Our Founder
Hi! My name is Ssanyu and I’m so happy that you decided to come and learn more about Brown Kids Read! In 2018 when I was 13 years old, I wanted to make a positive difference in the world. I decided that reading was a great way to reach that goal! Reading is essential to the success for young children’s mental development and since I’m an avid reader, I wanted to share that joy with the generation coming behind me. I started Brown Kids Read to motivate all children, but especially children of color to read more diverse literature.
I looked around at my friends and peers and realized that they were not supplied with diverse literature when they were younger, unlike myself. I grew up with a bookshelf full of books featuring people who looked like me. I read about people like Rosa Parks, Katherine Johnson, and Ruby Bridges, who all inspired me to be like them – a world-changing female. I want to make a difference by inspiring kids to choose more diverse literature and making those books accessible to them.
I am an entrepreneur, storyteller, and performer. You can book me for a speaking engagement by visiting ssanyuspeaks.com
Through Brown Kids Read I motivate children to read books that feature children of color. I believe that by making reading fun and relatable, I can share my love of literature and stimulate the imagination of the next generation of readers.
Acting and dramatic arts are my passion. I play basketball and love reading, as well as singing and dancing. I am also a proud and dedicated member of the New Jersey Orators, Rays of Hope, and I am a Junior Hubber and Junior Advisory Board member for KiDz HuB Inc.
I’m also now the author of a children’s picture book called Suubi’s Sunny Smile; a story that highlights anti-bullying, heritage appreciation, and dental hygiene!
Follow me on social media at:
What We Do
Brown Kids Read hosts events that let kids know that reading is entertainment too! We help you bring the excitement of reading books that feature Brown Kids to your community or school.
Our Reading Rocks! Bookfairs feature book signings from authors, performance, crafts, and activities.
We also feature Story Time readings by teenagers who love reading and can transfer that love to younger children. During the event, guests have the opportunity to purchase books from our diverse collection as well as from participating authors.
- The Brown Kids Read Bookshelf: The Brown Kids Read Bookshelf is a pop-up shop where books featuring people of color are sold. It is a compilation of books that were hand chosen by the Brown Kids Read Team to make sure that there was a representation of people of color.
- Character Performance: Each event has a fun character performance to get kids excited about reading books that reflect them!
- Arts and Crafts: Because there are different authors at each event, we make sure that our arts and crafts are in relation to either one of our author’s books or one of our storytime books. They are fun and easy to do and are made so you can continue learning from them.
- Storytimes by our Teenage Volunteers: We specifically train teenage volunteers because we know that young children look up to older kids. They are excited to share these fun books with other children.
- Character Performance: Each event has a fun character performance to get kids excited about reading books that reflect them!
- Arts and Crafts: Because there are different authors at each event, we make sure that our arts and crafts are in relation to either one of our author’s books or one of our storytime books. They are fun and easy to do and are made so you can continue learning from them.
- Author Book Signings: Every Reading Rocks! Event will have featured authors. These authors are there to educate the kids about the subject of their book and to converse with attendees.
- BKR Book Reviews: Each of our bookfairs is covered by KiDz HuB, a media company for kids. You can find out more about what they do here. At our bookfairs, they record and publish videos of our young attendees who decide to read a book from our bookshelf and review it on camera. We have books for all age levels and groups, so everyone can participate!