Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, M.S.Ed, is a Philadelphia-based, award-winning children’s book author. A former English teacher, she educated children and teens in traditional and alternative learning settings for more than 15 years. As an inaugural fellow with the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), she also developed foundational curricular frameworks for youth and adult anti-racist programming and this work continues to influence her writing. Her picture books and middle grade fiction, which feature young Black and Muslim protagonists, have been recognized as the best in children’s literature by Time Magazine, NCTE, and NPR, and she is a 2021 Irma Black Award Honor author.
A former teacher and forever educator at heart, she is probably most proud that her picture book Your Name Is a Song was named a NEA Read Across America book and that it is included in the standardized curriculums of major school districts throughout the United States. In addition to producing children’s literature, she invests her time in the mentorship of aspiring children’s book authors through multiple programs including We Need Diverse Books and the Muslim Storytellers Fellowship of the Highlights Foundation where she is also a program committee member.
“Jamilah’s presentations and workshops are incredibly engaging and purposeful for all ages. She is equally gifted in working with four-year-olds and seventeen-year-olds and has a clear understanding of what is age-appropriate and valuable for students. She danced with our preschoolers, facilitated writing sprints with our elementary students, and wrote and performed poetry with secondary students- all of whom were engaged and invested the whole time. I could not recommend bringing Jamilah in enough.” — NIST International School, 2024
