Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the National Book Award Winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid.

Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was a young girl. She is a bilingual Arabic/English speaker, and is very familiar with the challenges of learning English and navigating two languages.

Shifa  has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, is a former English teacher, and is a former reviewer of Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. 

She is super passionate about spreading a love of reading to children through fun storytimes and engaging school visits.