by Bri Little

Danitra Hunter has declared that after years in the making, 2021 is finally the year of Purrdie Burrdie. Hunter, an illustrator and preschool teacher for the YMCA in West Seattle, has been working on the Purrdie Burrdie brand for nearly a decade, acquiring various copyrights on her logo and her image of the stylish skateboarding bird. Now she’s finally ready to send her delightfully colorful children’s book out into the world. 

Purrdie Burrdie I Love Myself, Can You See? helps children, particularly Black and Brown kids, how to love and have confidence in themselves. The book teaches affirmations and a 30-Day Self-Love Challenge — fun activities that encourage readers to treat themselves as worthy and explore what makes them unique. 

Purrdie Burrdie was born from a coloring page that Hunter created and shared with children she worked with. As an educator, she realized that there was a need. Children, especially Black and Brown children, were not used to seeing themselves as beings who are worthy of their own love. 

“A friend of mine who works in a YMCA program told me that kids, little Black girls, were denying their skin color … That just broke my heart,” said Hunter, “That’s really why I decided to dive deeper into [Puurdie Buurdie’s] story. To represent Black people, to represent us. Because I didn’t have a character as a kid growing up.”