Kelly's Classroom Online: Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow by Najla Ahmad

When I was a child, I loved listening to the original Over in the Meadow poem. My kindergarten teacher had a felt storyboard set for the poem and I remember feeling giddy whenever she brought it out. In today's guest post, Najla Ahmad talks about her children's book Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow... a fun, multicultural twist of that old poem. In Najla Ahmad's version of Over in the Meadow, children learn fun facts about animals and a little bit of Urdu... the national language of Pakistan and 22 states in India. Keep reading to learn more!

Children can learn fun facts about animals in English and Urdu/Hindi in the children's book Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow by Najla Ahmad.

This is a guest post by Najla Ahmad that first appeared on my blog in 2016.

To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Guest Post by Najla Ahmad

I am so excited to be able to share Asha Loves Science with you and your family. The idea first came to me when I was looking for South Asian American characters for my own daughters to relate to. They love learning Spanish and Chinese from the cartoons she sees on TV. However, they didn't have a character to relate to that taught them words and concepts from their own culture. This also meant that they would grow up without a simple way to share their culture with their peers.

Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow by Najla Ahmad

I also wanted to impart my love for science to my daughters. Always curious and willing to learn, my daughters are building foundations that will help them understand complex scientific concepts in the future. I think it is never too early to be curious about or in love with science!

Having a mathematician for a mother, I have always had a strong role model that encouraged me to explore my love for math and science. As a child, I never even realized that there were disproportionately fewer women in these fields. Asha is an enthusiastic, lovable, and positive role model for girls. I don't want any child to have an association between gender and science. Learning is a gender-neutral activity!

Author's Summary

Welcome to the meadow! Can you help Asha and her friends discover all the unique animals who live there? In this meadow, animal parents are teaching their babies new things, but animals aren’t the only ones learning! Asha and her friends discover just how amazing their animal friends are. They learn fun facts like the difference between reptiles and amphibians, what to call an animal without a spine, and what an exoskeleton is. Also, keep reading and you will find out what animal class Asha thinks is the best of them all! SCIENCE IS FUN FOR KIDS: Children are curious about the world around them. Feed their curiosity. GIRLS IN STEM: Women are underrepresented in STEM fields. A female lead like Asha shows kids that STEM is fun for everyone. SOUTH ASIAN AMERICAN CULTURE: Asha was born and raised in America. Having a South Asian American lead character normalizes the idea that South Asian Americans are Americans, too. Learn words in Urdu/Hindi, one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

🍎 Title: Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow

🍎 Author: Najla Ahmad

🍎 Publisher: self-published

🍎 Date: February 1, 2016

🍎 Pages: 36