“It was a treat to welcome author Jamilah thompkins-Bigelow to Potomac’s Lower School for a visit with our Kindergarten through 3rd grade students. She read her beautiful book, Your Name is a Song, and invited student volunteers to sing their names — a poweful and joyful reminder of the beauty in every identity. She had the students up and dancing, fully engaged from start to finish. Her warm, interactive presentation made for a memorable experience for our students and left us all thinking about the power of our names!” — The Potomac School, 2025
“At UNIS, we were honored to welcome Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow to kick off Women’s History Month with our Junior School students. Jamilah gracefully connected with our students by sharing her personal journey, captivating the younger ones with her childhood experiences and inspiring the older students with her path as an author. Our students were fully engaged by her storytelling, her demonstration of khimars, and her journey from teaching to becoming a writer. Her eloquence and heartfelt responses to questions about inclusion, diversity, and equity, both as an author and a teacher, left a profound impact on everyone.” — United Nations International School, 2025
“We absolutely loved our school visit with Jamilah Thompkins- Bigelow! She was warm, friendly and engaging from the very start all the way though to the end of her presentation. As a former teacher she was able to really connect with the children and was effortless able to keep the children engaged for the entire presentation. The children had the opportunity to learning about her process as a writer, her Khimar, hear her read her books… while giving secret insights into characters, names and even allowing children to sing their own names. Jamilah was generous with her time for questions, signing books and even gave the kids a dance break. Thank you, Jamilah for coming to our school!” — Katonah Elementary School, 2025
“Jamilah is an important author, an outstanding writer, and a captivating storyteller. Her books provided our students with much-needed windows into the lives of kids that have experiences similar to their own that happen to be Muslim. Just as critical, she served as a mirror for our Muslim students, who often do not get to see their lives reflected in children’s books.” — Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, 2024
“Jamilah did an awesome job of reading her books to our students. She really brought the stories alive!” — Willow Hill Elementary, 2024
“Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow writes beautifully meaningful and fun books and is an engaging speaker. She even got us all singing with her when she read her book Your Name Is A Song. The students and teachers were all excited and impressed!” — Westtown Lower School, 2024
“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
“Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow did a wonderful job tailoring each session to the group she was working with. She read animatedly and involved the little ones in her stories. When working with Lower School writers she broke down her process, shared it with them step-by-step, had them follow the process-creating a character and generating ideas for a story with that character, and then allowed them to share their ideas with her. Our Lower School writers were thrilled to meet author Jamilah and walked away excited about the stories they had begun to write. With Upper School, Jamilah gave them a presentation they could relate to and then had them use their own experiences to write a poem. Everyone had nothing but good things to say about her visit.” — Doane Academy, 2024
“Author Jamilah provided fun, informational, and interactive sessions for students of all ages. Her books brought so much joy to the students. Her shared experiences resonated with many students and staff at my beautiful and diverse school.” — East Ward Elementary, 2024
“Jamilah did an incredible job both speaking to students in assemblies as well as speaking to faculty after school. She was such a dynamic presence and the children had a fantastic time. They were so excited to be able to raise their hands when she had asked if they had read her books. She was able to thoughtfully tailor her performance to each age group based on their comprehension levels and abilities. I would absolutely have her back again.” — Friends Select School, 2023
“This lovely celebration of African American culture, featuring a Muslim family, offers a fresh way to look at the tradition of creating new names. . . A delightful celebration.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“Simultaneously imparts a strong spark of sensibility and envelops readers in a warm embrace through an overdue, crucial lesson about the significance of honoring every individual’s cultural identity…” — School Library Journal, starred review
“Hold Them Close is a true work of art. This is a book to be savored and reread in classrooms and homes.” — Booklist (starred review)
“[This] book is an uplifting family story as much as it is a beautifully fearless introduction to much of Black history and why learning about it is essential for understanding the modern world.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“Thompkins-Bigelow (Abdul’s Story) pens a stirring free verse love letter to Black children and community, carrying readers through a range of experiences to be held tight or dismissed.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A love poem to Black children that both educates and bolsters.” — Kirkus Reviews
