Taghreed Najjar


Taghreed Najjar is a Palestinian-Jordanian writer and publisher. She is the writer of over 50 Arabic children and young adults books. Some of her books were translated and published in different languages including English, Swedish, Turkish and French. She is the founder of Al Salwa Publishing House. Over the years, Al Najjar won several literary awards and in 2017 she was shortlisted for the Etisalat Children's Literature Award and the Sheikh Zayed Award. She is a member of the Jordanian Writer's Association.

Education and career

Najjar is an author of children and young adult books who was born on 28 September 1951 in Jordan. In 1973, she graduated from the American University of Beirut with a bachelor's degree in English Language and a Diploma in Education with a minor in Psychology. Najjar worked as an English teacher and published her first children book "Safwan the Acrobat" in 1977. She has published more than 65 published books for children and young adults and she is considered a pioneer of modern literature of children in Jordan. Her book "Hawk Eye Mystery" was shortlisted in the Young Adult Book of the Year for Etisalat Award in 2014. At the same year, her story "Raghda's Hat" was shortlisted for Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Eighth Session. In 2019, Najjar was nominated for Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Her books were translated into different languages including Turkish, English, Swedish, French, and Chinese. Najjar participated in many international and regional conferences, events, and festivals like the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in 2018.

Works

Children

Safwan the Acrobat, 1977I Am Amazing, 1999I Can, 1999Not Yet, 1999My Brother Zaid, 1999One Dark Night, 1999The Lie That Grew Bigger, 2001Why Should I Sleep Early, 2001The Nicest Day, 2004A Frog in our Classroom, 2004Don’t Worry Dad, 2004 First Day of School, 2005My Favorite Animal, 2005When the Doorbell Rang, 2006Adventure on the Farm, 2008The Story about a Boy Named Jacob, 2008A Day on the Beach, 2009This is How Fish Swim, 2010Tasseh Tarantaseh, 2010A Home for Arnoub, 2010Nashma and Jassem, 2011Karma’s Rabbit, 2011Anything, 2011Omar is Lost, 2012 Watch Out Jude, 2012Jude’s New Bicycle, 2012 The Complete Halazone Series, 2012 Who Hid the Eid Lamb?, 2012Fifi, 2012 My Grandmother Nafeesa, 2012Why not?, 2013There’s a Jungle in Saifo’s Room, 2014 Mr. Policeman, 2013
  • Kaak, 2013 Us Three Together, 2013Saadeh the Monkey, 2013 There’s a Jungle in Saifo’s Room, 2014 Sky is Raining Food, 2015 Al Ghoul, 2015The Hard to Please Horse, 2016The Amazing Toilet Paper Roll, 2016What Happened to My Brother Ramez?, 2016Mrs. Jawaher and Her Cats, 2016Sleep Zaina, 2016A Strange Adventure, 2017
  • Zekazam Zekazoom, 2018 The Amazing Egg Cartons 1, 2019The Amazing Egg Cartons 2, 2019 Tala’s Car, 2019No Tala, 2019When Mama Got Sick, 2019The Bird Flew, 2019Who’s First, 2019The Doctor’s Visit 2019The Case of the Spotted Leopard, 2019

Teen

Raghda’s Hat, 2012Against the Tide, 2013The Mystery of the Falcon’s Eye, 2014One Day the Sun Will Shine, 2017Whose Doll is This?, 2019

Awards

She has been shortlisted and nominated for many awards including the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children's Literature, Sheikh Zayed Book Award, and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.