A Conversation with Actress and Author Tatyana Ali and her son Aszi

Kid Reporter Enya Yang with author and actress Tatyana Ali and her sons at Beyond Text Bookstore in Los Gatos, CA.

Tatyana Ali is an American actress, singer, producer, and author. She is known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and has also appeared in films such as Jingle Belle, The Brothers, and Glory Road. In addition to these feats, Ali is a wife and mother of two. In late 2025, she released her first children’s book, Aszi and the Octopus, as part of Scholastic’s Rising Voices: Honoring the Richness of Black Stories. Ali is a mentor for Rising Voices: Empowering Girls in STEAM, which pairs high-quality books with teaching materials to drive well-being and literacy development for elementary-aged children. 

Recently I had the privilege of speaking with Ali and her son Aszi at Beyond Text Bookstore about her new book, her role as a Rising Voices mentor, and her at-home reading habits. 

What inspired you to write your new book, Aszi and the Octopus, which follows Aszi through his magical imagination of the underwater world, full of octopuses and other marine life? 

Well, Aszi and his love of octopuses inspired it. Ever since he was a little baby, instead of having a teddy bear, he had a stuffed octopus, and I do a lot of work with Scholastic. I’m a mentor for their Rising Voices Collection, and I was telling someone in the team about Aszi and his love of octopuses and this idea for a story that I had, and they encouraged it. They thought it would be really fun. [The book is] about the imaginary world that [Aszi] always had and the story takes place at the beach with the four of us which is something that we’ve done often. 

How long did it take you to complete the book, and did you face any challenges along the way? 

From the beginning of pitching the idea to where it is now was about two years, so it went through a lot of different versions. 

How do you balance your roles as a mom, actress, singer, producer and author? 

Well, [being a] mom comes first. I think balance is kind of about prioritizing at different times. When I have an acting job, I concentrate on that. Because I was able to write over a long time, I kept coming back to this [Aszi and the Octopus]. And lots of help from my husband and my family and my friends, my community. 

How does reading show up in your home? Are there routines, favorite books, or shared reading moments? 

We pretty much read every night before bedtime. Right now, we’re reading a novel called Dead Lands, but we read every night, and we also do twenty minutes of reading a day, the kids do, and [with] my work, there's always a lot of reading. 

What key lessons or messages do you hope kids and their families take away from the story? 

I experienced this as a child when I was acting and singing and performing, and I know my son has felt this with his love of marine biology and octopuses: whatever you’re interested in, whatever you enjoy doing, go after it because it takes you to amazing places. It can make your whole life an adventure which happened to me in my life, and that’s really what this story is doing. 

Can you tell me a little more about the Scholastic Rising Voices program and your role as a mentor? 

The Rising Voices Libraries are a series of collections. I’m the mentor for books that all have girls as main characters, and the subject matter of the book is STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math, and I’m the arts mentor. The Rising Voices Collection makes sure that every child can see themselves in the books around them, in their classroom libraries. That’s really important. We talk about representation, but it’s important when you go to your classroom, and you look around at all the books, and you see characters that look like you and look like the other people in your community. This book is a part of Rising Voice: Honoring the Richness of Black Stories. 

Tatyana's new book Aszi and the Octopus is part of Scholastic’s Rising Voices: Honoring the Richness of Black Stories.

As a mentor for the Scholastic Rising Voices program, what have you learned working with young readers and how did it influence this book? 

This is my first book that I’ve ever written. I spent a lot of time going around the country with Scholastic and adding new books to classroom libraries and classrooms across the country, and I always get a chance to sit and read with [students]. The times that I’ve done it, it’s been other people’s books. Now it’s the first time I get to read my own. But what I’m always surprised by is that as soon as kids see characters that remind them of their neighbors or remind them of people in their families, the interest level is much higher. Automatically they start pointing to the pictures; they start listening to the story in a deeper way; and so that’s what I’ve found. I’ve also found even with my own kids that if I’m excited about reading and the books in our house that they get excited about it too. 

Aszi also shared his thoughts on the book. 

What was your reaction when you first read this book? 

I thought it was really cool.  It represented my imagination. 

Do you have a favorite character or moment in the story? 

My favorite character was the octopus, and my favorite moment was when a bunch of octopus babies showed up. 

Is there something you and your mom like to read or do together that inspires you? 

We like drawing and doing art together. [My favorite thing is] a lot of the monsters I make up. I draw octopus a lot, like a lot. I mostly just draw a lot of sea animals. 

What’s one thing you hope other kids feel when they read Aszi and the Octopus? 

I hope they feel inspired to be creative. 

Aszi's imagination and his love of octopuses inspired Tatyana to write Aszi and the Octopus.