Bed-Stuy Teacher Takes On Representation With New Children's Book

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A few weeks into remote learning in June, Alexis Clark decided she was going to send her second-graders a gift.

The Bed-Stuy native knew her young students — many with internet issues — were struggling to connect to class through a computer screen. Mailing them a book to all read together might help, she thought.

But there was just one problem.

"My students are of color — when I looked for books to send them, I couldn't find any that represent children of color," Clark, who teaches at KIPP AMP Charter School in Crown Heights, told Patch. "I just wanted my kids to see they could be featured in books just like any other race."

Not one to give up easily, Clark said the solution popped into her head: "I thought, 'I'm going to write a book.'"

Four months later, last weekend, Clark got to hold one of the first copies of her 41-page, fully-illustrated children's book "Lexi Dreams!" for the first time.

The book, now on Amazon, comes after a summer spent writing, researching and working with an illustrator to get the book published, all while teaching and taking doctorate classes of her own, Clark said.

"I touched it and I was like, 'Oh my god, this is real,'" she said. "I couldn’t believe it."

Clark wrote the book in June using an online tool Story Jumper, she said. Next, she took on the task of self-publishing after getting quotes from companies charging $10,000 for 12 pages.

She eventually connected with Florida-based illustrator Cameron T. Wilson, who illustrated the manuscript and helped her get it published for under $1,000. Wilson, who works largely with new authors, is planning to fly to New York to meet Clark for the first time at a book signing on Oct. 25.

Clark, who had never written a book before, said the months of hard work became not just about creating representation for her students, but showing them what can happen when you take change into your own hands.

Her second-grade class had been learning about young activists — like Ruby Bridges or Amaryanna "Mari" Copeny — throughout the year.

"I was teaching my kids that no matter how young you are, you are able to make change, too," she said. "Now they know, my teacher actually did write a book. That’s powerful in itself."

It was those stories that were also the inspiration for the plot of "Lexi Dreams!," Clark said.

In the book, a 7-year-old named Lexi, modeled loosely after Clark, falls asleep in class and begins dreaming about change her and her friends can make outside of the classroom.

By the end of the book, her dream of cleaning up the local community garden becomes a reality with the help of her teacher Ms. Porter, who Clark said is based on her real-life friend, who is an educator and breast cancer survivor.

The final scene of the book shows Lexi, Ms. Porter and all the kids using the newly-planted fruits and vegetables to feed the homeless.

Reading the book to her class through Zoom for the first time, Clark said their "astonished" reactions are what she had hoped for back in June.

"That excitement is exactly what I wanted for them," Clark said. "My kids were like 'Oh my god, Miss Clark, your name is on there!'...One kid said, 'Oh wow, that's a brown character,' and I was like, 'Yep, sure is!'"

The moment was a bright light in what has been a tough year, she added.

"I remind them that even though we’re not in school, I’m here for you," Clark said. "They give me all the energy I need to come back every single morning."