Good words

Sat, May 10 12:50 AM

His distributor in Singapore calls them the Harry Potter books on Islam. Soon, one of his books My First Quran could become part of a catalogue recommended to teachers in British schools.

New Delhi-based Saniyasnain Khan, owner of Goodword Books, is perhaps the only publisher in India who brings out children's books on Islam, in English. Originally known as Al-Risala, Goodword Books has over a hundred distributors in over 20 countries.

A couple of years ago, Urdu translations started selling in Pakistan. His largest market is the US.

In January, a teacher of Priestmead Middle School in Middlesex, UK, sent an email to Khan. "I am trying to make our Muslim children feel that their faith is accepted in school and #8230;(I would like to) ask permission to use your Little Hearts books as part of a school assembly in the UK," she wrote.

"Children get a lot of negative information about Islam. There is a big need to give them the right picture so that they grow up to be peace-loving individuals," feels Khan, whose first book Tell Me About Hajj has sold over 30,000 (and counting) copies.

Goodword's Tell Me series is very popular as is the Goodnight Stories From The Quran. A young parent from Malaysia who picked up one of the books at the Pakistan International Airport wrote to Khan: "I believe that with the current world condition, stories for the little hearts are very important.

It is my hope that these stories will reach out to non-Muslims as well, and become as popular and accepted as Cinderella stories!" Sadia Khan, a 22-year-old student at Jamia Millia Islamia who has authored three of the books, including ABC of Quran, says, "We are trying a more reasonable and simple approach that children find attractive." God's Grace School in Delhi has prescribed some of these books for its library.

"These books are for children of all faiths. We have group discussions on them and the children are attracted to them because of simple language and illustrations," says Nazira Mahmood, manager of the school.

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