Caroline’s Blog

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For the Book Lover in You! Reading, Reciting, and Rhythm

Happy Valentine’s Day to all the book lovers out there! Help us celebrate by enjoying this reading of “Harlem” from Darius Daniels: Game On! with a musical segment performed during the Black Authors Breakfast Party and African American Read-In, held at the City Center Branch of Signal Financial Federal Credit Union. Karen Wilson Ama’Echefu and Al McCray join me in this rhythmic rendition. The entire program will be broadcast on C-SPAN’s BookTV, so stay tuned!

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Black Authors “Invite Godfather of Soul James Brown” to Close Out 2020 Breakfast Party

We invited Godfather of Soul James Brown to the Black Authors Breakfast Party and National Council of Teachers of English African American Read-In yesterday – Because Darius Daniels: Game On! is a musical book featuring the likes of James Brown, Nina Simone, Michael Jackson and so many other legends – and closed it out “feeling good!” – Click highlighted link to see brief video. Many thanks to Filmmaker Extraordinaire Monda Raquel Webb for sharing the extended clip below! Stay until the last word, now!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1225779348810149888

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Black Authors Breakfast Party and African American Read-In is on for 2020!

Photos from 2019 Black Authors and AARI

The Black Authors Breakfast Party and
African American Read-In is on for 2020!

Admission is FREE * Experience=Priceless

Event: Black Authors Breakfast Party and African American Read-In
Date: Friday, February 7, 2020 – 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Location: Signal Financial Federal Credit Union (Community Space)
1101 New York Avenue Northwest Entrance on I Street, 12th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
(Parking at Nation Parking, LLC, 1101 New York Ave NW, P100, Washington, DC 20005, between K Street and I Street on the West side – Updated Cost $19)

Goal: Share, discuss, and celebrate the works of African American authors in the DC metropolitan area during the 30th Anniversary of the African American Read-In.
Features: Long-established, award-winning, and rising authors, poets, historians, children’s authors, and academics​, plus a continental breakfast and book-signing afterwards! D.C.’s Legendary Poet E. Ethelbert Miller will be a featured speaker. Caroline Brewer, author of the debut verse novel, Darius Daniels: Game On! will offer a “book-tasting” of the story with the accompaniment of creative, innovative and provocative vocalists and musicians.
Organizers and Partners: DC Author and Literacy Activist Caroline Brewer, Signal Financial Federal Credit Union, Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English
Contact: Signal Financial – 301-933-9100 x 280, etsegenet.zamuel@sfonline.org, Caroline Brewer, caroline@carolinebrewerbooks.com

BACKGROUND
The African-American Read-In is an international celebration sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and was started by Dr. Jerrie Cobb Scott of NCTE’s Black Caucus. Brewer is a member of NCTE and the Caucus. 2020 marks the the 30th Anniversary of the Read-In. It was founded in 1990 as a one-day event in February to bring books by black authors to students attending America’s schools and universities. People of all backgrounds, including parents, grandparents, principals, government officials and authors were invited to come into schools to read favorite works by black authors. The celebration has expanded to include outreach to the general public, including prison inmates, for the entire month of February, has reached more than six million people and now includes recognition of African American poets, playwrights, composers, and storytellers.

COMPLETE LINE-UP of FEATURED AUTHORS and THEIR WORKS

  1. E. Ethelbert Miller, Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Writer, The Collected Poems of E Ethelbert Miller
  2. Tracy Chiles McGhee, Melting the Blues
  3. Alan King,  Point Blank and Drift
  4. Natalie Hopkinson, A Mouth is Always Muffled and Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City
  5. Markette Sheppard, Where is the Light?
  6. Marjuan Canady, Callaloo: A Jazz Folktale
  7. Caroline Brewer, Darius Daniels: Game On!, Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day
    and Barack Obama: A Hip Hop Tale
  8. Karen Wilson Ama’Echefu, Christmas Was Just Breakin’
  9. Diana Veiga, D.C. Public Library Civic Engagement Coordinator and Short Story Author
  10. Lois Cooper, Mama Said
  11. Deborah Barfield Berry, USA Today Washington Correspondent, 1619: The Long Road Home: Were Wanda Tucker’s ancestors America’s first slaves?
  12. Nichelle Smith, Coordinating Editor of USA Today’s Investigations Team, Black History Month 2020 Special Edition: The Search for Answers

        *Sharon Lucas, Plan It! (The Complete Resource Guide for Authors, Book Clubs, & Literary Event Planners)– Two copies will be offered as a free gift to lucky guests!

See video from the 2019 Black Authors Breakfast Party here and C-SPAN BookTV’s coverage.

Caroline Brewer is a children’s author and literacy activist, a reading coach, former classroom teacher and Pulitzer Prize jurist and nominated journalist.

The inaugural BABP/AARI was held in the community space of Signal Financial Federal Credit Union at 1101 New York Avenue NW DC on Friday, February 1, 2019 and was aired in its entirety later in the month by C-SPAN’s BookTV.

 

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Darius Daniels Game On! Book Tasting Party Saturday, February 1

 

You asked for it and here it is! The DC Darius Daniels: Game On! Book Tasting Party, featuring the Music and Poetry of a One-of-a-Kind Novel, Saturday, February 1.

Features: Inter-active singing, dancing, rapping, clapping, and toe-tapping to songs and raps straight out of the novel; Reading from the book and background on chosen excerpts; Q and A, with brief discussion about how the book is one-of-a-kind (more than 10 forms of poetry) and a handheld revolution, plus a trivia game; Hors d’ourves and dessert-tasting of food from and inspired by the novel!

Purchase Books & Have them Autographed
Vocalist Karen Wilson-Ama’Echefu & Drummer Angel Bethea will get the party started.

NOTE: Two programs on this day (Choose One)
12 noon – 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
RSVPs a must * Seating is limited! * Email me from the Contact Me page for an invitation and to learn how you can bring a Book Tasting Party to your school, library, or community. This party kicks off our international tour! We’d love for you to be a part of it!

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Author Night

The University Club of Washington, D.C. invites you to

The 30th Annual Meet the
Author Night & Book Fair

Wednesday, December 4, 2019  •  5:30-8:00 p.m.
The University Club of Washington, DC
1135 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036

Author Caroline Brewer

Meet Caroline Brewer and dozens of other talented authors at this amazing event. You’ll find great gifts for book lovers of all ages and get a jump on your holiday shopping. 

Free and Open to the Public

For a complete list of authors attending, click here.

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D.C. Author Launches Musical Children’s Novel

D.C. Author Launches Musical Children’s Novel

Darius Daniels: Game On! promotes literacy through music and poetry

For Immediate Release – Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Washington, D.C. – Veteran Children’s Author and Literacy Activist Caroline Brewer will launch a musical children’s novel on Friday, November 1 at www.carolinebrewerbooks.com. Free downloads with activities, games, and chances to win free books will be featured. Book “tasting” parties are scheduled later this month and year. Ms. Brewer is open to media appearances and interviews that will showcase the musical, poetic, and instructional elements of the book.

Darius Daniels: Game On! is a 35,000-word middle grade adventure novel about an 11-year-old boy, a video game, and a great and scary adventure the boy cannot escape – until he hurts somebody. Travel to the game world Washington, D.C. is part of the game. The book also represents a new genre, the rhythmic novel, where the plot pulses with musical rhythms and songs.

“Based on national assessments, for more than 30 years, about two-thirds of American children have entered and exited school reading below grade level. This book was written to Change the Game for them. Every child I have ever met is hungry to learn to read, eager to improve as a reader, and ready to devour more books. This book will feed their appetites,” said Brewer, a D.C.-based author who has given reading and education presentations to more than 25,000 teachers, children, parents, and librarians across the U.S and in Ghana.

Darius Daniels: Game On! is a Wizard of Oz-like virtual urban fantasy sprinkled with rhythm, rhyme, rap, riddles, and more than 10 forms of poetry (which research and experience show accelerate reading progress and deepen engagement). It comes in a 256-page Complete Volume edition or as three individual books (Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3 for children who want to read the story in smaller chunks). Available at bookstores everywhere now!

Caroline Brewer is the author now of 12 books, editor of five books written by students, a former teacher, and wildly successful reading coach of children. She’s coached hundreds of children, personally and professionally, to bridge the literacy gap by as many as nine grade levels. She lives in Washington D.C. Click bar above to hear our featured demo of the rap WOKE, contact Caroline for excerpts from the book, a copy of the book, or additional information.

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Let’s Hear it from the Boys about Darius Daniels: Game On!

I walked into a room of five boys and five men yesterday afternoon, more than exhausted from two weeks of working around the clock to finish edits to my new children’s novel, Darius Daniels: Game On! I had been excitedly anticipating this day, though, for six weeks. And now it had arrived.
 
The boys were watching television and playing on their phones and I was about to interrupt with conversations about books and literacy. For a moment, it gave me pause. They had never met me, hadn’t heard of me until maybe a week prior, and weren’t sure what to expect. I knew next to nothing of them, either, except that they were members of a new mentoring program offered by Faith Focused Ministries, headed by a dear family friend, Minister Curtis Head. They were from ages 6 to 13 and live in suburban Maryland.
 
I began by asking them questions about the book, based on the poster. Then about reading, based on a my poem Why I Read, and then we read several pages of Darius Daniels: Game On!
 
Here’s what they had to say:
 
“It was a really smart book and you wrote all the pages by yourself and it was really impressive!” – Marco, 2nd grader
“I think the book was very detailed and creative.” – Olamide, 3rd grade
“This book is good so far because of the rhythm.” – Bryce, 7th grader, who also was inspired to write a poem after reciting Why I Read with the other boys and me.
“I don’t usually read books without pictures. But I wanna read this book! I think it’s gonna be very good.” – Zion, 1st grader, who confidently read a page of the 4th grade level book out loud.
“The book was really good and entertaining and I loved it!” -John, 8th grader, who said earlier in the day that he didn’t really like to read.
 
These young men are the reason this book and the Hungry Readers campaign exist. They are proof that there’s no reason we should continue to allow 30 million children in America each year to read below grade level. Our children are hungry to read, to write, to learn, to live vibrantly and abundantly. All they need is for us to bring experiences to them, fearlessly, with love and devotion.
 
PLEASE go to www.carolinebrewerbooks.com to register for the campaign, be first to receive chances to win books, hear new music from the book’s soundtrack, and learn about other exciting opportunities! And please set your calendars for November 1, 2019 to buy copies of Darius Daniels: Game On! for yourself and others, like these brilliant young men! My deepest thanks to Minister Curtis and his team for the commitment they’ve made to these wonderful young men and to all of you!
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Caroline and Four Amazing Children Celebrate International Literacy Day, Poem-Style

In celebration of #InternationalLiteracyDay 2019, I’m encouraging all adults to make a commitment to spend time feeding the hungry readers and writers in your life with your time and words – words from books, rhyming books, poetry books, comic books, magazines, newspapers, street signs, buildings, letters, cards, and words from their own mouths! Check out our new video reciting my poem, Why I Read, and use it to ignite a discussion about why reading is a good and useful thing, a discussion I’m betting will help them tap into their own power to excel as readers and writers. And, please, let us know how you like the video and how your new reading and writing experiences go.

Click here to read entire poem.WHY I READ POEM BY CAROLINE BREWER 090819

 

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Langston Hughes and Kara Finds Sunshine On a Rainy Day

Pssst. Can I tell you a secret? I have something in common with Langston Hughes, poet of world famous works, such as The Weary Blues. Langston, you see, got his start with children’s stories. But he never had a children’s book published. Not until 1994, when children’s book lovers got their wish. The Sweet and Sour Animal Book by Hughes was put out by Oxford University Press. And as its title signals, it’s bursting with playfulness.

So, what’s the juicy hook between Langston and one of my books? Students from the Harlem School of the Arts will forever be in my heart. First-graders from that lovely school illustrated Hughes’ Sweet and Sour tale. And 11 years later, another group from HSA helped my fifth edition sail …into history with their touching art. A 6th printing is now out of Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day, and the new edition looks and feels really good, if I must say.

Like Hughes’ book, it tells a story in rhyme, with smile-sparking surprises sprinkled in from time to time.

Kara Find Sunshine on a Rainy Day, just like Sweet and Sour, is chockfull of educational nuggets as captivating as garden flowers.

You can now find the updated book in paperback, wherever books are borrowed or sold. Readers tell me this story of history, hope, and healing is worth its weight in gold. Looking forward to the day when I learn what you have to say about the new and improved Kara Finds Sunshine on a Rainy Day.

Thank you for your support.

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Reading, Writing: What’s love got to do with it?

More than 15 years ago, I set out on a journey of self-love, to do whatever I wanted with my life, on my own terms. I fell into the lovely craft of writing children’s books, for love. Which led me into schools, religious institutions, day care centers, group homes, and recreational centers to speak on the power of the love of reading and writing, and soon to demonstrate to teachers how to teach literacy effectively, with love. I didn’t understand at that point that it was love guiding my efforts. Wasn’t aware I had stumbled onto a pedagogy of love. (I soon found others acquainted with the practice.)

With teachers, I bore witness to the power of love to ease children’s fears, calm their anxieties, dissolve violent and self-destructive impulses, move them to trust, open up their minds to learning, and their hearts to simple kindnesses. I worked with children one-on-one who were as many as seven grade levels behind in reading and writing. With love (patience, openness, understanding, hopefulness, encouragement, forgiveness, trust, strength, tenderness) as my guide, I saw boys, who were so angry (because of a lack of love) that all they did was curse everybody in sight, transform into the most cooperative and motivated spirits in the classroom. I saw girls who were so afraid of failure that they would refuse to try to read or write begin just weeks later to joyfully read and write in front of their classmates and identify as capable readers and writers. I witnessed children who barely could read and often frustrated their teachers and classmates with distractions become the best readers in their classrooms.

I blame love for it all.

Love is like the seed that is in itself. Love multiplies, elevates, and corrects errors, especially the erroneous thinking that those who are deficient in love have about themselves.

Where there is love, there is no fear. Not of family or friends, co-workers, situations, circumstances, places, or things. If we’re not loving, we’re not living. Let us begin with self and stretch out our hands in love to others through high-minded deeds, unselfish pursuits, and goals. And watch love pay us back with riches in peace, harmony, and happiness that no amount of skill in politics or technology, no amount of money or connections, and no quantity of strong drink or gratuitous activity could hope to match.
Let us ask ourselves: Who and what can we love more today?