Forget colouring for meditation — one six-year-old girl is all about colouring for education.
Vanae James-Bey, with the help of her mother, Veronica, have created a colouring book specifically geared towards teaching children about black indigenous cultures around the world, reports the Atlanta Black Star.
The Beys, who are from Florida but now live in the Virgin Islands, created "The Indigenous Adventures of Princess Vanae" after realizing that the resources geared towards children on the topic were minimal. Bey, who is homeschooled, developed an interest in the different indigenous cultures she had learned about, but couldn't find many resources.
"Culture is very important to our family,” Veronica explained to the Atlanta Black Star, “[As well as] knowing about our own indigenous roots. Being homeschooled, we tend to stick to a more Afrocentric curriculum and noticed how hard it was to find specific materials for lessons and how many other parents [and] students must feel the same."
The pictures in the book (which can be ordered online here), which are based off real life photographs of indigenous black women, as well as Vanae dressed up in the traditional clothing, were originally drawn by Vanae's uncle, Johnathan Ellerbee, and then finalized by artist Johanne Immis.
The Vanaes hope the book will spread far and wide for a chance to instill these cultures in any child who wants to learn about them.
"[We] have friends whose children go to public schools and are taught that Native Americans are extinct or are only taught about slavery as black history. I didn’t want that to be my children’s introduction to their history," said Veronica.
It seems like plenty of other parents share that notion.
Recently, a Canadian mom created a line of dolls called Herstory with various skin tones for children of African descent.
"We’re all across the world. A girl should be able to have a doll and create the character that she wants and that’s what her story is," creator Queen Cee told HuffPost Canada.
More chances for kids to learn about the world they're growing up in? We're all for it.