My Story …

I’m Jemima

and I love

picture books!

I didn’t always love reading. While I enjoyed books in primary school, by high school, I struggled to focus and found it hard to engage with the books I was exposed to. I turned to visual arts, which helped me manage the rest of my schooling and to feel free and good about myself. It wasn’t until I left school, that a love of books and reading rekindled.

My personal history with reading, along with my professional experience as a teacher and school counsellor, gives me a deeper understanding of young people who find books, reading and writing challenging. Over the many years I’ve worked as a teacher and school counsellor, I’ve helped students feel seen and develop a sense of belonging - something I struggled with at school (and sometimes still do). My personal experiences are also part of what motivates me to craft books that engage underrepresented readers.

My writing is dedicated to fostering connection and a sense of inclusion by depicting diversity as a natural way of being in the world. My professional psychology skills in helping people to live richer, fuller and more meaningful lives inspire some of my writing, while my Lebanese and Turkish family heritage drives an urge to investigate and continue disrupted narratives.

Picture books are transformative cultural artifacts that can nurture a strong relationship between child and adult reader. I believe that they can temper fear with understanding, and possess the power to shape our humanity with empathy, joy and kindness. Picture books are for everyone!