SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — When Dwayne Clark came up with the idea to write a series of children’s books where the stories matched his own family’s life, he decided the logical thing to do would be to get his own children involved. A few years after the light bulb went off in his head, Clark has written two books: “One on One from Dad to Son: Lessons in Basketball and Discipline,” co-authored by his 8-year-old son, DJ, and “Me, My Mom, and My First Violin,” written alongside his 11-year-old daughter, Jada. The South Orange family has more books for the series in the works.
“I tore my Achilles a few years back and I was like, ‘Well, what are you going to do?’” Clark, an actor and motivational speaker, said in a phone interview on March 19. The project took off from there. The self-published books focus on a black family; Clark has worked on a book with each of his children that highlights their interests.
“I had a story for DJ. We share basketball stories all the time,” he said. “We noticed that a lot of people know the new players, but not who created the game. Then I thought, ‘What does Jada love?’ Jada loves music. That’s where hers came from.”
Jada and DJ loved the process of coming up with stories and writing the books just as much as Clark did.
“You get to share your thoughts and ideas together,” Jada said in a phone interview on March 19. “It’s a collaboration.”
The writing process starts with Clark narrating his ideas into the recording app on his phone, and then, after writing them out, the three start editing and working with an illustrator. The two books are available on Amazon. In addition to writing more books, DJ wants to write a movie.
“We want to write this movie and TV show,” DJ said in a phone interview on March 19. “We act it out when our cousins come over. It’s like ‘Adventures in Babysitting.’”
In addition to the violin, Jada plays the drums and does ballet and tap dance. She and Clark have a book planned for each of those activities, in addition to one about the beauty shop Clark’s mother owned and one about their family vacation to Michigan.
“We’re going to use every skill we have,” Clark said.
The most important aspect of the Clark family’s books is that they portray black characters and families.
“There were more stories about dogs and cats and alligators and birds than kids who look like my kids,” Clark said. “My goal is to have five or 10 in the series. I have this vision of being part of global literacy, and that’s beneficial for not only one race.”
Photos Courtesy of Susan Rash
South Orange family writes books featuring characters who look like them added by Amanda Valentovic on
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