A Note from the Founder:

Back in 2018, I wrote a book for my six kids titled A Kids Book About Racism. At the time I had 5 kids (4 white and 1 brown) with a new little brown baby on the way. Growing up as a Black kid in the whitest city in America, it felt important that my kids not only know and understand what racism is but be able to talk about it openly. So I did what any dad would do, I wrote a book. Not so that we could start the conversation on Racism (we were already having it), but so that they always knew it was an open subject with me, their black dad. I’m grateful that my kids, especially my white kids, feel comfortable asking, “Is this racist?” because they heard something at school that didn’t sit well with them.

And now here we are, some four years after I wrote that book. With my kids encouragement and a lot of help, we've built a company around the idea that kids were ready to talk about the important stuff of life, and that books were sort of a magical way to open up those conversations. Our company has now published over 100+ books ranging from topics like Divorce, Imagination, Voting, Cancer, Shame, Racism, Gratitude, Empathy, and Being Non-Binary. We’ve sold hundreds of thousands of copies and more importantly started important conversations in homes, schools, classrooms, pillow forts, grandparent's houses, and therapists’ offices all over the world.

We’ve come a long way from where we started, just telling stories in books to 5-9 year-olds, to telling stories through words, video, audio, and beyond for kids of all ages.

Our Mission is to empower a generation of kids through diverse storytelling.

The thing about kids media these days is it basically has one goal: to entertain. That’s good and all and I love toys that can talk as much as the next dad, but these can’t be the only kinds of stories kids hear, see, or read. Kids need entertainment, distraction, and fantasy… that’s true. But they also need to see themselves in the stories they interact with and more importantly, they need to see their experiences. Kids need a space where they learn how to understand and overcome what they face on a day-to-day basis.

We’re here to tell stories that empower kids. Empowerment isn’t all about slaying dragons. It can also be about learning to love yourself, or love someone who doesn’t look, sound, think, or act like you. It can be about overcoming trauma, heck even understanding what trauma is! It can be about finding your passion. It can be about just getting through the day. Kids are people, too. They have real experiences, thoughts, and ideas. We (grownups that is) have to do away with “I’ll tell you when you’re older”, “You wouldn’t understand”, “We don’t talk about that”, or worst of all “Grow up.”

Because kids are ready.

Jelani Memory, Founder & CEO