Q: On your website, you state that your mission is “to help ignite a child’s interest in their roots and empower them to become culturally confident.” What inspired you to build this publishing program?
A: When Anna had her daughter eight years ago, she wanted to find books that would educate on her rich heritage. At the time she noticed that there was a distinct lack of children’s non-fiction books written about specific countries; that educate on, and celebrate individual cultures and traditions.
Fast forward to the global pandemic of 2020 and witnessing what unfolded following the murder of George Floyd, it became clear that [now] is the time to bring these books to life. Building this publishing program has amplified our voice within these conversations.
Q: Currently, you publish non-fiction picture books about individual countries. Do you have plans to expand the format or content of your books?
A: Yes. In addition to new titles; new countries, we plan to expand the collection by introducing additional product lines including books for different ages and complementary learning resources across different mediums.
Q: Each book contains geography, traditions, peoples, and culture, as well as everyday words and phrases in native languages. How do you choose the content each book is focused on?
A: We set our objectives around what we wanted the readers to [get] out of the books, and this shaped [our] content design. We want our books to be used as an introduction; a window into each country, which will spark a desire in the reader to learn more.
We also want children to be able to pick up our books and have access to like-for-like information on each country so that they can draw direct comparisons. We decided from the outset that each book will follow a very similar format, allowing the reader to quickly navigate any Our World My Roots title that they pick up.
Q: Can you share a forthcoming Our World My Roots title that you are excited about and why?
A: We are not in the position to announce new titles just yet. However, what we can share is that we have plans to release a board book version of each of the four current titles. We are really excited about this because it gives parents / caregivers the opportunity to introduce children to these countries from as early as their first book!
