Author M.O. Yuksel and illustrator Hatem Aly joined Cat Galeano on Instagram Live to celebrate the Book Birthday of their new book, Ramadan Kareem.
Watch the conversation and find the full transcript below. (Find closed captions by hovering over the bottom of the video and choosing the “CC” icon.)
M.O. Yuksel
www.moyuksel.com
https://www.instagram.com/moyuksel.author/
https://twitter.com/mo_yuksel
Through Monday, February 26, you can win a signed copy of Ramadan Kareem through M.O. Yuksel’s Twitter/X!
Hatem Aly
http://www.metahatem.com/
https://twitter.com/metahatem
https://www.facebook.com/metahatem
https://www.instagram.com/metahatem/
Order signed copies of Ramadan Kareem from Source Booksellers: https://www.sourcebooksellersonline.com/ramadan-kareem-by-written-by-m-o-yuksel-illustrate.html.
Coming Out Later This Year:
Full Transcript
Cat:
So a big hello to our Highlights Foundation family. We’re so happy to have you here with us. For those that may not know, I’m Cat Galiano, my pronouns are she/her, the social media manager for the Highlights Foundation. AK the person always re-sharing your post and responding to you with blue and green hearts. That is me. I’m joining you from Westchester, NY on the traditional lands of the Siwanoy people.
Apart from all the fun things I get to do at the Highlights Foundation, one of my greatest joys is celebrating the book birthdays of our community members and friends. Because all your wins is our wins and tonight I have the honor of celebrating M.O. Yuksel and Hatem Aly’s newest book baby titled Ramadan Kareem that is out today! They previously collaborated on In My Mosque, which if you haven’t been to campus recently, it is our current installation on our Art Wall. It features art and story from In My Mosque, the picture book authored by M.O. Yuksel and illustrated by Hatem Aly. And we’re going to drop a link in the chat so that you can take a peek (https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/2023/08/08/art-installation-celebrates-muslim-voices-a-highlights-foundation-scholarship-recipient-and-a-growing-community-of-storytellers/).
And I must confess, all the time I do spend at Highlights, I do stare lovingly at the wall pretty often during appetizers, so big fan, big fan. But I also have to say that this new story is equally as gorgeous–words and art alike.
And before we dive in, I just want to remind our viewers that for our viewers joining in on any Highlights Foundation session, to do so with no hate, no harm, and no harassment of any kind. And now let’s get started.
Congratulations to both of you. The story is visually stunning, a celebratory story, and I feel so grateful that I got to read it in advance. And I read it multiple times because it was just so beautiful, words and art. So how are you feeling today? Releasing a book into the world must be…I can’t tell you what that feels like because I’m not, haven’t been at that point in my journey, but tell me how you’re feeling today.
M.O. Yuksel:
Well, I’m feeling much better now that you’re here, Cat, because you’re, you’re a joyfulness…your enthusiasm is contagious and so thank you for bringing that, you know, that spirit, that energy and thank you for hosting us because Highlights is a special place for me, especially because I started my journey at Highlights and I know Hatem is also very fond of it. And yes, so we’re, we’re grateful to find community here.
Hatem Aly:
Yeah, it’s remarkable. Thank you for celebrating it with us.
Cat:
Yay! Oh man, this is so exciting for me. So just if I’m cheesing extra hard to say now you know I’m doing my job. But also I’m a big fan, so like it’s a double duty today. So that’s very exciting for me. So can you talk a little about how this story came to be, and Hatem, how did you get involved?
M.O. Yuksel:
Hatem, do you want to start? Should I start?
Hatem Aly:
Start with how it came to be, and then I’m gonna say how I got involved.
M.O. Yuksel:
It would be funny if you started. Well, the illustration I started and then he wrote the words later.
Cat:
Maybe that was the 3rd book baby.
M.O. Yuksel:
Yeah, yeah, yes. Please…
Hatem Aly:
I came up with everything, yeah.
M.O. Yuksel:
And you start the illustrations first and…I think there’s a game where, it’s called Corpse or something where you draw or you write something and then you fold it and you pass it to the next person.
Hatem Aly:
Ohh yes yes.
M.O. Yuksel:
They try to guess and then they draw or write something, and pass it to the next person. It’s sort of like another….
Hatem Aly:
But it’s called Corpse?
M.O. Yuksel:
I was at an event recently. They called it Corpse, but I don’t know why.
Hatem Aly:
OK.
M.O. Yuksel:
But when I heard it, I wasn’t interested in playing because it sounded morbid, but then later on I heard…
So anyway to get to your question, Cat? Sorry, we went on a tangent. So the story came about when I was taking a class–and I love taking classes, especially at Highlights and so this particular one wasn’t a Highlights class, but it was an online class and I was playing around with point of view and I wrote this story. I said, well, what if I wrote it from the point of view of a meal?” And in Ramadan, the fast-breaking meal is called Iftar. And I said: “what if I wrote it from the from the point of view of Iftar and it–at first it was silly–but we have to challenge ourselves to be silly and be playful and experiment and you know, find the joy in writing. But, and I’m sure illustration too. And so I decided, OK, I’m going to give myself permission to be silly and play. And so I wrote it from that point of view, and it was just a writing exercise. It wasn’t anything like, OK, this has to be a published, you know, book and you know like that wasn’t the mindset. It was just like, OK, I’m just going to go with it and see what happens.
And so I worked on it, worked on it and then I said, oh, this is pretty good. It’s pretty interesting and I sent it to my agent and she was like, OK. That’s an interesting take, but how do you illustrate something like this? Because it’s unusual. And then I said, well, I’m not an illustrator, but let me ask Hatem Aly and see, see what he thinks. And Hatem, I don’t know if you remember what you said, but do you?
Hatem Aly:
I do. Yeah, I was excited that you had a book about Ramadan in the making. And then he told me, like it’s gonna be in the point of view of Iftar and I was like, well, that’s interesting, but I don’t know how I’m gonna, I have no clue how am I going to illustrate that. But I remember, also, I think I remember saying like if that’s going to be the challenge to like, it’s going to make it something unique. OK, well, maybe I’ll try to figure out something, you know? Let, let me play with it or something like that. But it, it got difficult by the time and I think you developed it in a different way after working there so…
M.O. Yuksel:
Yeah, but you said you were interested.
Hatem Aly:
I said I was interested. Yes, I took the challenge. I was going to make it like the first premise, yeah.
M.O. Yuksel:
So I ran with that, I said Hatem is interested. OK, let’s go and, and then we sent it to my editor at HarperCollins and she said, similarly, she said, it’s interesting, but I don’t know how it would be illustrated from the point of view of a meal, food. And but she was happy that Hatem was interested in illustrating and she said: Why don’t you see if you can write a different way and and write it more lyrical. And so I took those two pieces of advice and then decided to change the whole thing and, and revised it, but I kept some parts of it from the first point of view from that meal, such as the onomatopoeia and the partitions. The playful aspect of it, I worked into the revised version that you see today or you’ve read.
Cat:
I love that you say that because that playfulness really comes out like it really, like, I was just smiling like ear to ear through the whole thing. And I just positively adored that you’ve moved from like different families and different cultures and different, you know, and I also won’t spoil it, but there’s, you know, little like Easter eggs hidden around the story that I really love, too, and I didn’t even catch it at first. I caught it on my second read and I speak fluent Spanish so when they were on the Spanish part. I was like, Oh my God. What? How did I miss this? And then I started the book over again. I was like, Oh my God. So that playfulness came out like, even with the words with just the story as a whole. The art, like I totally, totally saw that vision. So A+ to both of you because I was just super super smiley.
M.O. Yuksel:
Thank you.
Hatem Aly:
Thank you very much.
Cat:
So our next question is: now that you have worked together for two stories, what has that experience been like?
Hatem Aly:
It’s exhausting! I’ll never do this again.
Cat:
You heard it here first!
Hatem Aly:
No, no, really, no, it’s, it’s actually an honor like, Mindy’s work is really, like she writes in such passion and her style, her voice is very distinct too and I’m, I’m happy I did. With her two books that are like about like, two of the most important things in Muslim lives, which is like mosques and the month of Ramadan. And yeah, I’m really honored about this, I think it’s going to be, hopefully it’s going to be like a a classic. Both of them are going to be classics for this subject.
M.O. Yuksel:
Yeah, yeah, Inshallah. God willing.
Yeah, but thank you, thank you for that Hatem. And that means a lot. And and the same here; it’s been, you know, a real privilege and an honor to have this opportunity to, you know, to work on these books. Especially with Hatem. And, you know, he has a distinct style and it’s, you know, God willing, it’s going to be, you know, timeless in terms of, you know, hopefully. It hopefully it will be timeless, but. So it’s working on two books, it’s been a nice collaboration. Usually in you know traditional publishing author and illustrator don’t get to communicate. But in our case, we were able to communicate partly because we were part of the Muslim Storyteller Fellowship at the Highlights Foundation. We met each other in person there and actually when we were at the the the workshop–or was it the workshop? It was a symposium. Or one of the workshops we actually worked on Ramadan Kareem at the Highlights Foundation.
Cat:
Oh my gosh, that is so cool.
Hatem Aly:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Cat:
Oh wow.
M.O. Yuksel:
So he had his sketches. And so we sat down and we just reviewed, you know, Well, what do you think about this and how should this be in? What can we do about that? And so it’s been a a nice collaboration.
Hatem Aly:
Yes, I think we work well together, like we kind of discuss things and that…sometimes you change your opinions about stuff and then form something new, which is good. That’s great. Yeah, that’s great.
Cat:
So collaborative. I love it and I just want to echo what you were saying. I definitely think it will be a timeless classic because as a, as a non-Muslim I absolutely loved learning and reading and rereading and, yeah, I just think it’s such special work that you have. So I definitely echo and think it’ll be timeless stories for all, all people alike. Cause it is just so special.
So we’re going to jump into our next question which is a two-parter. One part for Mindy and one part for Hatem. Mindy, can you talk about your writing journey and how the Highlights Foundation has a part in that. And then for Hatem, it’s going to, it’s going to go in the direction of: what have you taken away from your time as a mentor with the Muslim Storytellers, Storytellers, Fellowship with us.
M.O. Yuksel:
So should I go first?
Hatem Aly:
Think so–you have been like you have, like more history than me, with the Highlights Foundation.
M.O. Yuksel:
I like to talk a lot, so I’ll go first. So yeah, I started my journey, in 2017, at the Harvest Foundation and it’s been an integral part of my publishing journey. And like prior to attending the Highlights workshop, I didn’t know much about..I remember attending the National Conference in New York City, the SCBWI conference, and there were acronyms flying around like PB, MG, YA, NF. Like all of these acronyms that we know now, you know, shop talk. But as a newbie I was like, what are they talking about? I didn’t understand anything.
And so, from there I met Alison, who’s you know, part of Highlights, the program director. And she said: have you heard of the Highlights Foundation? I was like, no. And she said, well, here’s a pamphlet. And I, once I got home, I looked it up and yeah, I applied to one of the workshops and I actually I over, I’m an overachiever and I was like well, since I’m going to be up there anyway, I’m driving a whole 2 hours to get to the Highlights Foundation, it’s so far from me, but I might as well sign up for two workshops because there were two workshops back-to-back that I was interested in. One was the nonfiction picture book workshop and Don Tate was teaching at the time, in addition to several other faculty members. And then the other workshop was Picture Book Boot Camp with uh…Pam…um…
Cat:
Leslie and Darcy?
M.O. Yuksel:
No–Pat, Pat Cummings. And she doesn’t do that there anymore. But, I think that was her last one. The Picture Book Boot Camp, and that one you have to apply to get in like you had to use the better manuscript and then and then if you pass the test sort of thing then you were admitted. And I was like, I’ll just do 2. And so I went up there. And then I met people coming from across the country. They’d traveled 18 hours to get to… I was like, I said, oh my God, I, I better not complain about driving 2 hours. But anyway, long story short, I’ve taken many, many, many workshops and I’ve learned so much at the Highlights Foundation not only about writing, the craft of writing, and the publishing industry, but I’ve made lifelong friends, where, ah, where, you know, still critique partners and we’re still cheering and supporting each other. And and I also appreciate the Highlights Foundation because they walk the talk; like they support diversity and they’re one of the first organizations in the publishing industry that initiated the Muslim Storyteller Fellowship, which is like an integral and such an important program and so I’m truly appreciative of their support and their amplifying of diverse and marginalized voices. Alright, I’ll stop talking now.
Hatem Aly:
I’m not gonna take long, because my story is not as spectacular as Mindy’s.
Cat:
I’m sure it’s equally spectacular.
Hatem Aly:
Yeah, it started with the Muslim Storytellers Fellowship. There was this going on and people were applying and we’re saying that we should apply. So I was actually applying as a mentee, if I wanted to get a mentor from there. I was looking for peers and like, mutual inspiration and guidance in some way, because I live in a small place too. So I don’t have anything around me. So it would be like a good opportunity to meet people too and learn and share interests and all that. And I ended up being a mentor there in the program and did all that like all the mutual inspiration and all the learning from people and hopefully giving some people some, some advice and some good, good ways to look at what they wanted to to learn. And yeah, you, it’s, it was uplifting and empowering too, because you learned that a lot of people there are very talented out there and they’re willing to, they’re eager actually to support one another and help each other.
Everyone builds on the others ideas and it’s, it’s a very beautiful thing to be in. And yeah, like Mindy, I made, like, life-long friends from there. And actually there was some of them that have been, like, very helpful with the Ramadan book too, because some of them come from different backgrounds. So I would ask like how is it in, like Ramadan houses, because Ramadan is celebrated in different ways, like, it’s kind of not one way. So it was great to get guidance too from, rom there. It was it was really, really empowering for me.
Cat:
That’s amazing. And there’s something to be said about community, right? Yeah, community within people that you know, are like-minded like you or write stories and the same kind of children’s publishing aspect as you, or you know there’s just something so powerful about community and not to like too Highlights horn too hard, but I feel like, when I was a scholarship recipient myself, I walked into a space leaving grad school not knowing anything. And all of a sudden, I found, like both of you mentioned, life-long connections and I would like to tell people that I came in as a scholarship recipient and never left. Because I really have been, have been, I was hired shortly after my experience as a as a scholarship recipient so. Yeah, I really, really resonate with that sense of community that you both have shared and and learning and craft and you know, being with people and bouncing off ideas and it’s some powerful stuff. So thank you for sharing that. And for our last question: what do you want, people–but most importantly, kids–to take away from your book?
M.O. Yuksel:
So I guess the most important thing is the the idea that we have more in common, that we have more similarities than we have differences. And, uh, that we all celebrate holidays and we love food, we love eating, we love being playful and, you know, joking around. We love gifts and, you know, joy and celebrations, but more important underneath that layer is, you know, the understanding that Muslims are not what is being presented as like currently in in our world. They’re being dehumanized and misrepresented, and this has been happening for many years. Especially now, you know, what’s going on in Gaza and we’re all you know, heartbroken, and we’re all grieving and even, uh, having a book release and celebrate, celebrating a book feels difficult right now. This is probably the hardest time to have such a book release or a celebration, but hopefully books like this will change that narrative of dehumanization and spread more understanding and, you know, that we as we travel through the pages of the book, we see the diversity of Muslims. We see how the holiday is celebrated and we see that this dehumanization is incorrect and uh… It’s just very, uh, it’s very painful, just witnessing and experiencing what’s going on right now and hopefully books like this help change the narrative.
Cat:
Yeah, I mean definitely like, I feel like that is the power of books that ultimately, that really is what books can do.
M.O. Yuksel:
Yeah.
Hatem Aly:
Yeah, straight off right now it’s to celebrate, but yeah.
Cat:
Well, to end on a not a super solemn note, but on a happier note, I want to congratulate both of you on this gorgeous, gorgeous collaboration. And for those that may want to order a copy of this of of this book or any of of Mindy and Hatem’s books, you can order them at our virtual bookshop powered by bookshop.org. Or you can get a signed copy at Source Booksellers, we’re going to drop in the link in the chat (https://www.sourcebooksellersonline.com/ramadan-kareem-by-written-by-m-o-yuksel-illustrate.html).We’re also going to create a blog post with this, with the transcript, with all the links that we mentioned, just so everything sort of nicely packaged, so people don’t have to like scroll through comments and whatnot, but.
Yes, thank you so much to Mindy. Thank you to Hatem. I know the world is super difficult right now, but I can’t thank you enough for stepping out into the light and celebrating this beautiful story that can live in the hands of everyone now, because I am absolutely overwhelmed with how beautiful it is and I can’t wait for everyone else to go grab their own copy. So please do yourself a favor and go run and get it. Um, thank you so much for joining us tonight. And that’s it from me. So thank you for…
M.O. Yuksel:
Thank you so much Cat for hosting us and Hatem for being here and just wanted to share that I’m doing a giveaway on Twitter, or X as it’s called now. So if you want a signed copy, please head over to Twitter on to my accounts M.O. Yuksel–I forget the handle. But if you type in M.O. Yuksel, you’ll find it.
Cat:
We’ll put all that information in the blog post too. But when is the the last date to enter the contest?
M.O. Yuksel:
It’s going to be ongoing until Monday, the 26th.
Cat:
OK, perfect. Our blog post should be ready by tomorrow. So that’s perfect. We’ll make sure to have your details in there. And thank you Hatem, any last words from you?
Hatem Aly:
Well, thank you for having us, and thanks for Mindy for coming. You’ve been wonderful, Cat.
Cat:
Oh, thank you.
Hatem Aly:
It’s been very…yeah, like Mindy said, you kept the spirit high and you kept us all…you’ve, you’ve made everything pretty there. So it’s great, yeah. Thank you very much.
M.O. Yuksel:
Cat, I’m sorry. Before we leave: like other writers and illustrators, we’re very bad at promoting our work and, you know, I have another book coming up in April, It’s about Eid al-Adha. Within our religion, within Islam, we have two major holidays. One is celebrated after Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr. And the second one is Eid al-Adha, which is like approximately 2 months after Ramadan and so, just wanted to share. I have a book coming in April. It’s called Sami’s Special Gift and I hope we can celebrate with you again then. But Hatem I know you have a book coming out, right? This year.
Hatem Aly:
I have a book called The Book That Almost Rhymed, it’s a picture book is written by Omar Abed. He is an American Palestinian author and the book is a lot of fun, like the title says look, it’s almost rhymed. There is the main character wanting to do a book that rhymes but his sister keeps getting in the way. And then it makes it more interesting. So that’s going to be out in March 26th.
Cat:
So what I’m hearing is you’re absolutely invited to hang out with me on IG live again and we can celebrate all these stories.
Hatem Aly:
Well, wonderful.
Cat:
Just let me know, and pencil it in, because I like the idea of hanging out with you two: separately, together. Again, anytime this year. So definitely.
Hatem Aly:
Wonderful. OK, great.
Cat:
Well, congratulations on this story, on your previous story, on the new stories coming out and the ones I’m sure you’re working on now. Or the ones you haven’t thought of yet. So anyway, you’re both a huge gift to the kidlit community. Thank you for spending time with us.
M.O. Yuksel:
Thank you so much.
Hatem Aly:
Thank you very much.
Cat:
And thank you. And good night everyone. Thank you so much.
