How do you talk to the kids in your life about difficult topics? If they’re not old enough just yet, do you have a plan for when they are? How can you be sure you’re teaching them the appropriate elements when talking about empathy, racism, adoption, culture, feminism, or even some of the more natural topics like anxiety or depression? That’s precisely the idea behind A Kids Company About and its massive collection of kid-friendly books. You may already know the brand for its titles A Kids Book About on various topics. But they offer much more than just books — and of those there are plenty. They also have a podcast network with about 10 unique shows and provide interactive classes, streamable on platforms like Apple TV, Roku, and more. The company’s flagship podcast, A Kids Book About, The Podcast, was recently selected for Apple’s Best of 2021 list.
To create this content, the company works with a diverse set of talent, featuring voices and stories from all kinds of experiences and identities. The company recently made the leap from “telling stories in books to 5-9-year-olds” to providing stories for kids of all ages, and adults, “through words, videos, audio, and beyond.” From
A Kids Company About Origin Story
The origin of the company is beautiful yet simple. Its founder, Jelani Memory, published a book for his six kids titled A Kids Book About Racism. The original idea was to have an in-depth discussion with his kids about the topic, but it wasn’t just about starting a conversation — which was already happening — it was also about taking those talks to new heights. He explicitly wanted it to be an open subject so that his kids could always come to him when they had questions or concerns.
About 3 years after writing the book, and with encouragement from his kids, Memory started A Kids Company About, founded around the same ideas. Since that time, the company published many, many books about difficult topics, but more recently it expanded from being just a kids “book” company to a more widespread kids “media” company. Now, they offer a growing selection of media from
A Kids Book About
A Kids Book About believes that kids are ready for important and challenging conversations, and it’s grownups who need help getting started. From racism and diversity to empathy and anxiety, the collection is massive and it’s helping to teach kids about the related topics, but also sparking discussions amongst peers, families, and even classrooms.
It’s not just difficult topics that are on the docket either. There are a host of themes including guides on imagination, microbiomes, play, sharing, curiosity, and so much more. A Kids Book About offers a veritable treasure trove of media and content for kids of all ages. They’re beautifully illustrated, hardcover books that make for a great collection, as well. While many of the
A Kids Class About
These names don’t miss. A Kids Class About is a streaming platform for kids ages 10 to 15 to explore various topics, like careers, life skills, and big ideas. The team describes it as “Masterclass for kids.” While most of the company’s books are meant to start difficult or challenging discussions early, this arm is meant for the older kids who are bulldozing into their pre-teen and teenage years.
The curriculum features diverse teachers, from an array of backgrounds, all experts on their particular topics. The tone of each class is the teacher speaking directly to the kids. These are real-world teachers, professionals, creatives, thinkers, and much more. Most of the topics center around social or emotional questions, branching out from there. Each class is 45 minutes to an hour, broken down into bite-sized chapters at three to five minutes long, to both keep viewers interested and parse the information into smaller chunks. The process for getting kids started is fairly easy and intuitive. You sign-up them up, as a grown-up obviously, and they are free to explore the content on their own, learning at a pace they prefer.
A Kids Podcast About
With the tagline “made to empower” A Kids Company About has also introduced podcasts, a new form of media for kids. Rather than just entertain, like most shows and movies for kids these days, A Kids Podcast series encourages listeners to think outside the box. It’s a more involved and more engaging way to learn about some of the topics A Kids Book About covers, as well. Kids can hear from those impacted directly about racism, divorce, diversity, and so on. They’ll learn firsthand about some of the topics and hear from people who are impacted by related experiences.
Rather than learning about how to slay a dragon, kids will learn valuable insights like how to love themselves, how to overcome trauma, or how to embrace true diversity by loving someone that “doesn’t look, sound, think, or act like you.”
Start the Conversation
If you’re ready to start the conversation or introduce your children to some of the topics that A Kids Company About covers, now’s the perfect opportunity. Many of its books and items are on sale for the holidays, and they make amazing gifts for friends, family, and beyond. More importantly, it’s an excellent way to strike up a cast-iron bond with your children because you know they’re going to have questions about many of these topics, and you may or may not have the answers.
