Mina Javaherbin is an award-winning children’s picture book author. She emigrated from Iran to
the US over forty years ago. An architect by training, Mina has written several children’s books
exploring the cultures around the world and inspired by Persian Literature, sports, and her
childhood in Iran.
Mina’s books have been translated into seventeen languages, and sold around the world. To
name a few, her book The Secret Message, published originally by Disney, is based on a poem
by Rumi and enjoys an audience of about one million readers per year since 2012, when it
became a part of the national curriculum in 4th grade text books across the USA.
Elephant In The Dark, another story based on a poem by Rumi, published in 2012, was picked
in 2024 by Reach Out And Read, a national program that promotes early literacy, for a print
count of ten thousand to be distributed in pediatricians offices and primary care providers.
Her book Goal!, illustrated by A.G. Ford, was an IRA Notable Book For A Global Society, and
selected as the New York Public Library’s Best Books of the Year list. Soccer Star (Football
Star for the UK editions), was a Junior Library Guild Selection in 2014 and given multiple
awards and honorable mentions from the International Latin Book Awards in 2015. My
Grandma and Me, enjoyed starred reviews across the board from Kirkus Review and
Publisher’s Weekly to School Library Journal and Shelf Awareness. The book is translated into
Arabic and Hebrew and listed as the Booklist’s Top 10 Religion and Spirituality Books for Youth
in 2019. My Grandma and Me was also named one of the 50 Must-Read Children’s Books by
Book Riot.
My Father’s House, is Mina Javaherbin’s most recent book. It’s a companion book to her
autobiographical, My Grandma and Me, taking the reader to a tour of Isfahan, a beautiful and
unique city in Iran which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means the city is designated
as humanity’s heritage.
When she’s not writing, Mina’s happy place is the ski slopes, and sometimes teaching yoga.
She also likes writing and producing animation shorts. For her collaboration on the short
animation, Empty View, she was invited to the Cannes Festival in 2018, where the animation
was showcased at the Cannes Festival in Short Film Corner.
Mina lives in California. Find her online at minajavaherbin.net and on Instagram
@javaherbinwriter.
About (2010 Bio)
I was born in Iran and moved to the United States many years ago. I live in a beach city in Southern California with my husband and two children, who are enthusiastic soccer players and fans. Living here by the beach, of course, means we all swim and surf, and we can’t help but play tennis as well. It’s always tennis weather around here and almost all parks have tennis courts. I believe that even though I have an architectural education, and nowadays I write books too, I seem to really be my children’s chauffeur and “food manager”, a term they use to make me feel important and in charge! I’d like to add laundry manager, homework manager, and entertainment manager to the list as well.