Danny Arafa’s New Book Reimagines Cairo Through a Child’s Eyes

A strange green creature munches on mangoes at the souk. A baker inflates baladi bread like balloons. A multicoloured lion hides in a side alley. This author and illustrator Danny Arafa's Cairo.

Takhayal Takhayal (تخيل تخيل), a new children’s book by Danny Arafa, reimagines the city in all its surreal, playful glory. Published by Asfoura Books, the book is a vivid, rhyming journey through Cairo’s overlooked corners, designed to spark wonder in children and nostalgia in adults.

Written entirely in Egyptian Arabic, the story moves briskly through vegetable markets, rooftops, and quiet neighbourhoods, bringing them to life with whimsical illustrations and a sharp eye for everyday beauty. “Takhayal Takhayal is a new kids' book that invites children (and grown-ups) to reimagine the Cairo they thought they knew,” Arafa tells CairoScene.

At its heart, the book is a deliberate call to slow down and observe. Whether it’s a shuttered window or a crack in the sidewalk, Arafa wants children to see potential in the overlooked. “Imagination made my world bigger and richer as a child,” he reflects. “That imagination turned into curiosity as I grew older. That’s what I hope Takhayal Takhayal brings to others. Especially kids growing up in Egypt today.”

Arafa, known for the Arabic kids’ podcast Qesas le Atfal Elnaharda and picture books like Pack Pals and The Dace That Flew to Space, brings his signature rhythm and colour to this latest release. The result is a book that’s as charming for toddlers as it is meaningful for the adults reading to them.