Thank you for stopping by and wanting to know more about aKINDemy!
My name is Agne and I am a founder (aka Chief aKINDemist) of aKINDemy. I am also a mother of two wonderful girls aged 2 and 5 who absolutely love books.
I am a strong believer that a well-rounded education goes beyond simple academics, sports and arts; it is about raising children with good values and principles that draw the best out of their mind and soul.
No matter the culture we live in, most children look up to us, their parents, as their primary source of values. Because we are in role model positions for our children, we should not only strive to teach them good values but also take the time to explain why they matter. Our guidance is crucial so our kids can demonstrate KINDness, empathy, love and acceptance of others. And reading is an amazing tool to help us achieve the above goals. We just need the right books!
When my first daughter Luna was born and I started collecting books for us to read together, I noticed the lack of representation in children’s literature. The books available online as well as in our bookstores largely featured animals, objects (mainly male gender), white and able-bodied population. It felt that a crucial part was missing! All children deserve to experience books that reflect their realities and give them the opportunity to experience realities beyond their own.
I then learnt there is underrepresentation not only in the books available in our bookstores but in the publishing industry itself:
- 38% of books published in the UK in 2020 featured animals or inanimate objects as main characters*
- just 5% of those books had Black, Asian or minority ethnic main character (so we are 8 times more likely to see an animal!)*
- 60% of characters given gender were animals, birds, crayons or other objects and 73% of those characters were more likely to be male than female**
- only 3.4% of the books written in 2019 in the US featured children with disabilities as main characters!***
It’s important to note that the industry has been making consistent improvements over the past few years, but there is still significantly more work to be done.
While the industry is working on making improvements, I wanted to do something to help parents and guardians find purpose-focused and diverse books that already exist. I created aKINDemy to remove the hassle of searching for those good children’s books that offer opportunities to engage them in important conversations, develop a sense of morality and help them grasp a wider sense of who they are, while cultivating KINDness.
Now we curate beautiful and diverse books as well as activities and games that can further engage our children in different themes every month and show a wide range of human experience. We cover important topics such as gender equality, positive body image, safety and consent, physical and mental wellbeing, social justice, environment and many more!
Hope you will join me and the team at aKINDemy on this KIND journey. We look forward to helping you diversify your children’s bookshelves, open their powerful minds and grow their big hearts.
If you want to get in touch with us, be a part of this journey or recommend books, games or activities please give us a shout at welcome@akindemy.com.
Enjoy the KIND ride!
Agne
Xxx
“Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books…When there are enough books available that act as both mirrors and windows for all our children, they will see that we can celebrate both our differences and our similarities, because together they are what makes us all human.” - Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor emerita at Ohio State University
You can also contact us via:
welcome@akindemy.com