Discover this poignant, timely, and emotionally-stirring picture book, an ode to black and brown children everywhere that is full of hope, assurance, and love.

In “Forged by Reading: The Power of a Literate Life,” Kylene Beers and Bob Probst reflect on the role of reading in a democratic society. It is a book that helps us all — teachers, administrators, parents, and policy makers — to understand not only what it means to be an independent reader and writer, but also why creating independent readers and writers is critical to the health of our nation and the world. Beers and Probst argue that reading and writing are not literacy. They are the tools of literacy. Literacy is about power and privilege — the power to rethink visions of ourselves and to reshape our visions of what society might be. This is critical because the history of literacy has largely been about the suppression of that power and privilege.