Happy news out of the U.K. on Thursday, as we learned that Toor Pekai Yousafzai, Malala's mom, is learning English with her daughter's book. Twenty-year-old Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate three years ago and will publish her first picture book, Malala's Magic Pencil, in October.
Malala was 15 years old when she was shot in the head by an assassin, who had been ordered to kill the girl because of her continued — and illegal, according to the Taliban — education in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. She was airlifted to the U.K., where surgeons saved her life, and her family fled their homeland to start anew in Europe.
Inspired by both Malala's resistance and her brush with death, Toor Pekai has been learning to read and write since at least 2015, when she revealed that she was studying both Urdu and English at the Women in the World conference in Chelsea. Although she has taken a behind-the-scenes role in her daughter's rise to prominence, Toor Pekai has recently begun to make more public appearances. The mother of three told the BBC in April that she was "trying to help other people get an education," saying, "[F]rom now on I want to be more involved in these kinds of things."
Four for you, Toor Pekai. You go, Toor Pekai.
Malala's picture book, Malala's Magic Pencil, hits store shelves on October 17.
