Recent decades have witnessed a continuous evolution in children's book illustration. A growing focus on representation and diversity, including attention to conflicts in the Middle East and the impact of migrations, has brought a new and exciting generation of illustrators from the Arab world to the forefront. Haya Halaw is one of the few Syrian artists known internationally for her work on children's books. She often addresses themes of identity, borders and the human experience.
While her books are primarily intended for children and young readers, they also speak to adults.
Haya is currently developing her first authored and illustrated children's book, titled The Little World Inside . Written in English, the book was developed as part of the Illustrated Arab initiative, an editorial programme led by Mounia Meftah and operated by the Swiss Arab Cultural Alliance .
The Geneva-based non-profit organisation, founded in 2024, aims to support artists from the Arab region and its diaspora in preparing their work for publication and broader circulation. The Little World Inside tells the story of a young girl and her father as they learn to hold on to each other. In this book, the strength and beauty of childhood and the slow work of rebuilding after something has been lost become a reflection on diaspora and fragmented identity, as well as for parents seeking to build their parenting identity.
Haya jokingly calls the book my baby. "I have been working on this project for over a year, and I am very proud of this book because I could express everything I wanted to express, and draw everything I wanted to draw," she tells The New Arab. The book is about "grief and imagination" and tells a story in which the characters find comfort in a rural setting reminiscent of the villages in Syria around the author's hometown. "I am also extremely inspired by the natural world," Haya explains. "Children appreciate nature, especially at this stage of their lives." Roots, migration, and artistic becoming Born in Homs, Syria, in 1993, Haya and her family fled the Syrian war years ago to live in Jordan.
In 2022, she relocated to Hamburg, Germany, to live with her husband, "one of my neighbours from Homs whom I have known since I was a child," she added, laughing.
The eldest daughter of an educated Syrian couple with Circassian origins, she still recalls her homeland with a mix of hope and fear.
The long process of devastating events that forced Haya and her family out of Syria has profoundly impacted her. "In the beginning, I suffered from panic attacks and anxiety," she recalled. Haya defines herself as an illustrator and painter whose artistic interests go back to childhood. "Since I was a child, I have always been influenced by art," she tells The New Arab. Her mother, who now finds comfort in writing poetry, has always been a source of inspiration. "My mum encouraged me to develop my artistic skills," she said, "even though I actually studied English literature in university in Syria."
Haya also paints for self-expression. "In Amman, I enjoyed working a lot with a gallery called Jacaranda Images, which specialised in limited edition prints and original works on paper."
As a freelance illustrator, she has experience ranging from one-off editorial pieces to long-term projects for children's books. She has collaborated with local and Arabic publishers and NGOs in dozens of projects, including editorial illustrations for the USA-based NGO Beyond Conflict .
Among her most recent collaborations are the children's books Hathihi hiya qissati ma'ak ( This Is My Story with You ) by author Sarah al-Dhafiri and published by Takween , and Rajul Al- Jalīd (translated in French, with the title L'Homme de Glace ) by author Amal Nasser for the publisher Ya'soub Editions, France.
There is interest in literature in the Arab regions, "but children's books are still taking shape and considered an educational tool," she said, while emphasising the diverse audience which extends from the Arab world to Europe. She describes her books as picture books that tell stories primarily through illustrations and usually follow a standard format. "Typically, I receive a flat fee in traditional children's books and not royalties," she added.
Illustrated children's books may also inform imagination and inspire creativity. "When I discovered the world of picture books for children, I was mesmerised and thought I could become a part of it. For a long time in Syria, I had access to the Russian translations only," she explained. Narrating identity Haya Halaw exhibited her work for the first time in the fifth edition of the Sharjah Exhibition for Children's Book Illustrations in 2016 .
More recently, she was recognised with an award in the Best Illustration category from the Arab Children's Book Publishers Forum (2021) for the book Amal ( Hope ), published by Dar Rummana (2020).
She was also a finalist at the prestigious Mahmoud Kahil Awards in the Children's Book category in 2023 and in the Graphic Illustration category in 2026.
Some of the children's books Haya illustrates aim to denounce the stigmatisation of refugees and advocate for support for shared actions and solidarity.
"We meet refugees from Sudan and Libya who share the same feelings," she said. "It is really happening, and we need to make children's books about these topics so that they can find refuge in them."
In 2022, Haya collaborated with Palestinian writer and researcher Ala' Qaraman to illustrate I Follow the Thread ( Atba'u al-khayt ), a 56-page children's book published by the Tamer Institute for Community Education in Ramallah.
Considered by some to be a pioneering work in Palestinian literature for children and young people, it has attracted the interest of an Italian publishing house, Bibliolibrò, which published a bilingual edition in Italian and Arabic (translated by Alessandra Amorello) titled Seguo il filo.
The book tells the story of a girl who travels through different places and memories, searching for a place to call home – a situation shared by both Haya and Ala, who are trapped between wars and displacement.
Each illustrated scene inspires reflection on the diaspora, exile and the irrepressible need for roots that, though broken, remain deeply cherished. The sea that is crossed represents the passage of time, but also knowledge.
In Haya's illustrations, fluid, distinctive lines create figures that capture their essence.
The scenes, often coloured in classic blues and warm reds to evoke emotion through clear, engaging imagery, range from traditional hand-drawn sketches to mixed media artworks using acrylics, watercolours and pastels.
"Reading has always inspired me. But just like many illustrators before me, I have been influenced by painting and the way magical realism and surrealist abstraction created imaginary worlds," Haya concludes. Elisa Pierandrei is an Italian journalist and author based in Milan. She writes and researches stories across art, literature, and the visual media. Elisa holds a master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the American University in Cairo (2002), after graduating in Arabic Language and Literature at Ca' Foscari University in Venice (199 Follow her on X: @ShotOfWhisky