We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chan Blue a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

Thank you for asking this question because it really is the foundation for not only the book series, but the question gives insight into other aspects of Mac and Roni Read. I will answer this in two-fold. Firts, I came up with the idea of developing human characters for my children’s book to meet a need in the early educational classroom. I notice that most children’s book characters were animals. Secondly, I came up with the name of the characters based on wanting the name to be easy to remember, fun and have a phonological connection. I didn’t sit around thinking about names and writing them down on a piece of paper. The name came straight from where my faith is connected God. So one day in 2014′ I was eating one of my favorite foods which is macaroni and cheese and I said to myself hmm… Mac is the brother and Roni is his twin sister.

As people may or may not know the definition of phonological awareness, or the awareness of is the ability to work with sounds in spoken language, sets the stage for decoding, blending, and, ultimately, word reading. In connection to my work as an early educator phonological awareness begins developing before the beginning of formal schooling and continues through third grade and beyond. Thus, Mac and Roni Read are short books for early readers Pre-K thru third grade.

I could hear the phonological as far as pulling the characters name’s Mac and Roni out of the base word macaroni, so I met my desire to have characters names that had a phonological connection. Next, I thought about the fact that macaroni and cheese is a very popular food, and it is very popular among children as well as adults so that meant I met the goal of having a name that’s easy to remember.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

So, I really answered some of these questions with the first question when I was answered how I came up with the idea of Mac and Roni Read. As such I will continue and talk a little bit about how I ended up working in early education. Early education was not a field that I chose. Oh, my goodness working with other people’s children is truly a calling (LOL). I was a stay-at-home mother and that wasn’t for me. In 1995 my sister-in-law called me and asked me if I wanted to common word at the daycare center and this was good because it would allow me to bring my firstborn with me as well as have income. Needless to say, I thought that I was going to come to this daycare and “babysit” however, that is not what ended up happening (LOL) I was working!

I found out that there’s a lot that goes into daycare. From that point, I started hearing the term early education and I begin to look at the field in a different way. For example, we all know that when a house or a building is being built the foundation is built first then the rest of the building is added. Most of us have heard that the foundation of anything is key. Your question asks what problem I am solving. One thing I remember in grad school is that instructors/professors want data or scholarly data to back up your work.
The DATA states the following: In the USA, publishing data by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center shows that in 2018 there were more children’s books about animals and other non-human characters than all people of color (POC) combined (27% vs. 23%). In contrast, over half of all books included in the study featured white characters. Mac and Roni Read bring HUMAN DIVERSITY TO CHILDREN’S BOOKS!
Also, the DATA In 2019, The Nation’s Report Card from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that just 15% of Black 8th graders were at or above reading “proficiency.” About half didn’t even reach the “basic” reading benchmark.
The data tells the story that we have a lot of households that are not laying a good reading “foundation”. It goes back to that foundation that I spoke of as being key. With respect to the African American household Mac and Roni Read is a literary platform that I use as a retired early educator and as an (MSW) master social worker to educate and engage families in that population to set a good foundation and engage in reading in the household. Reading at school is not enough!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

As an African American, I am standing on the shoulders of those that have paved the way for me to have the freedom and ability to walk this journey as an author. It is 2022 but we’re just a stone’s throw away from when this would not be possible for me. What I mean is 53 years ago it was 1969 and we were still having to focus on equality. Having ideas and dreams but the ultimate goal was to crush and abolish segregation! So I go forward for those blacks that had a children’s book but sacrificed their vision for future generations such as myself!

In the 60s author Beverly Cleaver and Shel Silverstein the author of The Giving Tree; freely wrote and had the ability to promote their books without barriers and fear. I said that to say this Mac and Roni Read is a brand. I manage and my entrepreneurial thinking is as such. For example, Mr. Walt of Walt Disney is a brand. Mickey Mouse and all the rest of the characters or not just at Disneyland or Disney and/or World they’re in books, movies, apparel, greeting card, hair barrettes, and the list goes on and on. Mac and Roni Read are officially TM Registered. Leaving a legacy for my children just like all other children’s book authors that took their characters and position them across different platforms such as the list that I just stated.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

In conclusion, I would have to say that the most rewarding aspect of working my artistry my craft is the ability to give. Now I was a giver before Mac and Roni Read but I’m able to give on a different platform in different spaces unlike previously. Most of all the most rewarding is being able to have fun at my age as I thoroughly enjoy comedy and laughing. Mac and Roni Read is an outlet that I not only use to educate and inspired but to get my laugh on!
As such make sure you go to macandroniread.com and click on the audio button on the home page and bop-to-drop to the theme song of Mac and Roni Read!

Contact Info:

• Website: macandroniread.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/macandroniread
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mac.roni.1481
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReadMacandRoni
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC41YTkHvQRr6Ein75QguwXg

Image Credits
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