MOSS Kids

Literacy is liberation. Come see us today from 3pm-8pm at the East Tarboro ECO Garden for the Tarboro-Edgecombe Juneteenth Festival!! We’ll be set up with FREE books for kids of all ages. We have books on Juneteenth, books on Black history & Black excellence, & books centering Black joy. Swipe to see what books we’ll be handing out (while supplies last)!! We’ll also have Lego stations, coloring stations, & more at the kid’s corner!

It’s so important for kids to see themselves represented in the books they read. And it’s important for all kids to learn about Juneteenth & *actual* Black history. Black history is American history. We’re here to help diversify bookshelves & get our local reluctant readers interested in reading.

Big thanks to for the opportunity to purchase books affordably to gift to kids in our rural NC communities.

🌈 KNIGHTDALE PRIDE BLOCK PARTY 🌈

On Saturday 6/20, we’re heading to N First Ave in Knightdale into a celebration of community, q***r joy, and showing up exactly as you are.

We’re joining .co in celebrating PRIDE by bringing & our June MOSS Kids Book Club to the Unhinged living room & alleyway. Come hang out with us as we listen to stories read by & cultivate community around picture books. Head outside after the reading to create your own party hats to keep the celebration going 🥳

Vendor Market | 9AM-2PM with 🚚❤️‍🔥

Drag Story Hour ) | 10:30AM with

Crafts with (party hats!!!) + pottery painting by


Family-Friendly Drag Show | 12PM
.alan85 .melodyrose

Food trucks | All day
| 8AM - Sell out! nc | 11:30AM - 3:30PM
| 9AM - 3PM

Be sure to check out the community raffle packed with baskets, gift cards, prizes, and experiences donated by local businesses. Every dollar raised will benefit and their work supporting LGBTQ+ youth.

Come cultivate community with us this weekend ✨

Review | The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh ✨

A profound exploration of humanity, identity, grief, resilience, and hope that feels both deeply personal and universally relevant. Too often, strength is associated with power, dominance, or the ability to endure without vulnerability. Katouh’s characters, however, demonstrate that true strength can be found in kindness, compassion, and the courage to remain authentic in a world that constantly pressures individuals to conform. The story celebrates the quiet bravery of staying true to oneself, even when doing so comes at a cost. It challenges us to confront our biases, cultivate empathy, and recognize that we all are human.

Katouh’s prose is breathtakingly beautiful, lyrical without ever feeling excessive, and emotionally devastating in the best way. There were multiple moments throughout the novel that caught me quietly sobbing, dampening the pages (video incoming). Katouh has a remarkable ability to capture emotions with such honesty and precision that they become impossible to distance yourself from.

The immersive quality of the novel is enhanced by its vivid imagery, particularly the recurring use of color and grayscale. Katouh paints scenes with extraordinary clarity, transforming colors into emotional landscapes and allowing shifts between vibrancy and muted tones to reflect Jihad’s experiences. Katouh uses color almost as an emotional language. Every shade carries meaning, every visual detail deepening the emotional impact of the story. Through these carefully crafted descriptions, readers are not simply told what a character feels—they are invited to see, feel, and experience it themselves.

A must-read. I cannot wait to be even more heartbroken with her debut novel, As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, but I may need a minute to collect myself.

This book was gifted as part of a creative book tour w & 💙

We’re so excited to announce our NEW (& FREE) Summer Reading challenges! Summer reading kickoff parties in June get our youth excited to continue reading & learning after school ends. But what happens when the excitement begins to slow down after a week or two & we’re left with reluctant readers?

We decided to help combat the summer reading slump with fun, interactive prompts to discover new books & make reading more enjoyable! Check out our most recent blog to download our Summer Reading calendars (June, July, & August) & a Summer Reading BINGO card for our older readers & find a few book suggestions we love! Take our prompts to your local library. Enjoy getting to browse the shelves with your child & we encourage you to ask a librarian for their suggestions. You can browse your home bookshelves. Diving into what you already own is a fun way to reread a few classics, rediscover a book you love, or find a new book still waiting to be read. Or consider purchasing books off of our booklist that we’ve created just for this program featuring suggestions we’ve listed on the calendars & a few more we love. Your purchases off of this list directly help us buy & donate brand new diverse and inclusive books to kids in our local communities.

Download the calendars and the bingo card at the link in our bio! Be sure to tag us in our summer reading recommendations as you & your family work through our prompts for a chance to be featured on our page!!

Happy Reading 📚☀️🧡