Zaydo Potato: Allah Loves Me

About the authors

Randa Taftaf: Randa Taftaf is a Syrian-American author, educator, and co-founder of Rummana Publishing Inc. She grew up in Pennsylvania and relocated to Damascus, Syria at the age of fourteen, an experience that shaped her lifelong commitment to bridging Eastern and Western cultures through language and storytelling. She holds two Master's degrees - one in Foreign Language Education and one in Learning Design and Technology - and has studied Montessori and Reggio Emilia early childhood education approaches in Italy. With over twenty years of experience as a foreign language instructor, Randa has directed ESL programs, mentored instructors, and developed curriculum for teaching Arabic as a second language. Her professional collaborations include Pearson Education, the University of Pittsburgh, and UNHCR. The birth of her son Zayd motivated her and her husband Maz Galini to found Rummana Publishing in 2017, with the mission to educate, empower, and inspire Muslim children through diverse, faith-affirming stories. Together they created the Zaydo Potato series, featuring a Muslim child and his companions on adventures grounded in Islamic values. The series includes 'Zaydo Potato: Allah Loves Me', 'Zaydo Potato: Can Allah See Me Now?', and 'Zaydo Potato: A Muslim Superhero', illustrated by Lovyaa Garg.

Maz Galini: Maz Galini is a Lebanese-American author, creative director, and co-founder of Rummana Publishing Inc. A polyglot fluent in four languages - English, Arabic, French, and Spanish - he brings a multicultural perspective to his work in children's literature. By profession he works in healthcare IT, while simultaneously dedicating significant time to Rummana Publishing as Creative Director, where he contributes his skills in photography, web design, and visual storytelling. He and his wife Randa Taftaf founded Rummana Publishing in 2017, motivated by the birth of their son Zayd and their shared commitment to providing Muslim children with books featuring diverse, relatable characters rooted in Islamic values. The Zaydo Potato series, which Maz co-authored with Randa, follows the young character Zaydo and his companions as they explore their faith through everyday adventures. The series includes 'Zaydo Potato: Allah Loves Me', 'Zaydo Potato: Can Allah See Me Now?', and 'Zaydo Potato: A Muslim Superhero', all illustrated by Lovyaa Garg and published by Rummana Publishing Inc. The books are designed to encourage children to search for hidden details within the illustrations and include educational activities at the back of each volume.

About the illustrator

Lovyaa Garg: Lovyaa Garg is a freelance illustrator, animator, and comic artist based in New Delhi, India. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Art, Delhi, and completed an advanced animation course at the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics, Delhi. Known for working digitally using iPad and Procreate, she draws approximately five to six hours daily and has illustrated over fifty children's books across her career. She is also the creator of @makeitmini_comics, an Instagram page featuring brief comics on life, mental health, and everyday experiences paired with short poems and animations. Her approach to illustration emphasizes storytelling that is accessible and thought-provoking, often incorporating gentle irony or social observation. For the Zaydo Potato series by Randa Taftaf and Maz Galini - published by Rummana Publishing Inc. - Lovyaa created the illustrations for 'Zaydo Potato: Allah Loves Me', 'Zaydo Potato: Can Allah See Me Now?', and 'Zaydo Potato: A Muslim Superhero', bringing the characters Zaydo, Raya Amaraya, and their sidekick Pepper to life in a vibrant style designed to engage young Muslim readers.