Hello – I'm Keith Pierce, the author of this brand new limerick series designed to boost inspire early reading, especially among children who need it most – namely minority children who are far behind in reading at grade level.
The Keith & Kevin book series is written in a limerick style, which makes them suitable for children of ALL ages because they're not only fun for older kids to read – but they're incredibly enjoyable for younger kids to have read to them. Limericks are designed in such a way that children can read along with their parents, while boosting reading comprehension.
The series is loosely based on my childhood growing up as an identical twin i the mid-1960s to the 1970s. But there's more to the story that make these books very relatable. The twins are part African-American and part Native American and never met their biological father. Yet, they were blessed, at a very early age, to have a stepfather come into their lives. However, he moved the twins from their rural farm life in the south, to an urban neighborhood in the city of Philadelphia. Follow the twins' adventures as they explore a new world of experiences, from adjusting to a new father; making new friends; losing friends when their neighborhood changes color as white families move to the suburbs; and a host of excitement and trouble along the way.
WHY THE KEITH & KEVIN BOOK SERIES?
Because there are so few children's books that depict children of color and because far too few minority children are reading at home and therefore fall behind in school – there's a bigger motivation behind this crowdfunding campaign – and that is to put these books in the hands of as many underserved children as possible – namely minority children.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that year after year roughly 65 percent of America’s fourth graders read at a "below proficient" level. This means that they lack even the most basic reading skills. According to the nonprofit, Reading Is Fundamental, one of the best ways to develop children's literacy is to encourage kids to read at home. The problem, however, is that more than half of children living in poverty in the U.S. have no books at home and school libraries in low-income areas have 42% fewer books than schools libraries in affluent neighborhoods.
Through this campaign, we're starting with finding 100 high-need elementary schools that can use a set of these books – books that contain, by the way, characters that children in many of these schools can relate to – because they look like them.
Why limericks?
Study after study has shown that early reading aloud with children – even before they can talk – helps them learn to speak, interact, bond with parents and become early readers. In addition, research has shown that between birth and age six, children learn at the fastest rate they will ever learn in their lives. Activities like reading stimulate, and therefore strengthen, brain cells. Therefore, reading to a younger child will not only accelerate their ability to read on their own, but it will influence healthy brain function that will last a lifetime.
Though the Keith & Kevin limerick series may be challenging for readers under the age of six, children under six benefit greatly when the series is read to them. Because the first and last line of the series is the same, it is suggested that the child read the last line of each stanza aloud along with the adult. This will help children make sense words, while also improving comprehension. More importantly, it has a positive effect on parent-child bonding and makes reading time much more fun!
WHAT DOES YOUR SUPPORT DO FOR THE KEITH & KEVIN BOOK SERIES?
The goal is 500 in 100 – that is – 500 books in 100 high-need schools.
One hundred schools is not a lot of schools, but it's a start. We hope to be successful enough to expand this goal to 2,000 books in 400 schools; 8,000 books in 1,600 schools; 10,000 books in 2,400 schools and so on. This is only the beginning. You can be a part of it by even helping us identify the schools!
There will be at least 12 (possibly more) books in the Keith & Kevin series. Currently, books 1 through 5 have been published and are available on-demand on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com. Because the books are currently being printed on-demand – the cost per book is high. Your support will help change that by helping to create a demand that will allow us to publish and print the books for significantly less than the on-demand price.
The newest book in the series is "Keith & Kevin and the Santa Claus Mystery." For that reason, we have an ambitious goal to have these books shipped to schools BEFORE CHRISTMAS!
From writing and illustrating, to marketing and promoting, many, many hours have already been devoted to this wonderful series. If you are willing to help us in this journey – please support, tweet, like, share, repost and check out the awesome rewards below.
We can't wait to see and hear the stories of how much kids are enjoying the books and developing of love of reading.
Thank you!