LITTLE LIBRARY JOURNAL
Stories, Thoughts & Little Moments
“A quiet corner for the stories behind my stories, reflections from my author journey, and little things worth remembering.”
OCTOBER 12, 2026
The Little Things We’re Thankful For
Thanksgiving always makes me think about the little things.
Not necessarily the big celebrations or perfectly planned moments, but the everyday ones we sometimes forget to appreciate. A family coming together after a long day. Someone sharing the very last cookie. A small act of kindness that makes another person smile.
As I looked through my books this Thanksgiving, I realized how many of these little moments had found their way into my stories.
When We All Come Home celebrates the comfort of being together. Pip & Nox: The Last Cookie reminds us about sharing. The Shiny Bright Doll explores generosity and love, while The Boy Who Grew Love shows how even the smallest act of kindness can grow into something extraordinary.
And then there is From the Island to the Maple Leaf, a story especially close to my heart, about carrying our roots with us while finding a sense of home somewhere new.
Perhaps that is what gratitude means to me.
Noticing the love, kindness and connections already around us, even on the most ordinary days.
Sometimes the smallest moments give us the biggest reasons to be thankful.
From My Author’s Desk
OCTOBER 7, 2026
Every Child Has a Voice
October is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month in Canada, and it's a subject that means a great deal to me.
As a mother of an autistic child, I've learned that communication doesn't always need words. Sometimes it happens through pictures, gestures, expressions or simply through the way someone experiences and responds to the world.
And I've learned that progress doesn't look the same for every child.
These experiences are part of what inspired Leo’s Words, a story about a boy who communicates using pictograms on his iPad. Leo has thoughts, feelings and ideas to share. His classmates simply need to learn that listening can mean more than hearing spoken words.
The Boy Who Grew Love approaches kindness from a different direction. Hugi is quiet and thoughtful, and his story reminds us that love doesn't always need grand gestures to make a difference.
When I write stories like these, I hope they encourage children to look beyond what they first see, to be curious rather than judgmental, and to make room for people who experience the world differently.
Because awareness is only a beginning.
Acceptance is what happens when we choose to listen more, judge less and make space for every child to belong.
And that matters every month, not just October.
Behind the Story
Why I Wrote Moki’s Five-Star Resort
Some stories begin with a big idea. This one began while I was cleaning the bathroom.
My daughter Aliza was watching me, and when she saw the foam in the toilet, she thought it looked like a swimming pool. Then came the kind of question only a child would think to ask: what if a cockroach saw it and thought it was a pool?
We laughed—and Moki was born.
From there, an ordinary bathroom became a luxury destination. The bathmat, toilet brush and air freshener became part of the experience, and Moki arrived completely convinced that he had discovered the most magnificent five-star resort.
What I love most about this story isn't really the bathroom—or even the cockroach. It's the way children can look at something completely ordinary and see something we would never have imagined.
I was cleaning a toilet.
Aliza saw a swimming pool.
And somewhere between the two, we found a story.
Thank you, Aliza. This one really was your idea.
Behind the Story
SEPTEMBER 12, 2026
5 Ways to Keep a Story Going After the Last Page
One of my favourite things about children’s books is that the story doesn’t really have to end when the cover closes. Sometimes what happens afterwards is just as meaningful.
Here are five simple ways to keep a story going:
1. Ask what happens next.
Let children imagine where the characters go from here. There are no wrong answers.
2. Change the story.
What if a character made a different choice? What if the story happened somewhere completely different?
3. Create something.
Draw a character, colour a scene, invent a new book cover, solve a puzzle or make something inspired by the story.
4. Follow their curiosity.
A hummingbird can lead to questions about nature. A seed can spark curiosity about how plants grow. Let the questions take you somewhere new.
5. Make it personal.
Ask, “Has anything like that ever happened to you?” Sometimes a story gives children an easier way to share their own thoughts and experiences.
I may write the story, but once it reaches a child’s hands, I don’t get to decide where it ends.
And I think that’s exactly how it should be.
Books, Learning & Little Minds
AUGUST 30, 2026
A Little Library Needed a Home
For a long time, Siddiqa’s Little Library lived in many different places.
It lived in the stories I wrote, in illustrations coming to life, in books arriving in the mail, in ideas scribbled down before I could forget them, and in the excitement of seeing another story finally become a real book.
And somehow, one story became another, and another.
Some began with something my children said or drew. Some came from memories of my own childhood or moments with my family. Others started with a question, a feeling, something I wanted a child to understand, or simply an idea that made me smile and think, That would make a wonderful story.
Over time, my little library wasn't quite so little anymore.
I realized that my books needed a home of their own — somewhere readers could discover them without having to know exactly what they were looking for. A place where stories about kindness could sit beside stories about courage, family, imagination, nature, learning and simply being yourself.
But as I started building this website, I realized I wanted it to be more than a catalogue of books.
The stories don't really end on the last page.
There are activities to try, pictures to colour, facts to discover and conversations that can continue long after a book is closed. There are also stories behind the stories — where an idea came from, why a particular character matters to me, the memories hidden inside a book, and all the unexpected little moments that happen along the way when you create something.
That is why I decided to make this journal part of the Little Library too.
I don't know exactly what will fill these pages yet. There will probably be thoughts about writing and creating. Stories behind some of my books. Things I learn from children when I read with them. Moments from school visits. Perhaps even ideas that are only beginning to become stories.
Nothing too formal.
Just a little corner where I can occasionally stop, look back at what has grown, and share some of what happens between the books.
So, while I am still building this new home for Siddiqa’s Little Library, this feels like a good place to begin.
Welcome to my little library. I hope you find a story here that stays with you.
From My Author's Desk