A new book is out! this, and #PEACEtober.

So, September is coming to an end! I wanted to touch on a few things before we begin the month of October and hold myself accountable. I mentioned #PEACETOBER in my previous post, which I will elaborate on and provide some cool links with cool graphics below. But first, I have got some news!

A new book I illustrated was out earlier this week, and it’s called The Boldest White. It is the third companion book by the same team behind The Proudest Blue and The Kindest Red. Written by Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali, and illustrated by myself.

It was described as a call to bravery in which Faizah overcomes her fears, as well as a celebration of family, fencing, and community.🤍

Kirkus called it "heartwarming... A winning tale to be shared over and over." and gave it a starred review.⭐

How cool is that?

We knew Faizah from previous books as a caring, advocating, and kind person. A sister, daughter, and a friend. Her community, family, and faith were always there to support her. Now we see her struggling to see herself as capable of accomplishing something on her own, with all eyes on her. Bravery is a strong action of putting yourself out there despite obstacles, and it requires a lot of moral strength and soul searching.🤍

It also takes courage to point out what is wrong and refuse to ignore injustices. I believe Faizah has always had it, dating back to The Proudest Blue. She may also inspire us to do the same.

I plan to share some of the process at some point. Meanwhile, I recommend that you check out the book at your local bookstore or request that your public library order it. However, it is available wherever books are sold. I will leave a link to the book's publisher's page, which includes a few links to purchase a copy.

The Boldest White

Now let us talk about #Peacetober, which begins TOMORROW.

Since INKtober's inception, October has been THE art challenge month, with various prompt lists to inspire daily creative outlets.

I recently joined the amazing Coffees For Gaza collective, which is made up of some illustrators and authors with good hearts who help families in Gaza by raising funds through encouraging donations in addition to their Patreon page! Please make sure to look into them.

So we started #peacetober with Coffees of Gaza, where the idea is to, you know the drill, try to make a creation every day in October. The difference here is that we will then choose as many creations as possible to auction in order to raise funds for Gazan families in need.

There will also be a series of 5 Live draw-along online sessions with some artists(I’ll be one of them!) that you can attend! Tickets are ‘pay what you want’ with a minimum of US$5. Proceeds go to the families supported by Coffees For Gaza. So you get the idea! Sessions will be recorded so that those in different time zones can catch up on replays for a month. Members of the CFG’s Patreon in the highest tier (Cappuccino) will have access to all the sessions for free if you’re willing to try that option.

Here is the lineup:

3.10: Safdar Ahmed & Ellen O’Grady

10.10: Nabila Adani & Ibrahim Shiddiq (time and link tbc)

17.10: Hatem Aly & Raahat Kaduji

20.10: Sarah Dyer & Yusef Goolam-Hossen

25.10: Catarina Sobral & Miguel Pang Ly

We must be aware that winter is rapidly approaching and there is an urgent need for additional assistance. So this art challenge will include people who want to create written pieces, knitting masterpieces, beautiful music, painters, crafters, and whatever else they can think of to help a good cause while also making the world more beautiful and hopeful.

Big words? Well, why not? Let us keep our hopes high and make the best of it.

Okay, I am not sure if I will post here every day or in batches throughout October, but I will be showing and telling this and that. I will do my best to contribute to the majority of the days of the month.

And that is the promise I made to myself.

Let’s see what happens.

Subscribe now

I will leave you with a few Instagram links to slides that explain everything in detail if you want to read or save them for later.

Salamat

coffeesforgaza