About Us
How it all started
Who's behind Alefya Story?
My name is Huda, a senior Human Resources Consultant by day (ok, sometimes by night too) and a full time wife and a mother to a toddler girl. I grew up in the U.S., but my cultural values have always been rooted back in my original home, the Levant region. My family hails from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, quite the mix, right!
What does "Alefya" mean?
"Alef" is the Arabic word for the first letter in the Arabic alphabet and "Ya" is the last letter in the Arabic alphabet.
So, what's the story?
Throughout most of my life, I've lived as an immigrant in the U.S., and as with many like myself, there was always a sense of belonging to the home land that stayed with me - sparked by my mom's stories about her childhood in Beirut, my grandmother's cooking of authentic Palestinian dishes, and my own childhood years in Amman, the family trips to Aqaba, Petra and the Dead Sea.
Flashforward many, many years, having been blessed with a child of my own, I searched for ways to share with my daughter these cultural traditions and values, but what I found was very limited. When COVID hit in 2020 and I was no longer traveling to meet clients, I was home, I had time, and my mind was set. Alefya Story was born. A collection of coloring and activity books, each representing a country, not just through historical sites but also traditions, like the food and the family outings.
Each book was illustrated by a female artist from the country the book reflects to ensure it is capturing the cultural aspect as close as possible. I was excited to finalize the Middle Eastern collection and decided to capture the same theme across as many countries as possible. You'll find books reflecting Turkey, Ukraine, Italy and more!
Now when I sit with my daughter, we select a coloring page to color, and as she colors, I share a story, and when we get to travel to that country, we can talk about it, create a memory, teaching her the value of diversity, and the beauty of the various traditions around the world.