This is Jelani, one of our co-founders. As a Black father with a blended family, racism was an inevitable topic of conversation in his home. There, Jelani has a strict policy for how he raises his six children: unwavering honesty. Always upfront with tough topics that tend to make other parents squirm, he even had the "Where do babies come from?" talk with his daughter when she was 5 — AND he used pictures.

Desiring a tangible record of his experience for his kids to read and interact with, Jelani first wrote the pictured kids book on racism only for himself + his kids. It wasn’t until later, when he let a few others read the book, that people started asking for copies. And A Kids Company About was born. Jelani often shares that it really was his kids that actually started it all though. You see, Memory's kids treated his book differently from others in their collection because, he says, it treated them differently:

"The book treats them like they're smart," Memory says. "It talks up to them, not down to them. It gives them space to be thoughtful with big ideas."

This quickly became a hallmark of every book in our ever-growing collection. We’ve seen firsthand how remarkable, brilliant, and inquisitive kids can be, especially when it comes to uncomfortable topics. They respond in a big way when you give them the chance. And, we wanted to create something that would empower those very conversations. So, we did just that — we collaborated with experts in fields related to all kinds of tough topics to write books just as Jelani did. Whether it's racism, feminism, depression, or one of the many different topics we cover, we wanted to create books that truly matter to families.

If you are at all like Jelani or you’ve ever felt the least bit uncomfortable tackling some of the hard topics life throws at our families, we’d love to invite you on the journey that is A Kids Company About. Check out the online bookstore and kickstart the important conversations with your kids through a collection of beautifully designed books on the hard issues kids deal with every day → https://akidsco.com/