This week we introduced Ashay's African American Children's Book Collections at the National Title 1 Conference "Engagement Revolution" Feb. 22-25 in Long Beach, California and got some excellent reviews. The eight collections were created from the Ashay's Reading list for age groups, Baby-3 and K-6. But at the conference, we displayed the books in their collections and the attendees loved seeing the various titles, themes and art.  Most of the selected titles are AR Approved and meet Core Curriculum Standards. I think my collection is age appropriate and has a balanced variety of themes and genres that empower black children and reflect their culture.  Also most of the authors and illustrators are people of color, which I also think is important.  But again my selection is based not just on race, but many factors, and many titles are award winning books.

What an amazing conference!  I met a lot great people from school districts from all over the United States and I am truly looking forward to the conference next year in Philadelphia.  I am on board with the Title 1 Mission Statement "Building the capacity of education professionals to provide disadvantaged children with a high quality education".  Moving it forward, we got the books and Education Matters!