Inspired by the unapologetic pride in seeing the youth of today embrace their blackness, Maame Serwaa wrote a book, ‘The Royal Alphabets,’ to teach children about the richness of African history, and self-awareness that comes with that knowledge.
What audience are you targeting with ‘The Royal Alphabets?’
My target audience has always been the tender aged children. Even if they cannot read at a very young age, they can definitely comprehend, and the more they hear of and see these positive images, the concept of their history as a people comes together in their mind.
As parents or caregivers, if we are able to have this impact on our children first, they will grow up with a strong sense of self awareness and unwavering self-love no matter where they go.
What are the lessons are you hoping to pass to them?
We speak of raising Kings and Queens, so I saw to it to present some real Kings and Queens to our children before society tries to tell them that black history started with slavery.
Though there are many great books out there on numerous topics for children, the particular lesson I wanted my own kids to learn seemed to be difficult to find, that is the lesson of the richness of African history.
Was the process of writing and publishing the book difficult?
Being that I already had a book (Perfect As I Am) out, the process was already well mapped out. As far as research, I definitely challenged myself. To think it was “just a children’s book” is an understatement.
Firstly, I researched extensively on each historical figure and narrowed down a book’s worth of information on each figure to only a couple of sentences. This was then followed by breaking my language down to the level of a child but by doing so without losing the necessary information that needed to be presented.
An educational book for children doesn’t have to be watered down in hopes of keeping the children interested. It is ok for them to ask what a word means or even how to say a word. This is part of the idea and demonstrates learning and engagement.
What can aspiring authors learn from your experience?
I always advise other authors or aspiring ones to research until they can’t research any further, which is nearly impossible. The Children’s books market is one of the toughest genres to break into so it definitely required research on my end.
There are tons of information out there in all aspects of writing and there are multiple routes in bringing your ideas to life. Research is what made me accomplish my goal as an author. I still have so much more to learn and I certainly don’t have all the answers but I learn daily and I look everything up!
You have to know exactly what you want, even if you don’t know how to get there. Knowing your end goal saves you a lot of time, money and disappointments. This is why I recommend research as the first step in physically accomplishing your goal.
What else would you like us to know about you?
Well, I always had in mind that I was building a children’s learning company. I didn’t just want to write books and stop there. I want to have a much bigger impact on the education of our children.
I would like for people to see me as more than just an author. There is a lot of work to do but I am taking it a step at a time and working on making Micah and Myrah LLC a household name in children’s education.
