Seasons of Parastoo

Rashin Kheiriyeh (rashinart.com) is an award-winning illustrator, author, animator, and painter who has published over ninety children’s books in more than a dozen countries. In 2023, she was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and she has received fifty national and international awards, including the Sendak Fellowship Award, the Bologna Book Fair New Horizon Award, the Golden Apple Award (Slovakia), and the FAJR Film Festival Crystal Roc Award (Iran). She has a Doctorate in illustration and an MFA in graphic design. She’s the artist for Sugarland (Shekarestan), the most popular animated TV series in Iran, and a lecturer in the University of Maryland art department. She was born in Iran, and now lives in Washington DC.

“Spreads tinged with electric hues. . . . In every season, the beautiful blue that Parastoo loves appears somewhere in the artwork. Waiting is difficult, but the swallows always return—and so does Parastoo’s mother, in this loving meditation on the progression of seasons and missing a loved one.” —Publishers Weekly“Bright, dynamic illustrations feature blue and orange motifs throughout, lending the book a feeling of vibrancy even in moments of sadness. The passing of the seasons parallels the separation of mother and daughter, and moments of melancholy are enlivened by hope. . . . A rich story that urges readers to hold on to hope.” —Kirkus Reviews