Founders

On any given day, you may hear as many as six different languages spoken in my home.

I’m Valarie Budayr, a children’s book author & publisher, reading & play advocate, and reading activist who is committed to diversity in children’s books.

My life and household have been diverse and multicultural for as long as I can remember. As the daughter of parents who emigrated from Sweden, I have been immersed in Nordic culture since childhood. As a child, I attended German/English schools, and as an adult, I continued learning even more languages for a grand total of six (English, Swedish, French, Arabic, German, Japanese, plus working knowledge in a few others.)

I am also a wife to a Lebanese/Muslim man and am raising Lebanese-American children post 9/11. I may look like an All-American girl, but my multicultural roots run deep. I have been committed to raising my children as global citizens since the day they were born. As a family, we speak Arabic, French, and English in our home, and travel often to give our children exposure to people and various cultures on the globe.

Literacy has played a huge roll in my family. We are a family of avid book readers, however, it has been very difficult to find books that have characters who are like my children, global citizens with a diverse and varied background.

I am the author of The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden, The Ultimate Guide To Charlie and The Chocolate Factory,  A Year in The Secret Gardenand my own book with multicultural characters; Dragons are Real!

You can connect with me at AudreyPress.com and ValarieBudayr.com.