Ep. 76: Hena Khan Episode

Making Sense of Islam

Hena Khan is an award winning Pakistani American children’s author. Her middle grade novel Amina’s Voice was named a Best Book of 2017 by the Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and others. She is the author of the Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream series: Power Forward, On Point, and Bounce Back. Hena has written several acclaimed picture books including Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Night of the Moon, It’s Ramadan Curious George, Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets and Under My Hijab. Her newest book, More to the Story, is a middle grade novel inspired by Little Women. Hena began writing for children with Scholastic book clubs, publishing books for a number of popular series. She went on to write several choose-your-own format books including adventures to Mars and the Amazon. But, as a young mother, Hena yearned to see books that represented kids like her children, and decided to write them. Today, Hena writes full time, often highlighting aspects of her culture, faith, community, friendship and family, and she draws heavily from own experiences. She enjoys presenting to children, educators, community members and others, and being a mom to two now teenaged boys. Whenever she gets the chance, Hena travels with her family, bakes, and reads books written by her favorite children’s authors.