Olympic Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad Turns Bullying Experiences Into New Children's Book

The new children's book “The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family” looks at a common childhood experience — the first day of school.

For sisters Faizah and Asiya, the first day is extra special because older sister Asiya will be wearing a beautiful blue hijab to school for the first time. The head covering, worn in public by some Muslim women, is a way to honor Islam.

But as Faizah and Asiya navigate a new school year, the two siblings encounter questions as well as teasing and bullying for wearing a hijab.

It's an experience that co-author and Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad knows all too well. She made headlines in 2016 when she became the first Muslim American woman to represent the United States in the Olympics wearing a hijab, and the first to win a medal at the games.

Since then, she’s been viewed as a role model for young Muslim women, something she says is still surreal.

As a kid growing in the suburbs of New York City, Muhammad says her parents and siblings were one of the only Muslim families in town, yet sporting a hijab was “commonplace” within her family.

In elementary school, she had to explain what a hijab was to classmates, something she describes as “quite a heavy load to carry” at such a young age.