Vision In Blue

Lorna Bradbury, Daily Telegraph's book reviews editor, talks to acclaimed writers, Liz Kessler ( Read Me Like A Book ), Bali Rai ( (Un)arranged Marriage ) and Shannon Cullen from Penguin Random House about the need for diversity in children's books and what that really means. No topic is off limits. I've included the description of this Bath Children's Literature Festival event because as was admitted on the stage, it wasn't really a debate, more of a discussion as all the panelists had the same view. Simply summed up, the consensus is yes we need more diversity, but the real question is where does that diversity need to come from? I'll just pick up on a couple of the topics mentioned, other wise I'll end up waffling for ages on this topic. Encouraging creative writing. There are stories of people who read books to their kids and realised that if they wanted diversity they were going to have to write it themselves. As sad as it is to hear this it i...

Ms Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona The new Ms Marvel is Marvel's first Muslim character to head their own series. She is a Pakistani-American from New Jersey with shape-shifting powers, and she embodies all the angst that is appropriate for her role. Kamala Khan [Marvel never miss a good alliterative name!] is an ordinary teenager who is desperate to try something different. From the very beginning we see her wanting to step outside her cultural boundaries at the mere smell of a BLT. Zoe Zimmer [there it is again!], the not so culturally informed teenager leads Kamala on to what will be her origin story. The Khan family cover all aspects of a family, an overbearing mother, concerned yet easy going father, devout son and the questioning... soon to be super-powered daughter. When she thinks there's no way to talk sense into her family she descends the tree outside her window and goes to the party that all the cool alliterative kids are going to. But her e...

" Don't shy away from tough issues " by Jabari Asim, in The New York Times. I read the above article and was struck by its simplicity. Just basic observations and instincts from a parent, grandparent and teacher. It's lovely that someone is willing to be totally honest with their children. Some of the comments left me sighing in my chair but others were refreshingly different. A user called Bob Kanegis put up a lovely comment that just shows you how much some youngsters can process. Others said... "Children's books have always been about injustices in the world." "The time to help children learn to be compassionate and understanding and aware is when they are young - and great picture books that promote diversity and that provide, an albeit, hopeful perspective of the world are much needed." "None of the books I read as a child were politically correct. As a young child I didn't care. I wanted to read. I wanted to get lost in...