‘Do black people read?’ What my years in publishing have taught me about diversity in books | Natalie Jerome

Malorie Blackman laments the lack of BAME children’s characters. I know – it’s a real battle to get writers of colour publishedMy daughter, like me, is of mixed heritage. She has wildly curly hair, as have I. When she was born four years ago I was given five copies of the same kids’ picture book by well-meaning friends and relatives. It was called Guess How Much I Love You. This book, whose lead characters are rabbits, was a bestseller in the 1990s. Back then it flew off the shelves. What I did not expect when I was pregnant with my daughter was that it would be far easier to find her a rabbit picture book than one featuring a child like her with brown skin and curls.This week Malorie Blackman, author of Noughts and Crosses, told Channel 4 News that of the many books she read as a child “not one of them featured a black child like me”, adding that “it made me feel invisible in the world of literature”. And when, in her mid-20s, she noticed in a children’s bookshop that little had changed, “that’s when I decided that I wanted to write for children ... for the child in me, really, for all the books I wish I could have read as a child”.If we feel disconnected from each other, perhaps it starts in this skewed, unrepresentative vision of the world that begins in our books when we are at knee height Related: Whatever happened to author Dorothy West? Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-08-17 07:00:41 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "‘Do black people read?’ What my years in publishing have taught me about diversity in books | Natalie Jerome"


What We're Reading – October 2019

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoSince studying Lara as a student, I have been a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s work, and am delighted to see her win the Booker Prize this year. Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives of twelve black characters with different backgrounds and experiences, most... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-10-30 09:49:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Hackney bookshop Telling Tales moves into canal boat

Independent bookshop Telling Tales has moved aboard a purpose-built canal boat to roam through London's canals and beyond.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-30 00:02:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Glorious Picture Book Free-for-All: Spring 2020 Edition (shelftalker)

Booksellers talk color trends, tell terrible jokes, and happily sort through stacks of new books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-25 12:00:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Can Bookshop Become the Indie Amazon?

The soon-to-launch platform aims to give booksellers an edge against the e-tail giant. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Bernardine Evaristo doubles lifetime sales in five days after joint Booker win

Almost 6,000 copies of Girl, Woman, Other sold in the week after Evaristo’s win alongside Margaret AtwoodBernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other more than doubled its lifetime sales in the week following its Booker prize win, with joint winner The Testaments by Margaret Atwood also flying off... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-10-22 16:25:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this


10 Great Picture Book Biographies

This list showcases 10 great recent picture book biographies by and about trailblazing women—get ready to inspire the young reader in your life. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-10-21 10:33:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Burson opens new bookshop in Hay-on-Wye

The only store in Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, to exclusively sell new books will open on 26th October.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-21 06:24:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


A Picture Book Free-for-all: The Follow Up (shelftalker)

A buyer circles back to talk sell-through on bookseller favorites. Plus, a holiday preview! Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-18 12:00:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Castrén hopes new formats will boost Finnish market five years after guest spot

The head of Otava Publishing, one of Finland’s largest books beasts as well as an owner of its biggest bookshop chain, says the domestic market has been ‘bipolar’—but reckons new formats present a massive opportunity for brave publishers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-18 03:01:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Walker signs new MG comic fantasy adventure by Amy Sparkes

Publisher Walker Books has snapped up The House at the Edge of Magic, a middle-grade comic fantasy adventure by picture book author Amy Sparkes in a two-book deal.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-18 00:50:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Author Profile: Jim Field

Jim Field makes his author-illustrator début with the perfect picture book for budding language learners. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 20:29:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Puffin to publish Wreck this Picture Book

Puffin has acquired the first children’s book from author–illustrator Keri Smith, Wreck this Picture Book, due to publish in autumn 2020 as part of a global release. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 10:22:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Elephant picture book from Giraffes Can't Dance team

Hachette Children’s has landed a new picture book from Giles Andreae and illustrator Guy Parker-Rees to mark 20 years of Giraffes Can’t Dance.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 00:47:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this


HCG acquires fairy tale picture book from Sardà, Dahman and Digard

Hachette Children's Group has acquired the first collaboration on a picture book between France-based author team Myriam Dahman and Nicolas Digard and Kate Greenaway Medal longlisted illustrator Júlia Sardà: The Wolf’s Secret. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-15 02:56:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this


OUP signs Naomi and James Jones' debut picture book in five-figure deal

Oxford University Press has signed husband-and-wife team Naomi and James Jones' debut picture book in a five-figure deal.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-14 08:36:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this


What is it about bookshops….?

Ahead of Bookshop Day, bookshop owner Sarah Dennis highlights what makes independent bookshops special.     Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-04 03:15:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this


These magical books help kids learn other languages

Many parents want their kids to be bilingual but don’t have the tools to teach them. Enter Habbi Habbi, a platform that makes learning new languages fun. My 3-year-old has been playing in her room by herself for an hour. I’m beginning to worry she is up to no good: Is she “decorating” her walls... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-10-03 10:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Booksellers gear up for Super Thursday ahead of Bookshop Day 2019

Retailers are gearing up for a bumper Super Thursday ahead of this Saturday's Bookshop Day 2019 when events will be taking place up and down the country. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-03 08:58:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


“The Faster You Pour It Down”: On Charles Bukowski’s “On Drinking”

ONE DAY IN a Los Angeles bookshop in the mid-1970s, a thick City Lights softcover with a stark black-and-white spine magnetized a suburban adolescent’s eyeballs. “BUKOWSKI” the cover read at the top in big block letters, and at the bottom, in smaller letters: “Erections, Ejaculations,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-01 17:00:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Archer, Keyes and Halls headline Bertrams Christmas conference

Jeffrey Archer, Marian Keyes and Stacey Halls were among the authors at this year's Bertrams Christmas conference which saw Abingdon indie Mostly Books win bookshop of the year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-30 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this