Interview with Jashar Awan, EVERY MONDAY MABEL

Every Monday, Mabel wakes up early and peeks out her window to make sure she didn’t miss the one thing she’s been looking forward to the whole week. She drags her chair down the hallway, past her big sister and Mom and Dad, out the door, and waits. What is Mabel waiting for every Monday?

Max's Boat Pick:

EVERY MONDAY MABEL

By Jashar Awan

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (Feb. 25 2025)

Buy now

Thanks for stopping by again, Jashar! There are so many different ways to get into Every Monday Mabel, which is what makes it so smart. I'm curious how it came about. 

Jashar Awan: "Again, my son was the initial inspiration for Every Monday Mabel. On Mondays, he always made sure to set up his chair at the end of the driveway and wait for the garbage truck to arrive. Afterwards, he’d come back into the house and announce, 'Every Monday, I do the most boring thing!' He loved the garbage truck, but hated the waiting! 

My son’s love of trucks got me thinking about childhood interests. Growing up, I wasn’t a truck kid—I liked comics and superheroes, which, in those days, felt very niche. When you’re a kid, the world can feel small—it’s only as big as your family or your school or your church. It might be hard to find people with common interests, but they’re out there! You just haven’t met them yet. (When I was sharing the dummy with the book’s designer, Lucy Ruth Cummins said, 'Oh! This is about art school!')"

Jashar Awan's early sketches and final spreads for Every Monday Mabel (above)

"The first draft was written in 2021 and titled 'Every Monday Melvin.' When I dusted the draft off a few years later, my wife suggested making the main character a girl since I hadn't done a book with a female lead yet. We came up with so many 'M' names for the character before landing on Mabel. (Max took notes on a post-it while we were brainstorming.)"

Jashar Awan's early sketches for Every Monday Mabel (above)

I love how Mabel has this very self-confident/assured viewpoint that never wavers, despite everyone else's differing perspectives. Was that a strong through line that you wanted to get across (that she marches to the beat of her own drum, and doesn't care what other people think)? Yet, there isn't a whiff of didacticism. Any tips for how to avoid that? (Asking for a friend, of course.)

"Thank you! I’m glad that Mabel comes off so self-assured and that the story doesn’t feel didactic. When I’m writing, I tell the story I want to tell and then I figure out what is being said by that story. When I revise the text, I can nod to the themes without spelling it out for the readers. I don't start with a message and then work backward to build a story around it. The story has to come first. There has to be something that engages me beyond a message."

Jashar Awan's early sketches and final spreads for Every Monday Mabel (above)

What's a book that you think does this particularly well?

"A book that does this beautifully is We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang. She tells such a thoroughly entertaining story about aliens who crash land on earth that when you get to the end of the book, the message of the story almost feels like a surprise. When you reread the book, you realize that it is right there on every page. It’s like a magic trick—you’re so focused on what the magician is doing with one hand, you miss what is being done with the other."

What forthcoming picture books are you most excited about?

"I can't wait to read Papilio by Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, and Andy Chou Musser. Each author-illustrator tells a different part of a caterpillar’s life cycle. I love the idea of an anthology picture book."

"I’m really looking forward to Jerrold Connor’s Big Rhinoceros, Little Rhinoceros, in which a pair of rhinos go for a walk and learn together. You know how much I love those 'Big Animal, Little Animal' books! Jerrold is making his picture book debut earlier this year with Jim!, a biography of James Marshall."

"And speaking of picture book biographies about picture book makers, I can’t wait for Outside In and the Inside Out: A Story About Arnold Lobel by Emmy Kastner. It looks so cute! I love Lobel so much and I can’t wait to see how Emmy tells his story in her own way."