Grenada’s newest published author, Alana Twum-Barimah, launched the first book in the Keke the Caribbean Kid series from the Reading With Bella Publishing Company on Friday, 21 February 2020.
The book series is intended for children up to the age of 10 and involves the adventures of a central character named Keke, her family and friends. The launch was attended by students of 3 primary schools, and a host of wellwishers and family. It was a celebration of culture with drumming, traditional dances, art and reading. The book is titled “Keke and the Garden Thief” and is now available on Amazon.com for purchase.
Twum-Barimah expressed that Keke is a much-needed depiction of the Caribbean experience, and is an opportunity for the world to embrace our unique experience as people from a melting pot of colour, races, culture and experiences. She said, “There is strength in being Caribbean,” and we should all be proud to embrace our heritage whether we are on the island, in the diaspora or persons of Caribbean heritage.
Keke the Caribbean Kid is a product of the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Programme (Carcip) which is a regional initiative funded by the World Bank to increase access to regional broadband networks and advance the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enabled services industry in the Caribbean. The book series formed part of this initiative with its focus on utilising the e-book platform to increase the access and reach of the book and encourage literacy.
Twum-Barimah is an Attorney-at-Law, and co-owner of Alpha Junior School. She is the daughter of the late Shirley Brathwaite, educator, language specialist and author who inspired her from a very early age to write poetry and short stories. It is from Brathwaite’s influence that she has always aspired to put books into the hands of children. She was further energised to do this when she became a mother as well.
The Reading With Bella team included a diverse group pf persons including David Twum-Barimah, Project Manager; Verlanna Williams, Illustrator; Chioma Paul, Editor; Kimalene Regis, Marketing Strategist, and Keri Wilson, Website Developer.
The author hopes that the series will eventually be used as tools in the classroom and more so for leisure reading among children between the age of 3–10, because reading is fun!
For more info contact: Kimalene Regis, kimaleneregis@gmail.com. Phone: 473.424.9195
Reading With Bella Publishing Company
