Crystal Boateng brings African heritage to children’s books

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When Crystal Boateng sat down to read with her 4-year-old daughter, Whitney, she noticed something missing. Whitney adored princess stories, but none of the characters looked like her or reflected her heritage.

“I couldn’t really find any good princess books about African princesses, Ghanaian princesses,” Boateng said. “So, I decided to write my own.”

The result was  “Afia the Ashanti Princess: A Visit to the Motherland,” her debut children’s book written during the COVID pandemic. Inspired by her childhood in Ghana and later family trips back with her own kids, the story follows a young girl who dreams of becoming a princess and discovers her royal ancestry on a journey back home.

Author Boateng creates African-themed books for children. COURTESY PHOTO

This deep desire to share her Ghanaian culture with others as well as inspire them to visit her beloved homeland — Boateng moved to Springfield as a teenager — drove her to spread the word and as a result, Ashanti Royalty Publishing was born. 

Five years later, Boateng is the author of seven children’s books that were inspired by her family trips back to Ghana.

“All my books are self-published, and I also help other independent authors publish their books as well. Now mainly, what I do is I just vend at events, mostly selling my books and also clothing items or other handmade items from Ghana,” she said.

She hopes that her books empower children to develop self-confidence and a sense of pride in their diverse family backgrounds and prompt all readers to develop an interest in learning more about African history and culture.

Boateng has also begun to start another business venture. Called “Visit Ghana with Crystal,” she is taking tourists to Ghana, an idea that stemmed from people sharing that they would love to visit the country after reading her books.

A lawyer by day, her businesses are a side-passion hustle for her. An alumna of Mount Holyoke College, she holds a law degree and an MBA from the University of Connecticut.

Boateng’s next two books of her Ashanti Princess and Prince adventure series are “Afia the Brave Swimmer: Seaside Adventures in Ghana” and “Cooking Jollof with Nana in Ghana.”

She said that the whole idea of her books is to introduce young readers to Ghana. Recently, she shared that the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill flew her there to visit and read her books to elementary-grade students at three schools.

“A lot of times, these kids, [I’ll] ask them, ‘Can you tell me which country I’m from?’ after I’ve introduced myself. They’ll say ‘Africa.’ I’ll say, ‘Well, Africa is the continent, but, [what’s] the specific country?’ There are 34 countries in Africa, and so it’s just really about educating kids,” she said.

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Since the release of her book series, Boateng has been invited to other schools to work with educators and students to talk about Ghana.

Boateng says that the Boston media and civic and academic communities has been a lifeline.

“The city of Boston has been very supportive. Last week, I was at the Boston Neighborhood Network, the TV station. They interviewed me and my daughter. My daughter read one of my books on camera,” she said. “The city of Boston is very helpful. Boston University has been extremely helpful. They’ve connected me with a lot of educators.”

Boateng said that one of her biggest goals is to collaborate with more educators and universities, especially those who are looking to take their students on trips to Ghana.

“A lot of times there are universities that [host] trips to Ghana. …I would just really love to partner…and work with them, because I think a lot of times when people think of Ghana or Africa, [it can] kind of [be] like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m scared. I don’t know. I want to go there, but I don’t know who to talk to.’…I’m just looking forward to more partnerships and collaborations,” she said.

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While Boateng has had a lot of support, she said that she has faced obstacles since starting her business, such as finding financial resources and reaching more people outside of the city. 

“I would love to branch out to reach more people. So I would say it’s been a challenge connecting. …It’s always easier when someone does an introduction,” she said. “Just having the opportunity to connect with more people, more educators, more schools, would be very helpful.”

Despite these obstacles, she credits her optimistic outlook on life with guiding her forward.

Boateng encourages Black entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color not to give up on their dreams.

“I would say don’t let one rejection turn [you away from] your goal or dream. …Keep working for it. If it’s meant to be, it will work out,” she said. “A lot of times people get discouraged when they get some rejections or if things don’t go their way. It’s easy to feel that way, to be discouraged, but also just keep pushing through. If that’s your passion, if it’s something that you strongly believe in, keep going for it.”

She added, “Sometimes you just never know, maybe if that door closes, another door will open and that might even be a better opportunity for you. So don’t let other people discourage you and try to sideline your goals and your dreams.”