Vera Ahiyya

Vera Ahiyya (née Corbett) is an educator and author best known to teachers as “The Tutu Teacher”, where she uses her extensive classroom experience to help educators spark courageous conversations about race, identity, and social justice through picture book read‑alouds. Born in Germany and raised in El Paso, Texas, she discovered her calling as a teacher at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where she majored in history and psychology and earned an MA in education. Ahiyya has taught kindergarten and first grade for more than sixteen years in Austin, Boston, and Brooklyn, building an influential online presence dedicated to sharing diverse, inclusive children’s literature and practical strategies for purposeful, equity‑focused classroom read‑alouds.

In addition to her work as a classroom teacher and literacy advocate, Ahiyya is the author of Rebellious Read Alouds: Inviting Conversations About Diversity With Children’s Books (Grades K–5), a professional development resource that guides educators in using daily read‑alouds to address race, identity, and social justice with young learners. She also writes for children, including the picture book You Have a Voice and the KINDergarten titles such as KINDergarten: Where Kindness Matters Every Day and Look How Much I’ve Grown in KINDergarten, along with the forthcoming Getting Ready series