The 40-year-old tennis star Serena Williams has announced she is writing a book titled The Adventures of Qai Qai based on her 4-year-old daughter Olympia’s favorite doll, Qai Qai, which became an internet sensation when Serena gave the doll her own Instagram account in 2018.
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Qai Qai’s social media presence was brought to life by entertainment technology company Invisible Universe, which will also be assisting with
the book. In a statement to People magazine, Williams said: “Qai Qai is a special member of our family, and we hope ‘The Adventures of Qai Qai’ will give others a new way to welcome Qai Qai into their own home. “Storytime is such an important pillar of our bedtime routine, like so many others around the world.”
Meanwhile, Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian recently said it was “really important” for him and Serena to find a “Black baby doll” for their daughter. He said: “I know one thing four years ago that was really important to us was to make sure that Olympia had a Black baby doll.
And have that be a very important first doll for her, if for no other reason than to just expose her to something that can hopefully break a cycle that we know exists.”
The Baby Doll Test has been used as an example for displaying the problems of societal discrimination and how hard-coded that gets into culture. “Very quickly we started to see this story play out online of people who were just so enamored with this doll and were really excited to hear about the stories and adventures she was going to go on. I think there’s a lot of people who have resonated with this idea of a really mischievous, and fun, and clever, and brave, and strong little girl doll and I’m excited to see all the places she goes and I do hope it can inspire kids — boys, girls, Black, White — all over the world to just have fun and dream.”
The Adventures of Qai Qai will be available in September 2022.
