​THANK YOU,  PROJECT DONORS!
of
Lorena and the Magic Mocha Mirror©

Anna Judith Allen      Ciara Cox*     Rose DeMaio    

Borzou Daragahi     Rhonda R. Jones    Vlatka Majstorovic-Fowkes    

Edwin Richardson    Fran Williams, PhD*
_______________________________________________
​
for Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain© and Eddie and the Hot Cocoa Hot Rod©

​Michael & Diane Owens     Mary Crescendo     Anastasios Panas     Annika Ford
Valerie Salembier     Dwight W. Ford     Judy Sampson     Dora Gomez     Lorena Sanchez
Jamie L. Kitman*     Christianna Sherbanee   Thierry Vodounou   Sandra Lynch     Arlene Sontag
Karen McMullen      Linda B. O'Donovan     Steven M. Winoker
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Project Donors have supported publishing via Indiegogo campaign contributions. *Multiple project Donors.
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About the Author
​Valerie Williams-Sanchez 
​is the ​author of the Cocoa Kids Collection© and principal consultant for Valorena Online, L.L.C., Freelance Marketing & Communications. 
     A former journalist in the U.S. and Spain, Valerie has written and contributed to articles and essays in publications like the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, Miami Herald, Orange County Business Journal, Long Beach Press Telegram, Injuve Magazine (Spain) and More Magazine, online. 
​     Valerie is currently studying Education Literacy at St. John's University, New York. She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master’s degree from Columbia University. She also studied at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain as an undergraduate.
     A black American, Valerie is Mom to her biracial daughter, Lorena, 22, Auntie to her biracial nephew, Isaiah, 10, and teacher to countless at-risk and special needs kids, (click to read a letter of support). ​
     She names, among her passions: savoring hot cocoa, creating fine art drawings, paintings and illustrations, as well as reading and writing creative yarns about "things momentous and mundane in the world of chocolate." 
In Media & Reviews
​
"Grandma Mimi's Kitchen" Cocoa Kids Collection Illustration. In HOME, a Rockland Center for the Arts Exhibit (October, 2017).

"Cocoa Kids Collection Books™ Original Illustration 
Selected for New York Art Center Exhibition," a Valorena Online Media Release, (September, 2017).

"Three Books All Children of Colour Should Own." 
By Mocha Carter, HuffPost, (May, 2017).

"Multicultural Children’s Book Day Review: Chocolate, Math & Cars, Oh My!" By Summer Kinard, author of Mommie Blog: Writing Like a Mother, (January, 2017).

"Did You Know This Is Multicultural Children's Book Day?" By Briana Villa, Multicultural Kids Day Reader, (January, 2017).
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The Series Thesis

"The Cocoa Kids Collection© Thesis: Revaluing Children of Color’s Lives Through Children’s Literature.” 
By Valerie Williams-Sanchez, Valerie's Vignettes, (July 9, 2017).
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