Saban Books LLC, also known as Moon Reading Group is a company that inspires through books. My books, "Make Reading Fun!" My books are science inspired where kids learn about all kinds of Arthropods! We bring real spiders when I read my spider book. Kids view real butterfly wings when I read my butterfly book. I captivate readers through visuals and then introduce books to enhance their experience. 

I'm Kinshasa Yasin Moon-Smith, Poet, Children's Author, Literacy Advocate, Wife and Mother. I'm an Independant Black-American Author. I also support local Entrepreneurs with financial literacy. The picture here was taken at the Moon Reading Groups Entrepreneur Business Fair at Inglenook Park in Southfield, MI, in 2022. 16 Young Entrepreneurs ages 6-18 from Oakland and Wayne counties had their businesses on display for the public to support.

Why is the History of Literacy Important?

America has a very unique history with literacy and how literacy was taught and learned. 

My family are Freedman we are Descendants of American Chattel Slavery. Slaves were not allowed to learn how to read or write in the United States, freed slaves were also banned from learning how to read, write, or teach each other. If you were caught learning, you got beatings. If a free person attempted to teach a slave or free slaves they were beaten, fined, and imprisoned. Why was learning so weaponized? Some states denied American Freedman and their Descendants from working in reading and writing jobs (via an 1833 employment law.) Teaching the American history of literacy is very important. The story must be told to understand present-day realities of reading statistics. I continue to read stories about how the Black American Community has the lowest reading scores on standardized tests but no reference to history on why Black Americans have the lowest reading scores. What is true is we were the most harmed and hindered from learning how to read and write. Why is that history not being communicated? My ancestors took reading into their own hands and created a Native Tongue language called "Tut" short for Tutnese a secretive language created in America during the 18th century by the enslaved Negro to teach each other how to read, write, and communicate without their master's understanding. We were innovators in slavery and today we continue to create our lane our way! We continue to make strides in literacy, we are authors, teachers, and advocates lifting literacy in our schools and communities. "Black Authors Increase Black Children's Self Esteem and Self Confidence!"  

How Reading Is Connected to DNA

Reading can enhance the DNA in our bodies. The amount of data that can be stored in a cell of DNA is quite remarkable. According to a study, one gram of DNA can store approximately 215 petabytes of data. One petabyte is one quadrillion bytes, equal to 1000 terabytes (TB) people may be familiar with the term when they purchase hard drives to save data. This is a massive amount of storage. Studies show DNA holds your history and all your past traumas. Let's start reading with innovation starting with a different approach. Let's commit to reading in a fun way for long periods of time. Let's look at shifting our DNA storage in a positive way. Our focus is with time we will create the love of reading in a more meaningful and passionate way. Let's put down the electronics and pick up a book! Let's close the literacy gaps. Let's make reading fun together. 

Sincerely,

K. Yasin Moon-smith