea for this book from her then-7-year-old niece, who posed the question, “Aunty, why don’t I see characters that look like me in the books I read?”

Ibrahim got to work on creating a book for her and other children. “I wanted to write something for the Muslim community to embrace, and to satisfy the curiosity of the wider American society that wonders how much Muslim women can actually do, even pushing the limits of what they thought Muslim women could do,” she said.

This event is free and open to the public, and no registration is required.

For more information, contact the library at 207-513-3133 or lplkds@lewistonmaine.gov.

 

 

Check out other upcoming area events!

Comments are not available on this story.