Aja La’Starr Owens is a St. Louis-based author, poet, and literacy advocate who has worked with her sister, Adrienne Draper, to engage families around literacy—including with their Snuggle Up for Literacy initiative.
The Confluence Collaborative spoke with Owens about her journey as an author, the importance of diverse representation in children’s literature, and her mission to help families develop a love for literacy together.
Confluence Collaborative: How did you get started as a children’s book author?
Aja La’Starr Owens: Back in 2011, my sister Adrienne and I facilitated a book publishing camp with 15 students ranging from ages nine to fifteen at Yeatman-Liddell Middle School. We did this publishing camp in under three weeks, and each student walked away with their own copy of a published book they had written. After we published them, we thought to ourselves, ‘Wow, we did this, but we never even published a book ourselves.’ In a way, they inspired us to become authors. That year, I published my first book of poetry, and Adrienne published her first children’s book.
Since then, I’ve authored 18 publications—half poetry books and half children’s books—and Adrienne has authored about six. We’ve also co-written books together. A lot of what we do comes from our background as literacy coaches, working with kids who struggled with literacy and finding creative ways to engage not just students, but their families too.
CC: How do you choose which themes to explore in your books?
AO: Adrienne and I are so intentional about making sure our books have representation throughout—definitely representation with kids of color. We’re intentional about making our illustrations look like the kids reading them. I know my nephew thinks that’s him on the cover of one of my first books. It’s not him, but it’s valuable for children to be able to identify with a character who might have a gap in their teeth, or a ‘fro, or who looks like them.
My very first book, Rock What You Got, promotes the diversity of people and how we’re all unique. It has a kid with a bald head, a kid in a wheelchair, short, tall, skinny kids—just showing the different ways kids show up. We also include activities at the end of our books: discussion questions, glossaries, matching games—different ways to reinforce what was happening in the story.
One of my most recent books, Lena Has Two Homes, is about kids transitioning between different homes. Both my sister and I are trauma-informed educators, so a lot of what we do is trauma-aware. We try to come up with stories around grief, loss, separation—the personal experiences children actually go through.
CC: Some people might think that themes like grief and trauma are too adult for children’s books. How would you respond to those concerns?
AO: Young people today are very different from young people 10 or 20 years ago. They’re exposed to way more because of technology. They already know so much. We’re very conscious of our words and vocabulary, but these kids are already dealing with the topics themselves. This is people’s reality.
CC: Can you share a moment with a child or family that stands out to you?
AO: I remember growing up being so excited when the bookmobile would come or when an author would visit our school—that was a really big deal. Now, I can be in the grocery store or just standing on a curb somewhere, and a kid will come up and say, ‘Oh my God, mommy, she came and spoke at my school!’ or ‘I read that book every night.’
I think about those moments because I’m tangible, and I make them believe that they can do this too. If they want to become an author, they know one—and it’s not someone on TV. They can run into me, ask me questions. I’m real.
CC: Tell us about Snuggle Up for Literacy. What is it, and where did the idea come from?
AO: When COVID happened in 2020, nobody knew what to do. Adrienne and I thought, ‘How do we engage students during this time of transition?’ We came up with an initiative called Snuggle Up for Literacy. We created these literacy kits with bundles of our books, bingo, different activities we designed, and PBS tablets. We delivered them to families throughout Jennings, where I was serving as a city council member at the time.
Last year in January, we partnered with the St. Louis County Library at the Lewis and Clark branch to do Snuggle Up for Literacy in person. We had over 250 people come out. We had activity stations; Black men who were authors reading books; community partners engaging with families, including Ready Readers, Turn the Page, and Bridge to Hope. Raising Cane’s gave away achievement cards—it was just a day of fun.
Every time we do this, we’re giving away our books along with something cozy to go with the theme.
CC: What partnerships are you looking for to expand this work?
AO: Literacy is so important, and I think my sister and I have this unique approach that can impact people on such a deep level. We’re really looking to partner with organizations that work closely with children and families—schools, libraries, churches, after-school programs, daycare centers, and early education organizations.
The main message is that we’re not just looking to get kids to love literacy. We want families to have tangible ways to embrace and promote literacy within their homes. It’s not just reading and writing—there are all kinds of creative ways you can really promote literacy.
I also want to elevate Rock What You Got specifically. I think adults like it even more than kids because it pulls on your heart. We all have that kid in us who looks in the mirror and sees imperfections. The earlier we can get that message of self-love to children, the better our world could be.
To learn more about Snuggle Up for Literacy or to partner with Aja and Adrienne on literacy programming, reach out to Aja at rockwhatyougotstl@gmail.com.