The Guardian view on children’s books: a restricted view of a wide world | Editorial

Almost a third of school-age children are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. But they will still struggle to find characters who resemble themselvesBooks can show us the world both as it is, and as it could be – “mirrors and windows”, as the author Malorie Blackman notes. For children, they are currently falling short on both counts. In the pages of a picture or chapter book, readers have their experience affirmed or glimpse exciting new possibilities: mastering a fear of the dark, or travelling through space. Yet a young black or Asian child picking up a book today is more likely to encounter a rabbit than a protagonist who looks like them, says the expert who has led a new review of representation, Reflecting Realities. This is astonishing in an age when 32% of school-age children are from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds; and is bad news not only for them but for all young readers. Publishers are offering a dated, narrow and skewed picture of the complex, diverse, interconnected world around them.Don’t blame Beatrix Potter. This is not a historic, cumulative problem; the new research covers only books published in 2017. The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education asked publishers to submit titles with BAME characters and received fewer than 400, set against the roughly 9,000 books published for children aged three to 11. Quality and sheer variety are as important as quantity. Only 1% of titles featured a BAME lead character; in a quarter of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #bame characters #titles featured #bame protagonists #white boys

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on children’s books: a restricted view of a wide world | Editorial'

How to Make a Children’s Book Museum COVID-Compliant

A reader visited the Story Museum in Oxford, England to learn how the space modified its "interactive" exhibits for COVID-19 compliance. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-10-28 10:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children’s book

Biddulph, Gray and Patel among Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Award winners

Children's titles from Rob Biddulph, Kes Gray and Serena Patel are among the winners of Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards in partnership with BookTrust. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-15 18:29:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book awards #children’s book

Children’s Book Begets Online Community for Grieving Kids

Author and entrepreneur Kristina Bingham Jones is using the release of her first children's book as an opportunity to help grieving children cope with their losses in a new online community. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-10-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online community #children's book

Hungarian Government Calls Children's Book 'Homosexual Propaganda'

Lawmakers are calling for "Wonderland Is For Everyone," published by a lesbian group, to be banned. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2020-10-08 22:57:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children's book

New Children's Book Gives Boys Who Love Ballet A Chance To Feel Seen

John Robert Allman's "Boys Dance!" explains how fancy footwork can pay off at school and in sports, while spotlighting male role models in the art form. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2020-10-07 14:25:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #art form #children's book

100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers: Children’s and Young Adult Titles, by Niloufar Talebi

Essay To mark the upcoming 2020 Neustadt Lit Fest and the announcement of the 2021 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature, here is an excerpt featuring the children’s and young adult books selection from 100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2020-09-30 13:21:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young adult #mental illness #tv writer #television series #reese witherspoon #literary award #sports book #book series #times book #bologna book #books written #book market

Are the illustrations in children’s books making kids… dumber?

I always loved giving my son a picture book rich in detail and watching him get lost in it, thereby gaining a few moments of peace and grown-up solitude—but now science is telling me I may have made him dumber.* According to a very cruel study at Carnegie Mellon University, in which researchers... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-28 13:51:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #picture book

Natalie Portman’s upcoming children’s book is a collection of “gender-safe” fairy tales.

Natalie Portman knows a thing or two about fairy tales. Portman’s turn as a dancer whose life goes awry in Black Swan (2010) was, famously, a brooding take on Pyotr Tchaikovksy’s most famous ballet. Swan Lake itself was likely inspired by Russian and German folktales like Johann Karl August... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-23 16:54:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #natalie portman #fairy tales #children’s book

Pushkin Children’s Books aims to spread its wings with Odedina at the helm

Following a slew of press coverage and prize successes—including scooping last week’s Branford Boase Award—Pushkin Children’s Books is looking to grow its list. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-18 09:11:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pushkin children #press coverage

Walker Books secures world rights to DiCamillo and Blackall's first collaboration

Candlewick Press, a US imprint of the Walker Book Group, has acquired global rights to The Beatryce Prophecy, the first collaboration from author Kate DiCamillo and illustrator Sophie Blackall. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-18 00:15:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #candlewick press #world rights

The biggest-ever children’s book deal is for a fantasy series about bloodthirsty unicorns.

The murderous unicorns are coming! A 28-year-old lawyer and debut children’s book author from England, Annabel Steadman, has landed what is reportedly the largest children’s book deal ever—a healthy seven figures—for a fantasy adventure series, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief. The series is set in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-16 16:36:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fantasy series #bloodthirsty unicorns #debut children #largest children #book deal #book author #annabel steadman #unicorn thief #children’s book

'The end of an innocent world': An oral history of the first National Book Festival, which debuted three days before 9/11

Ahead of the 20th National Book Festival, Laura Bush, Scott Turow, Michael Beschloss and others look back at the event’s storied beginning. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #oral history #scott turow

Sharjah World Book Capital Leads Beirut Library Restoration Aid

As Beirut struggles to move forward, the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi and Sharjah's World Book Capital program step in to help libraries. The post Sharjah World Book Capital Leads Beirut Library Restoration Aid appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-14 18:40:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #move forward #world book

Bonnier tunes in to Channel 4 for weatherman's children's book

Big Picture Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has acquired a non-fiction children’s book from Channel 4 News weather presenter and meteorologist Liam Dutton. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-04 23:38:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #non-fiction children #children’s book #bonnier #children's book

Bologna Children’s Book Fair Is on the Ether With Moscow

Still planning to mount a first children's book fair in Moscow next year, BolognaFiere is 'in' Moscow this week but primarily digitally. The post Bologna Children’s Book Fair Is on the Ether With Moscow appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-03 18:24:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bologna children #book fair #bologna children’s book fair #children's book #children’s book

Perfect Reading T-Shirts for the Book Fandom World

Your closet is asking you to add these reading t-shirts to it and up your book lover status. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-09-02 10:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book lover

Lucy Pearse joins S&S Children's as editorial director for fiction

Lucy Pearse is to join Simon & Schuster Children's as editorial director for fiction this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-02 03:18:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Ethan Hawke is now a book critic, thereby completing his Literary World Bingo Card.

Congratulations to Ethan Hawke, star of my favorite film (Gattaca) and arguably the most bookish man in Hollywood, who has, with today’s inclusion in the (web) pages of the New York Times Book Review, completed his Literary World Bingo Card! What is the Literary World Bingo Card you ask? Well,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-01 18:45:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book #literary world