FIGURE ONE
FIGURE ONE
18
15
by
Kelly Byrd
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The day I found out about Mrs. McKissack’s passing, I decided to write her a letter expressing my gratitude for the generosity of her time and her willingness to
pour into me as a budding author. The concept for Like Sunshine On an Otherwise Miserable Day came from the sentiments I expressed in that letter. I wanted to write a story that evoked the spirit of the principles she instilled in me, elucidated the importance of family literacy experiences, and reflected positive, affirmative images of black children.
My desire to establish the importance of family and home practices in literacy development, the importance of representation in children’s literature, and the importance of connecting black children to enjoyable experiences with literacy prompted me to start my non-profit organization, Love for Literacy. Our mission is to embrace the love for literacy in black children by providing families with opportunities to engage in and celebrate their own literacy practices. Our vision is that all black children see themselves as competent learners, producers, and agents of literacy. Love for Literacy is most proud of its annual Patricia McKissack Book Giveaway. We recently held a drive-thru event this past December. This is the third year the event has been hosted, and to date, we have given out nearly 1,000 brand new children’s books featuring black children to children and families in the metro St. Louis area. Love for Literacy hopes to double that number this year.
As an educator, an author, and the founder of a literacy-based non-profit, my life’s work is exposing not only black children to black children’s literature but expose all children and families to this literature to normalize and reimagine the beauty in the experiences of black children. I strongly encourage and challenge teachers to diversify their classroom libraries. Teachers should be thoughtful and intentional about the literature they share with their students. Lastly, I embolden teachers to consider that ALL children come from their homes to the classroom with valuable experiences around literacy. It is imperative that all children, no matter their background, no matter their reading and writing ability, be included and participate in enjoyable, contextualized literacy experiences, so that they have the opportunity to become competent learners of literacy or even creators of their own literary works.
Dr. Kelly M. Byrd is a member of the St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature Association. Her first children’s book, Like Sunshine On an Otherwise Miserable Day, was published in March, 2019. Dr. Byrd received her doctorate of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Byrd is a practicing certified Speech Language Pathologist, family literacy scholar, and community advocate for highlighting African-American family literacy experiences. She hopes that her work serves a foundational piece to understanding and acknowledging a legacy of black family literacy experiences. She has created Love for Literacy, a program that seeks to shine a light on the importance of black family literacy experiences and its role in literacy development in children.
For more information on Love for Literacy, visit loveforliteracy.org.
To purchase Like Sunshine On an Otherwise Miserable Day, go to: Amazon.com
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