As we are getting closer to celebrating the 250th birthday of America, books like this speak of the hope we can still find.

Nazanin Agange Ford was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the United States at a young age. She grew up in Southern California and now lives in Nevada with her husband, two daughters, and an Aussie Labradoodle. Her writing explores her Persian heritage and the adventure of growing up. Naz is a former teacher and journalist. She is a member of Inked Voices, the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, and the American Library Association. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram, BlueSky, or Twitter.

Fateme Mokhles is an illustrator and interdisciplinary artist whose practice is rooted in storytelling. Born in Iran and now based in California, she often draws inspiration from her heritage and lived experiences. Fateme is also the illustrator of Rustam’s Picture-Day Pusteen. Her illustrations bring a sense of belonging and depth to children’s literature, inspiring imagination and connection. You can learn more about her at her website or follow her on Instagram.

MY AMERICA BLOOMS is a picture book all about a young girl’s experiences fleeing from “fighting to freedom,” leaving her home and all she knows behind in Iran. At first the child feels out of place and questions whether she will ever be happy again. Yet slowly and surely she finds hope. It’s that hope that sings out from the pages here, with beautiful text and illustrations woven together to tell this story.

Welcome Nazanin and Fateme!

Me: Can you both talk about your creative journeys? How did you get started writing and/or illustrating? How did that lead you to the work you’re doing now with books for kids?

Nazanin: I’ve actually been writing stories since childhood! It took me an absurdly long time to realize that I could be a kidlit writer, though.

I loved writing growing up and thought I could be a reporter, or maybe a lawyer, who wrote fiction on the side. And that’s what I did: I worked as a reporter (for a law publication), freelanced for magazines, and taught writing. I also earned an MFA in professional writing with a fiction focus. But life happens and my fiction always got put on the back burner. I never stopped writing fiction—I just stopped thinking of it as a thing I would do for others.

When I had kids, I was so excited to share the books I had loved with my daughters. I rediscovered children’s literature because of them. Suddenly, it all clicked: this was what I wanted to do! I wanted to create stories like the ones that had meant so much to me growing up and that brought me and my girls together every day. 

I started learning more about the craft, researching publication opportunities, and writing picture books around 2014. I joined SCBWI in 2015, but I was teaching and raising kids at the time, so there wasn’t much time to work. It took effort to stay with it, but the kidlit community is supportive and generous. There have been setbacks, but I have had so much encouragement and I continue to love writing and storytelling.

Fateme: My mom says I started drawing the moment I could hold a pencil. I remember having a coloring book that I kept erasing just so I could color it again! That same persistence kept me on track when I moved to the US in 2017 with my associate degree in Graphic Design. Since my F2 visa didn’t let me work or study here, I just kept drawing every day. I drew my daily life, challenges, friends as characters, animals, and more.

I was my own teacher and student. I’d look at other artists’ work to figure out how they created specific textures or drew their backgrounds. At the same time, I watched tons of YouTube videos on visual storytelling and practiced daily.

In 2018, I was volunteering at the children’s book festival in Buffalo, NY, where I met London Ladd, an amazing illustrator. I showed him my work, and he said I had a unique style and should contact agencies! I did. I emailed Christy from the CAT agency, and she said she’d love to sign with me whenever I have my work authorization. I told her I’d have it in six months, but it actually took me two years to get it. During those two years, I worked on my portfolio, and here I am now.

Me: Nazanin, I understand that you fled Iran when you were four years old because of a terrible war. Is that what gave you the idea for this story? When did you think your experience might make a good picture book?

Nazanin: Naturally, immigrating to the US is a major part of my identity. However, My America Blooms didn’t start with my own family’s immigration journey. I actually wrote it as a poem exploring what it meant to me to be an American at a time when a lot of what I believed felt challenged. I started developing it as a children’s story featuring many different immigrant experiences. I even “interviewed” friends and family for inspiration, but that multi-perspective concept was not working for me. It had no heart.

I reluctantly realized I needed to get closer to the story—and that was exactly what I’d been avoiding because it was a little scary. Once I reached for my own emotional journey, My America Blooms started taking shape. I wanted other immigrant children to see themselves on the page. I also knew I wanted it to be a story for families and classrooms to share. My critique partners and my PBChat mentor, Rajani LaRocca, gave me the encouragement to pursue it as a picture book. Eventually, this was the first manuscript that my agent, Christie Megill, and I decided to put on submission.

Me: Fateme, I can see so many different influences in your illustrations! Can you talk about the medium you used to create these illustrations? Are you a traditional or digital illustrator (or a blend of both)? Did I spy real flower petals and possibly real book titles in the illustrations?

Fateme: As I said, I’m mostly self-taught, so I never really had a clear path. I moved back and forth between children’s book illustration, animation, and character design, exploring different directions as I figured out what I enjoyed most. I started with traditional media, especially watercolor, but eventually I felt I needed to learn digital painting as well if I wanted to work in the animation industry. I think that’s why my style sometimes leans toward animation, even though I still love the warmth and spontaneity of traditional materials.

I often miss working with physical media because some pages just call for real texture. Sometimes I think it would be easier, and honestly more enjoyable, to use acrylic paint or collage. Even though I finish most of my illustrations on my iPad, I almost always begin by sketching on paper. Drawing with pencil on a large sheet gives me a freedom and flow that I just don’t get digitally. I like polishing everything on the iPad, though, because it fits the way I work. I can draw in a coffee shop one day, on my couch the next, or in bed if that’s where I feel most comfortable. Having that flexibility is really important to me.

Yes, you actually found the real petals! They came from flowers in my own neighborhood that I pass every day and have always admired. I decided to scan them and incorporate them into the book. Once I started scanning the flowers, I ended up scanning everything—and I really mean everything. Some of the textures in the book, including details in the main character’s hair, come from those scanned materials like my hair.

For the books that appear in the illustrations, my original idea was to include some of my favorite childhood books. My art director pointed out that this could create copyright issues, so instead I filled the shelves with my own imaginary book ideas and stories I’d been carrying around for a long time. It was actually a fun opportunity to finally give those little ideas a life within this book.

Me: This feels like such an important story right to share right now, but also always. Why did each of you become involved in this project?

Nazanin: Like I mentioned, I originally wrote this several years ago as a poem to make sense of my experiences as an immigrant and as a citizen of this country. A lot of what I held true about American values felt like it was being questioned. I didn’t set out to make a point, but exploring the question eventually affirmed something simple and profound for me: this country is built on hope.

That’s a timeless theme, but suddenly it also feels urgent. With everything happening around immigration, the protests in Iran, and now the war, this story feels like it was written for this moment. All of this reinforces for me what I am most proud of with this book. I can stand by this story because it affirms that we aspire to be more than we might be in any given moment and that if we stand together for those values, it will become true.

Fateme: I waited so long for that green card, and when I finally got it, I still felt like I didn’t belong here. But that wasn’t because of my community. They loved me and supported me the entire time. It’s important to remember that and not let the loudest voices make me believe they’re the only ones that matter.

Me: The text and  illustrations work so wonderfully together in this story. How many revisions did each of you have to make to get this story to the final product?

Nazanin: Before I queried my agent with this manuscript, I probably made a dozen significant revisions and 2 dozen minor revisions over a couple of years. My agent queried Beaming Books with that manuscript unchanged. From there, the most significant changes in the editing process were to the author’s note and the title, which was originally just “My America.”

I knew Fateme’s art was the perfect fit with the first image I saw. She intuitively understood what I had intended and took the story to a level I couldn’t have even dreamed of. She brought so much dimension to the text through her experiences and talents.

Additionally, Naomi Kreuger, our editor at Beaming Books, shared our vision and proactively supported our creativity. I’m so grateful and so proud of what we all have accomplished with this book.

Fateme: I loved Naz’s writing style because it was so poetic. It immediately put me in a creative space where I felt freer to experiment and be more expressive throughout the process. In fact, some of my earliest sketches were almost too poetic. I relied heavily on symbolism and visual metaphors rather than showing things more literally.

My art director, Naomi, encouraged me to make the illustrations more child-friendly by including more concrete details from the community and grounding the story in recognizable moments. That feedback helped me find a balance between the poetic quality I loved and the clarity young readers needed.

Me: Nazanin, you mentioned in your Author’s Note that storybooks helped you to adapt. Were there specific storybooks that you remember? Did any of those make it into the illustrations of the book?

Nazanin: I loved reading, so I was reading anything with words—from books to cereal boxes to billboards, you name it and I was sounding out words and deciphering phrases!

When we first moved to California, I received a few Golden Books and those were some of my first and most cherished picture books. I also had Farsi language picture books and was given English language leveled “readers” from school, which I loved and read cover to cover many times. We didn’t include any of those picture books in the illustrations, but there are some other surprises in the library spread.

Me: Do either of you have any advice for new writers and/or illustrators?

Nazanin: The best advice I can give to new writers who want to publish children’s books is to take time to figure out what your professional goals are and stay committed. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be flexible, explore, and pivot. It’s just that you have to make decisions about what to work on (and what not to spend time on) and it’s a little easier when you know your goals. Sticking with it is also important because there will be disappointments and many things you can’t control.

The hard part is to know when to stay the course and when to pivot, so my last piece of advice would be to embrace a writing community. Writing is a solo pursuit, except when it’s not! Collaboration and conversation have been key parts of my creative process and my professional growth. It takes courage to share your work with others, but it is worth it.

Fateme: My advice for illustrators who want to create children’s books is to put themselves out there. Don’t wait for someone to discover you. Reach out to agencies and editors, share your work, and make your presence known. Put your portfolio in front of people, and make sure it demonstrates that you can carry an entire book: strong characters, engaging environments, clear storytelling through storyboards, and effective spot art.

And as a reminder to myself, we need to move forward in a way that allows us to create things that haven’t existed before, to stay curious, take risks, and not limit ourselves.

That is great advice ladies! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.

Dear readers, this book publishes today! Yay! Happy book birthday! It’s a story that will touch the hearts of many and let many new children be seen. Trust me when I say, you won’t want to miss it.