Learning to read is the first step to all academics and many careers, but it is also something that could be enjoyed for the worlds and experiences that can be opened up.

With this in mind, educator Candace Francis founded two online entities, Bold Print Bookshop and the Desha Academy.

Bold Print was started with the hope of bringing back the joy of reading in children instead of just focussing on examinations.

“Reading was meant to be enjoyed. You can look at the depth of the language, how words are used, and take in the description of people and things.”

A teacher in the primary school system for 20 years, Francis said she has seen the decline in adults encouraging children to read or act out stories, or children contentedly reading for hours.

“I saw the shift in what reading is about. A lot of factors contributed to it but part of it is exams have become so competitive now, we tend to focus only on reading for that purpose. Also, until recently, we have not been integrating technology in teaching so children associated reading with school and technology with fun.

“Also, you would hear parents using reading as a form of punishment. So a child does something wrong and the parent would take away play time or a device and tell the child to go and read. After a while children associate reading with a form of punishment.”

As a result, Bold Print Bookshop was launched online in 2019. She initially intended to eventually open a physical space, but with the start of the pandemic she thought it was best to leave it online.

The books at Bold Print target children ages three to 12. They include colouring books, story books, and educational books but no textbooks, from international, Caribbean and local authors.

[caption id="attachment_940489" align="alignnone" width="712"] Candace Francis reading Awesome Father by local author Charisse Broome. -[/caption]

“I try to support local authors because growing up I was mainly exposed foreign authors. There were one or two of them (local authors) but most times they had to leave the country to become a writer. So I felt, as a TT citizen, I, or anyone else from the Caribbean, couldn’t write because I never saw it. I didn’t have a model.

“So when I opened the bookshop I realised I need to expose children to the works of Caribbean authors so they could probably use that as inspiration.”

Local authors featured in the bookshop include Betty Peter, five-year-old Coryn Anaya Clarke, healthcare professional Phillip Simon, environmentalist Katrina Khan-Roberts, Mikkell Khan, Charisse Broome and more.

In June 2020, she launched the Desha Academy as an extension to the bookshop.

“There were activities I wanted to do but I didn’t want it to be part of the bookshop per say, because it’s more on the side of educating. The bookshop is where I would have the resources to complement the education aspect.”

Her intension is to promote TT with videos on its history, culture, folklore, national emblems and more. These as well as some science, math, and English learning re