Let’s get real. As someone (not so quietly) chasing the dream of becoming a traditionally published author, this story hit me right in the feels.
Because if there’s one thing I love as much as basketball, it’s storytelling. And when I discovered that the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury Foundation had worked with local author Claudia Sloan and Southwest Human Development to create a bilingual children’s book celebrating Valley culture through basketball earlier this year? Yeah, that’s the kind of harmonization
I live for.
Because that’s Phoenix in a nutshell, isn’t it?
A place where fandom and family blur. Where cheering from the bleachers and reading before bedtime are just two versions of the same ritual: showing up for each other.
Dating back to 2024 (but no doubt, many months in the making), Mexican author and illustrator, Claudia Sloan, launched a community book as part of the City Edition Program. The book, We Are the Valley / ¡Somos El Valle!, isn’t just some novelty souvenir for toddlers in Devin Booker jerseys. It’s a cultural statement and a basketball-laced literacy mission. A reminder that in Phoenix, winning doesn’t just happen under arena lights—it unlocks on living room couches or within the sanctity of your child’s bedtime routine at 7:30 pm sharp, one bedtime story at a time.
And Suns fans have probably seen this for purchase at the arena. But this book is so much more than a fan purchase.
Paraphrasing slightly from Claudia Sloan’s author site, this hardcover edition features a beautiful glossy dust jacket and full-color printing across 40 pages plus endpapers. It’s fully bilingual—English and Spanish—designed in a unique flip-book style: start from one side to read the English version, flip it over to read the Spanish version, and both stories meet in the middle!
Each side includes fun surprises and subtle differences, making it a delight for bilingual readers, single-language readers, and language learners alike. It’s truly like having two books in one—packed with hidden details, crafted with love (and a whole lot of basketball spirit)… and proudly made in the U.S.A!
At the time of writing, this publication is not for sale outside of the U.S.A. However, families and Suns fans in Phoenix? This is for you.
Literacy Is the Real Long-Term Championship Window
When Jake Adams of Southwest Human Development (SWHD) described to me the power of reading—how a parent’s voice, rhythm, repetition, and storytelling create neurological foundations and emotional bonds—it sounds almost… familiar.
Sounds like basketball, doesn’t it?
- Repetition
- Rhythm
- Connection built over time
The child who learns to love language becomes the teenager who commands a locker room. The toddler who absorbs narrative becomes the adult who can lead, persuade, and listen. The real MVP isn’t always 6’6” with a silky midrange. Sometimes it’s three feet tall and asking, “Again?” after the last page.
That’s why this book matters. Because it proves Phoenix knows how to build winners. True winners.
That right there is Phoenix basketball energy. Less about performance and more about presence. The same values that shape chemistry on the court are being built in living rooms across the Valley.
The Suns Mercury Foundation Is Helping Raise Readers, Not Just Supporters
Let’s talk about legacy for a moment.
Stepping back from the sense of immediacy and the “what have you done for me lately” rhetoric that basketball fans may espouse regarding the Phoenix Suns and the Mercury’s recent efforts on the floor, it can be easy to miss that there is so much more success going on here that parents, caregivers and Phoenix basketball fans alike can feel proud about and protective of.
Once you get a cross-pollination of effort and resources, such as the Suns Mercury Foundation and SouthWest Human Development coming together to support families, young children, and caregivers alike, the potential for children across Arizona to have the start in life they deserve becomes the feasible goal it deserves to be.
And in its own small, powerful, and unique way, that’s where this book comes in.
From Storytime to Showtime
As I write this, the final preseason buzzer is about to sound, with the Suns taking on the Lakers to kickstart the 2025–26 campaign. Soon, we’ll resume our nightly rituals of arguing rotations, tracking stat lines, and emotionally overreacting to everything Ryan Dunn does.
[Actually, there could be a children’s book in that for me… “Have You Done What Ryan Dunn Does?” I’ll have to reach out to Ryan’s team and see if he wants to get in on this creative writing thing. From what I hear, he loves photography.]
And maybe that’s the real legacy of Phoenix sports and the organizations that put their hand up to represent their communities—not just the memories we make in packed arenas, but the habits we pass down in quiet living rooms. Basketball gives us the language. Storytime makes it stick.
But before tip-off, let’s appreciate that while the scoreboard resets to 0–0, Phoenix is already undefeated where it counts most.
Championships are unforgettable. But traditions read aloud?
Those echo forever.
A big thank-you to the Suns Mercury Foundation for their continued commitment to empowering young athletes and strengthening our basketball communities. Your work inspires stories like this one to take flight. And a big thank you to Jake Adams at South West Human Development for getting back in touch and providing insight into this project and the good work happening with SWHD.
And Claudia Sloan. This book wouldn’t exist without your creativity and spirit. We can’t wait to see what you do next! Thank you for bringing this story (and your many others) to life!
