Inspiring and challenging children through beautifully written, beautifully illustrated stories.
A report today has revealed that children’s career ambitions are already limited by the age of seven. This is due to “ingrained stereotypes about social background, gender and race.” The BBC’s piece on the report explains that the most common influences on children are the occupations of people in their family and “the jobs they […]
It’s World Mental Health Day today. Mental Health used to be something you whispered about, something secret, there weren’t words for what people experienced when they were struggling with their mental health. Unseen it was just a collection of inexplicable symptoms, that could make people unpredictable and behave out of character. They were often shunned […]
The stats are out and they’re better than last year. 4% of children’s books published in 2018 had a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic main character. This is a 3% increase from last year, but as 33% of our schoolchildren are of BAME origins, there’s still a long way to go. The stats are bad, […]
Only 4% of children’s books published in 2018 featured a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic person (BAME) as the main character, a new report, Reflecting Realities, by the CLPE has today revealed. This figure is in stark contrast to diversity within society, where nearly 20% of the UK population are BAME. Lack of representation While this figure does […]
The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle, by David Litchfield, is our book of the week this week. We want every illustration for our walls, they add such detail and depth to this beautifully moving tale of friendship, they’re amazing! We look for stories that show male characters experiencing the full realm of […]
We found a book the other day, that featured a Dad, cooking dinner and doing the childcare. Working Mums So far, no big surprise, millions of men do this everyday. But not in the land of stories. We read a LOT of children’s books and this year, we have found only two with working Mums […]
Nostalgia Childhood is shrouded in so much of our own nostalgia. I get a jolt in the opening bit of Star Wars, when the introductory words go up the screen. I feel it when I smell Charlie by Revlon, my Mum’s favourite perfume and there’s loads of it floating round at Christmas, when the fairy […]
This week’s Children’s book of the Week is… Luna Loves Library Day by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers. It’s a story that proves that with good writing and beautiful illustrations, children’s books can handle difficult topics in sensitive ways without them feeling too heavy or moralistic. This book is about a little girl’s visits to […]
Books take you on adventures and away from reality. A good book absorbs you so fully, you feel as if you know the characters within the pages. We want all children to experience that love of books and to learn about the world at the same time. Stack those shelves A lot of us have […]
It’s one year ago today since we opened the website of the UK’s first inclusive and representative children’s book club. The past 12 months have been busy. July 2018 We opened our cyber doors and I immediately did an up the nose interview with Sky News. I was 5 months pregnant, it was the hottest […]