Aya Khalil, M.Ed, is an award-winning author of picture books and board books. Aya and her books have been featured in Oprah Daily, Teen Vogue, Yahoo!, Book Riot and USA Today. Her writing has been published in The Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Toledo Area Parent and many others.
Her debut picture book The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story, has won numerous awards and honors. She's also the author of The Night Before Eid: A Muslim Family Story and The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale. She is also the author of a board book, Our World: Egypt. Aya is a Muslim Highlights Foundation Storyteller Fellow and a co-founder of Kidlit in Color, a group of traditionally published BIPOC creatives who nurture one another, amplify diverse voices, and advocate for equitable representation in the industry. She lives in Northwest Ohio.
1- She was born in a small town in Egypt called Zagazig.
2- She immigrated to the U.S. at the age of one.
3- She has an older brother, a younger brother and younger sister.
4- She doesn't have any pets, but when she was young she had a tortoise and parakeets.
5- She's lived in a few different states throughout her life including: New Jersey, North Dakota, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania. She currently resides in her hometown in Ohio with her husband and three children.
6- She used to visit Egypt every summer growing up & loved spending time with her cousins.
7- She loves Ramadan/Eid-decorating, hosting Ramadan/Eid events, brunches, indoor and outdoor cycling and going on walks.
8- She also loves just staying at home and reading or watching Netflix.