Little Umar's Adventure

Marium Kapadia (born 15th July, 1991) is a children’s author with an Indian origin. Her childhood memories are filled with reading all sorts of books. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, she moved to London with her husband and a 5 month old infant. Within a year of shifting to London, she gave birth to another child. Challenged by caring for her family in a foreign land and inculcating Islamic values in her kids at a very young age, she began her singular journey of teaching Islam to her kids. She resorted to teaching Islam to her kids through books but was unable to find enough engaging Islamic books for her pre-readers. In 2020, Marium made up a story about a small baby to read to her sons at bedtime and ‘Little Umar’ was born.   Marium’s approach to books is instinctive. Its essence lies in its simplicity. She uses flaps, pop ups, and sensory materials for an added dimension and to paint a picture of reality in her books. It also helps in drawing the attention of the kids and maintaining their interests.   She believes in using simple, repetitive texts, and rhymes that enables a pre-schooler to grasp and understand the content faster and ingrain it in their minds forever.   She always ends her book in an upbeat note. Children and adults alike love her thoughtful, positive endings.