The Value Packed Superheroes
By Dr. Talaya L. Tolefree
Let’s face it. 2022 has been a year of challenges in every area. News stations have inundated us with daily, sometimes hourly, injections of gloom, doom, and despair, to the point where many simply stop watching it. If this scenario was in a comic book, this is the cue for a superhero like Black Panther to come on the scene. The fact is, this scenario is not the whole truth, not when we can become the change we want to see, especially when it comes to our children. That being said, I am pleased to bring to this holiday season Dr. Talaya Tolefree’s children’s book The Value Packed Superheroes: Spreading Values Around the World.
Tolefree gives us a different kind of superhero/shero, a multicultural league in the form of children who each have a value as a superpower. The values represented in her story are: Love, Justice, Fairness, Humanity, Empathy, Accountability, Joy, and Peace. As each superpower is introduced, it is followed by an illustration and an example of that value in action, thus engaging the reader and providing parents and educators with teachable (Sankofa) moments that make it relevant.
She follows up with creative ideas and ways to teach these priceless values to our children, reminding us of the importance of leading by example. Kids, as we know, watch everything we say and do, and if our actions and words contradict each other, they will follow what we do. Making the story interactive is key; when we look beyond the negative images out there, there is an abundance of positive examples that exemplify the importance of the values.
The Value Packed Superheroes is available on Amazon.
Thank you, Talaya, for sharing this wonderful book and the way you put the superpowers into action. Sign me up for this league of superheroes/sheroes!
