Stuff We Like: A New Children's Book About Queens

By Kaitlin Ahern February 6, 2015

A new ABC book for kids, which has garnered tons of support on Kickstarter, celebrates the best things about Queens. Find out how you can add your favorite thing about the borough to the book!

What’s the coolest thing about Queens? What childhood memory sticks out in your mind? Where’s your favorite place to take your kids today? A soon-to-be-published children’s book titled Q is for Queens aims to highlight all the great things NYC’s largest and most diverse borough has to offer, and the author needs your help!

Tell us your favorite thing about Queens here for your chance to be featured in the book.

3 winners will be listed in the book's Contributors section and receive copies of the book once it's printed in June.

1 grand-prize winner will receive a family 4-pack of tickets to Arthur Ashe Kids' Day during the US Open in August.

The illustrated ABC book for kids is the brainchild of Amol Sarva, a tech entrepreneur and lifelong Queens resident who now lives in Long Island City. Sarva, a dad of two young girls, says he came up with the idea for the book when he realized that Queens was constantly overshadowed by the other boroughs, especially in children’s books. Q is for Queensaims to highlight all of the unique and wonderful things about Sarva’s home borough in alphabetical order, from A for Arthur Ashe Stadium to T for the Observation Towers (built in the 1960s for the World’s Fair).

S is for Saris

"No other street in America provides the Mumbai-style window-shopping you can enjoy in Queens on 74th Street in Jackson Heights. India Sari Palace will fit you out like a Maharani and then you can dine like one (or buy the gold jewelery like one) up and down the nearby blocks. Our dress-up drawer at home is stuffed with the latest silk styles and the classics -- depending on whether the grandparents were with us that Sunday." -Amol Sarva

Sarva posted the book as a project on Kickstarter.com in March and reached his initial goal of $8,000 in just seven days. In April, Sarva set a new goal of $35,000, which will help get the book into every Queens art institution, museum, school, and library—thus getting the book into the hands of more kids. The campaign is running through May 16. Sarva says he’d like the book to be a collaborative effort, so in addition to monetary donations he’s asking for suggestions from one and all on what should be included in the book. For more information on Q is for Queens, go to kickstarter.com/projects/amol/q-is-for-queens or Sarva's website: licnyc.com.