{"id":102180,"date":"2020-10-31T19:32:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-31T16:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/5-year-old-becomes-author-after-pandemic-shutters-library\/"},"modified":"2020-10-31T19:32:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T16:32:51","slug":"5-year-old-becomes-author-after-pandemic-shutters-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/5-year-old-becomes-author-after-pandemic-shutters-library\/","title":{"rendered":"#5-year-old becomes author after pandemic shutters library"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#5-year-old becomes author after pandemic shutters library<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Before the pandemic, 5-year-old Egypt Bush made weekly trip<\/a>s to the Cambria Heights branch of the Queens Public Library, where she would pick up 10 to 14 books at a time as bedtime stories for her and her brother. In March, a beloved pastime was suddenly disrupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the library closed, we had a bunch of books, maybe 10-12 that we had checked out,\u201d says Egypt\u2019s mother, Shaleem Bush. \u201cShe kept reading them over and over with her dad. One day he said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you come up with a story?\u2019 That night, she told him a story from her imagination. And he started writing down what she wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Egypt<\/p>\n

And he asked her, \u2018Why don\u2019t you write your own book?\u2019 She got really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

And just like that, a new hobby was born. Shaleem, who is in the communications field, worked with a graphic designer to bring the books to life. Young Egypt is now a prolific author; since June, she has published \u201cSuperhero Town<\/a>,\u201d \u201cSuperhero Family<\/a>,\u201d \u201cSuperhero School<\/a>\u201d and \u201cEgypt\u2019s Everyday Superheroes Coloring and Activity Books<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theme<\/a> in all of the books is that ordinary people have superpowers they can use to help their community. Her books all star herself \u2014 a New Yorker with Trinidad heritage \u2014 as a main character. A 2018 review of diversity in children\u2019s publishing found that only 10 percent of children\u2019s books depicted an African-American character.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t that many places where she can see kids that look like herself,\u201d says Shaleem. \u201cIt\u2019s about empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egypt is attending school remotely, but she has had a virtual read-along of her books with her class. She and her mother have visited neighborhood beauty-supply stores and nail salons where she has sold the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing her interact with these kids is really special,\u201d says Shaleem. \u201cThey all say, \u2018I want to write a book, too!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow Egypt on Instagram at @beingegypt<\/a>.\n <\/div>\n