It’s not often that a Portland startup gets recognized by the Oregon Book Awards, but this week, that’s exactly what happened. A Kids Co. — which started as A Kids Book About and was eventually acquired by DK — and its founder Jelani Memory were selected as the 2025 recipient of the The Walt Morey Young Readers Literary Legacy Award.
Jelani shared the win on LinkedIn:
At 32, I wrote my first book—not for the world, but for my kids. To start a conversation. To talk about racism. To talk about being Black. To talk about being human.
That book turned into A Kids Co.—a company that’s helped millions of kids around the world talk about the stuff that matters.
But if you ask me what my real legacy is, it’s not the books.
It’s that I still read three books a night to my kids.
For more information on the awards, visit Literary Arts. For more on the company, visit A Kids Co.
[Full disclosure: A Kids Book About is a PIE alum. I am the cofounder and general manager of PIE.]
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