Ever since he was young, Marchánt Davis has always loved children’s media and the power it possesses. Though his favorites were “Sesame Street” and “Reading Rainbow” — especially seeing himself represented on screen through LeVar Burton — he says he was “strangely” inspired by “Snow White.”
“It was always playing on TV,” says Davis, an actor, director, writer, and now author of “A Boy and His Mirror.” And it was this story that he wanted to repurpose for his own children’s book geared toward the current generation.
Thinking about the relationship kids have with their phones and what identity means, Davis wanted to create a story that spoke to people coming up in a world with Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.
But, mostly, Davis wrote the book hoping young Black boys would read. Though he doesn’t believe any one thing will cure problems, he wants the book to be a step toward boys acknowledging their feelings and countering some of the toxic masculinity in the Black community.