Tag: #empoweringkids

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Fun and empowering coloring books with natural hair for black girls and boys

Fun and empowering colouring books with natural hair for black girls and boys

Here are a few of the colouring books  that I have come across recently that celebrate diversity and feature black characters.

Colouring books can be cheap and cheerful.  However if you want colouring pages with black kids or natural hair then you may have to pay a bit more.  The books I have chosen here are high quality products created by named authors and illustrators.  Some have special features like activity and journalling pages.   All are designed to be empowering.

Oh Boy! by Chiquanda Tilley

This 64 page book is full of boys getting into things like footballs, fireflies and fishing. Cute and cheerful drawings of little dudes will encourage small guys to get the crayons out.  Chiquanda also has a sweet book for girls.

The STEM Colouring and Activity Book by J.D. Wright

It was hard to pick a favourite from this author’s appealing selection of books but I went for the STEM book as it features a multicultural cast of cute girls who cry out to be coloured in.  There are also questions for the child to answer so a very endearing souvenir can be created.  JD Wright has free pages to download on her site showing black kids with cool hairstyles.

Dream Big!  More than a Princess Colouring book by Stephanie Tabashneck

My absolute favourite page in the set of images of girls with big dreams shows a woman strolling barefoot along a beach   She asserts that she wants to be  a mom and will foster, adopt or have her own kids. 

The drawings of multicultural young women doing valuable work   make this a fabulous career guidance book.  Is she can do it so can I!

Colour My Fro; A Natural Hair Coloring book for Big Hair Lovers of all Ages  by Crystal Swain Bates

I’ve blogged about this book before because I just love colouring it in.  Cheerful , gorgeous women with natural hair are shown in a range of activities.   The drawings by Janine Harrington are printed on one side of the paper only and cry out to be framed.  Crystal Swain Bates has many great books.

The Colorful Adventures of Cody & Jay: A Coloring and Activity Book by Crystal Swain Bates 

I was complaining about the shortage of books for boys and author Crystal Swain Bates drew my attention to this fun filled 40 pager.

Cody and Jay are two lads who  love to have fun.  The book has activity pages, drawings to complete and a positive celebratory attitude.  Spaceships and cars feature.

Swift Walker: World Geography Coloring Book: Coloring Books for Kids by Norma Andriani Eka Putri and Verlyn Tarlton

As I mentioned earlier I was complaining about books for boys in Instagram and Plum Street Press drew my attention to Swift Walker – a chirpy little characters who stars in many books for the 4-8 age group.  Swifts loves travel and adventure.  The drawings of Swift with his natural fro and just doing a little bit of work for representation.

 

Write On Girl : A Fun Guided journal for teen girls by Jillian D Bradfield

I have been watching this one on instagram for a while as the author jilleybeanbooks showed off pages and details of the project.   I don’t have a copy yet but I can see from the reviews that as well as having  drawings that girls will adore, the book deals with all the topics facing girls. 

What really caught my eye was the pretty pre-teen saying a prayer and having a chat with God.  I was impressed as a lot of books talk about empowerment without acknowledging spirituality.

The STEM Lovin Baby-Sitters by Avril O’Reilly

The characters from my book A Fairy in the Family Again have their own colouring book.  The book was developed in London.  It shows Jada-Kai, Keysha and Ruby as totally cool baby-sitters.  The idea is that the child colouring the book is learning from these kind-hearted big girls about what big kids love to do. Those things include science, baby-sitting and black hair.

African wax print pattern with cartoon of three schoolgirls
Get your crayons out

Girls will get to colour in pages with science, geckos, hairstyles, braids, unicorns, natural hair and even an African Princess Fancy Dress Party.

Little People BIG Dreams Colouring Book

15 Big Dreamers from a wonderful Multi-cultural series by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara – Vegara has turned her book production into an efficient factory of inspirational stories and loveable art. On ya go, Maria. You can ask a kid to imagine/draw themselves in this style- and ask them about their BIG dreams.

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara has a coloring book!

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Bekki the Fairy meets Zolie Zi

A photo of Bekki the Fairy and a drawing of Zolie Zi are accompanied by the words Bekki the Fairy talks to Zolie Zi. A butterfly decorates the page.
Will Bekki and Zolie have anything to talk about?

Bekki the Fairy is very excited to meet Zolie Zi, also known by her nickname “Miss Chit Chat”.  Zolie is the narrator of a series of books set in the Helping Hands Academy for Gifted and Talented Children.

Before we start check out the pics of Zolie on this video.  She’s a cutie!

Bekki: It is good to meet you. My name is Bekki the Fairy and I can do magic. Tell me, what is special about you?
 
Zolie: Hi Bekki! Nice to meet you! Wow, you do magic, that sounds cool!! You will have to show me some of your magic one day! Well, what makes me special is my love of Science. My teacher says that the science that I like is called, Metaphysics and Astrophysics. I would like to build my own space ship one day so that I can travel beyond the light barrier. I am fascinated with space and I want to travel to different planets to see how other kids live.
 
Bekki: If someone tries to bully me or my friends I do a spell to turn them into a slug or frog for few minutes, how do you deal with bullies?
 
Zolie: I usually tell my mom, a teacher and I confront the bully. It is isn’t always an easy thing to do, but somebody has to do it. My mom said that my voice has POWER.
 
Bekki: Who do you think smells nicer, you or your brother?
 
Zolie: Definitely me!!!

A smiling little boy in a tshirt with arms folded
Zylee smells fine from here

 Bekki: I come from London but I am a mixture of Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil, Portugal and Scotland.  Are you a mixture?
 
Zolie: Yes, I am a mixture of two tribes from Africa, the Bushmen and Zulu and I am also African American.
 
Bekki: Wow! No wonder you can take on the bullies! Tell me about your doll mommies. Do you have many of them?
 
Zolie: Yes, I have so many doll mommies. I think about 500 or more by now.
 

 

Two pictures, one shows a Zolie Zi plush doll. The other shows a cute little girl holding her doll tightly.
The doll mommies enjoy cuddling Zolie

 
Bekki: How do school-kids in America react when they meet you?  Who was the best person you met?
 
Zolie: Kids get really excited when they see me. It always amazes me to see boys who are really happy to see me, sometimes they even try to cut the line in front of the girls to get to me. The best person that I met was a little girl named Yakini. Yakini was so shy to meet me, but she was my biggest fan, she has everything Zolie Zi.
 
Bekki: What about boys? Do you like boys? And do they like you?
 
Zolie: My mom doesn’t allow me to even think about boys. She says that I will have plenty of time for boys and that I have to focus on my books. No, I don’t like boys right now, I think they have the coodies!! Yes, boys like me all the time. Ewwwww…
 
Bekki: Is it true you have been to the Bahamas? What other cool places have you told your stories?
 
Zolie: Yes, I have been to the Bahamas two times and I am going back again this year. I have told my story in the Netherlands and Canada.
 

Beach scene in the Bahamas
Zolie has been to the Bahamas….jammy!

 
Bekki: My baby-sitter Rose watches Dallas on the TV. Is your life like that? Do you ever wear a cowboy hat?
 
Zolie: No, Dallas has changed a lot. They are building a lot of houses and apartments in the country where I live. Oh yes, I am a true cow girl and I have worn a hat before. I love wearing hats, they are pretty cool!!  
 

Bekki: Is it true your story was on the radio read out by a very special presenter. Tell me about that, please.

Zolie: Yes, my story has been on the radio several times, but one little girl named Wynter Avery reads my story every Saturday. She read my first book on air and now she is on my second book.
 

A little girl DJ sits next to her Zolie Zoi doll while preparing to read a story on air.
Look who is in the studio with Wynter Avery

 
  
Bekki: I live in London and I’d like to be a doll mommy. Where can I get Zolie doll?
 
Zolie: You can order a Zolie doll on Amazon.com or on my website zoliezi.com

 

Bekki: My mum gets the fabric for her dresses in the Netherlands. I hear there is a shop called Coloured Goodies  where people can buy your things. What can they buy?
 
Zolie: Yes, you can buy my things at Coloured Goodies. They carry my book in Dutch, my new drawstring bag and my doll.
 

A backpack decorated with Zolie Zi's face and name
Don’t leave bananas at the bottom.

Bekki: What do kids in the Netherlands think of you?
 
Zolie: The kids absolutely love me. I can’t wait until they read my book.
 
Bekki: Who wrote a book about you and why?
 
Zolie: My Author Sonya J. Bowser wrote a book about me after being bullied on the job which resulted in her being fired. After being fired, she felt powerless and discouraged. It was the first time that she felt like her voice had no power and was silenced.
 
She decided to use her niece Sariah Martin as my face and Sariah also inspired my lisp because she also has a lisp. When she wrote the story she had Sariah in mind because she noticed that Sariah would be a target for bullying because of her lisp so wanted to use my story to encourage her and other girls/boys to love themselves for who they are.  You must never let anyone bully you to make you feel powerless.

A flyer for Zolie Zi's book.
Here’s how Zolie looks in her book.

Bekki: Would you like to come and hang out with me in London? Kids over here would love to meet you. We can go to the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton together and visit the library next door.
 
Zolie: I would love to come. Just let me know and I am there!!!!!
 
Bekki: Thanks for chatting Zolie.
 
Zolie: Thanks for having me Bekki!!
 

 

A video showing drawings of the book character Zolie Zi
Zolie Zi is always up to something

 
Bekki hopes you liked her second ever interview.  Now she wants be be a helpful fairy and tell you where you can find out more about Zolie Zi.
 
The Zolie Zi website with games and things to buy is here.
 
There are pictures of Zolie and her author and her doll mommies  on Instagram.
 
People in the USA can go to Amazon to get the books 
and and a dolly
 
Here is where UK and Ireland readers can get the latest book –