“It felt like chocolate meeting peanut butter when my uncle arrived with his prototype of Envy.”— RogersCHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, September 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Patricia Angel Marie Rogers, a Licensed Professional Counselor, and her uncle, Eric Z. Williams, a retired CPS Educator, have merged their abilities in creative writing, teaching, entertaining, and supporting both young people and adults to develop The Chicago Kidz Book Series, which launched in 2024 with an emphasis on investigating the City’s well-known monikers.
Much like Dr. Seuss, they’ve adopted a pen name, Ima Kidd, because they aim to recall childhood perspectives and address those developmental needs in their storytelling. Indeed, the initial installment of the nickname series, The Envy of the Winds: How Chicago Became Known as the Windy City, was originally co-authored by Williams with his son, Oronde, when he was a 10-year-old 5th grader at McDade Classical School in Chicago over two decades ago. That book earned 1st place in school, regional, and citywide contests, prompting Williams to promise himself he’d publish it upon retiring into a writing career.
Given that the original manuscript was misplaced by the time he retired, Williams had to reimagine the tale, which he crafted in the rhymed style of a Dr. Seuss book. Williams commented, “I learned to read using those rhyming books by Dr. Seuss and taught my children and grandchildren to read using those books, so I knew the pedagogic value of that writing style.” Yet it wasn’t until Williams visited his grandson True’s Kindergarten classroom at a CPS neighborhood school for Grandparent’s Day that he felt compelled to act, after discovering that just two children could read as the academic year commenced.
At his mom’s residence in Morgan Park for Sunday Dinner, Williams brought a draft of The Envy of the Winds book, and his niece Rogers voiced interest in publishing it, since she had recently co-founded an independent publishing company. Rogers, who was already a published author of another children’s book highlighting Black Inventors, Innovators, and Influencers, said, “It was like the chocolate bumping into the peanut butter when my uncle showed up with his mock-up of Envy.” They quickly tried out several illustrators and selected Rahi Arts from Pakistan, working together to bring the story to life!
Notably, The Envy of the Winds, like other Chicago Kidz titles, targets children (ages 3-10) who are either learning to read or reading to learn. These books also aim to boost literacy, celebrate diversity, and foster community pride in Chicago. Rogers additionally applied her creative writing talents to compose a song for a music video teaser about “Envy,” bringing in another artist from Atlanta, Lauren, to co-produce. Lauren has since co-produced music video teasers for their second book, The Chicago Kidz in the City That Works (2025), and one for The Chicago Kidz Book Series, which Williams and Rogers have built around iconic nicknames.
The newest addition to the nickname series is titled The Chicago Kidz In Chiberia (2026), with Rogers handling both the theme song and music video independently. Rogers said, “The Music Video Trailers are designed to get the kids and parents interested in reading the books! My uncle and I have formed our own creative arts company called Kuumba (Kiswahili for Creativity) Enterprises and become a featured brand of Cultureel Stories, which will produce any television or movies that emerge from The Chicago Kidz!”
Williams and Rogers are actively working on the next nickname series book, Second To None: Why Is Chicago Known As The Second City? They also intend to write about other iconic nicknames and Chicago’s neighborhoods before extending The Chicago Kidz to explore additional cities such as New York, Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles. Rogers and Williams further plan to bring The Chicago Kidz to global destinations like Johannesburg, Paris, Rio, Sydney, Beijing, Toronto, Accra, London, and Dakar!
To purchase or learn more about their books and music videos, visit their website at www.thechicagokidz.com. The books are also available online through Barnes & Noble and Amazon. In person, The Chicago Kidz books can be found at various local bookstores and gift shops across Chicago, such as Oh Yes at Navy Pier, Burst Into Books in Roseland, Open Books in Pilsen, The Newberry Library Bookstore in the Loop, Da Book Joint in South Shore, and The Haven in Beverly.
Patricia Rogers
Kuumba Enterprises LLC
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The Envy of The Winds Book Video Trailer
