Process Talk: Taraneh Matloob on Dear New Friend

Taraneh Matloob’s new picture book, Dear New Friend, feels like an invitation to step into its pages ro meet the Persian family she portrays. Many little touches set this up—a secret knock, a grandmother humming a tune, and watermelon!

Oh, and watermelon seeds—and you can tell what comes after that, can’t you? Taraneh’s path has crossed mine in other ways in the past, in her capacity as a translator (she translated my friend Susan Fletcher’s Shadow Spinner into Farsi) and a children’s literature scholar. I’m delighted to have this conversation with her here.

[Uma] What made you choose the device of the child narrator speaking to a friend and how did this approach open up the story for you as you wrote?

[Taraneh] I was looking to create an authentic child voice, allowing him to share events within the context of his own life. The friendship develops between the narrator and his future friend, seen through the eyes of the child narrator. By having him speak to a friend, I was able to highlight the perspective unique to the child. Their bond is portrayed solely though the narrator’s imagination, creating a safe space for a potential friendship.

[Uma] And yet, it also opens up vulnerabilities and hesitation, doesn’t it? A tiny hesitation when he asks if the friend won’t mind taking his shoes off, just for an example. Can you talk about how opening up the character can be an invitation to a reader?

[Taraneh] The bond between people is not always straightforward, especially when it involves individuals from different cultures. I believe the element of surprise is implied in the nature of friendship.

[Uma] Tell me more about that. What do you mean?

[Taraneh] So there is a hesitation sometimes for people, not only children, when they see a person from another culture. They are not sure how to communicate, or if they will be understood. So then it’s safer not to connect. This book is a kind of invitation that is safe, a way to say, friendship can look like this. Not a formal invitation but a spark in a way—as if to say, come on in.

[Uma] As we go deeper into the family home, we find two more surprises. I’m not going to reveal them, other than to say that my Indian heart leaped for joy at the word “doosti” which is so similar to the Hindi word for friendship. But it did seem to me that surprise seems an important element in the unfolding of this story. Your thoughts?

[Taraneh] When you see someone from a distance you don’t really know them. You can put people into boxes, or assume that because they come from a certain place maybe they think a certain way. When you develop a friendship you have two people coming out of their boxes, maybe being surprised to learn about one another. Maybe their assumptions were based on incorrect information or stereotypes. And when you get past that it opens something up in a friendship, like a doorway. I see that with my students as well.

[Uma] You place the opening that way, don’t you, at the door, or really, coming up the path before that. Will you talk about that choice?

[Taraneh] I wanted to make it very clear, to make the scene very clear—that is how you approach, and then there is a doorway, you cross a threshold and so on. So then when we get to the cultural details they are also very clear. If a friend approaches, then the child is also made to feel he can share different aspects of his identity and feel, you know, not threatened.

I do a simple activity with my students at the beginning of the semester, where I make them define themselves by using certain words, which they write down. Then they have introduce themselves to a partner without using those words. So there is an element of surprise there and it always invites people to express themselves in a deeper way.

[Uma] You use a light touch in your text and the art picks up that lightness. I see a link between the path to the door in the opening spread and the bridge in the final pages—not anything you make explicit in your words and yet, there’s a visual echo. How do you read the art and how do you think Alida Massari’s radiant pictures dance with your words?

[Taraneh] I could not have asked for a better illustrator than Alida Massari. Her thoughtful approach to cultural representation is very impressive. Her illustrations are both joyful and vibrant.  She has infused her unique artistic style to enhance the visual appeal of illustrations while also contributing to a more inclusive representation of this story.

[Uma] Is there a spread you particularly like and why does it speak to you?

[Taraneh] This one, in the kitchen with the grandmother cooking. I like how the cooking smells move across the page and the kids are sitting. All the details she has included are very good and realistic. She also illustrated the significance of colors and symbolism in the art of Persian rug making.

[Uma] Say a little more about the importance of the carpet in this story.

[Taraneh] I wanted to have an object in the story that has meaning Persian culture, so there would be a way to continue that when the family is not in their own country. I wanted make it a man creating that object because we always have the stereotype of women being weavers. I wanted to give that role to Dad. And I wanted to highlight in the story that the carpet has a language of its own. It is not just an object to cover the floor but it contains so many different symbols with meanings behind them. I wanted to give a very small glimpse of all the layers of meaning in what he is doing.

[Uma] Taraneh, thank you so much! Congratulations on your beautiful book.