Everyone is feeling the stress of staying home during a public health crisis, but one New York City kid is using his pandemic downtime to uplift others.
What We Know:
- 11-year-old Aiden M. Taylor from the Upper East Side has just published his first book called, “Me and My Afro.” The story follows a young boy with an Afro who learns to love his uniqueness as he discovers what makes all children beautiful, despite their differences.
When Aiden was asked about his intentions for writing the book, he said, “People need inspiration. They’re probably feeling down. Because of the pandemic kids can’t play outside. They have to wear masks and that’s wack. So I decided to make a book about self-love and that would get them energetic and feeling much better. […] I want kids to love themselves and love the way they are, love their hair, and be a leader and not a follower.”
- The joyful narrative was created with the help and encouragement from Aiden’s ‘big brother’ mentor, 27-year-old Spencer Jaffe. According to ABC News, the two were partnered through the Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City mentoring program and have been a solid team for the last three years.
- When asked why Jaffe had encouraged Aiden to publish his book, he said, “There was something I saw in Aiden I saw in myself when I was his age: inquisitive, shy but a little something underneath, something excited.” He was also quick to give credit to Aiden’s hard work stating, “I got to see a lot of the pages and ideas going into the book, but Aiden had full creative control.”
- Jaffe also stated that his mentoring partnership with Aiden is definitely a two-way street. “(Aiden) is a really strong go-getter, and he works really hard to accomplish his goals. It’s honestly something I can learn a lot from,” Jaffe told ABC News.
We hope to see more from this young author in the future.
