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 ]
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Armed with new and disturbing survey information about youth reading from the National Literary Trust, this year's UK World Book Day hands out book tokens. The post The UK’s 2020 World Book Day: ‘Reading in Sharp Decline’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-05 15:46:41 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster Children’s UK has acquired two middle-grade titles from Stewart Foster, the award-winning author of The Bubble Boy. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-05 14:43:09 UTC ]
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson took time out to celebrate World Book Day at 10 Downing Street with Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell and children from Charles Dickens Primary School in Southwark. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 18:40:51 UTC ]
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Mirror Books will publish new memoir about the only living sisters to have signed the Official Secrets Act during the Second World War. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 12:36:25 UTC ]
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Wimbledon BookFest has been forced to cancel its World Book Day event featuring authors Sita Brachmachari, Konnie Huq and Karyn Parsons, because of a local coronavirus case. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 10:24:07 UTC ]
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The Duchess of Cornwall, Dermot O'Leary and Cressida Cowell will lead celebrations for World Book Day 2020 today (Thursday 5th March). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-04 07:51:05 UTC ]
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Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet’s World Book Day title Supertato: Books are Rubbish (Simon & Schuster Children's) has racked up a 671% increase in sales week on week, selling 26,884 copies in the week leading up to 5th March. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 11:15:11 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Children’s Books has landed two young fiction titles from Philippa Gregory, build on the fairytale world of The Princess Rules. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 09:19:23 UTC ]
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From near the heart of the Italian crisis, a publishing icon withdraws GeMS from London Book Fair and calls rights centers a "nightmare of epidemiologists.' The post Coronavirus: Milan’s Stefano Mauri to World Book Fairs and Festivals: Postpone appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-02 18:15:43 UTC ]
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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has been criticized, and lauded, as a parable of the welfare state. Both sides have it wrong. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-02-28 16:14:35 UTC ]
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Early last year, the city of Baltimore faced an odd political scandal involving then-Mayor Catherine Pugh and her self-published children’s book series about a health-conscious young girl named Healthy Holly. The Baltimore Sun broke the news that while Pugh was a board member of the University... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-27 20:09:58 UTC ]
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Fraud involving the former mayor's "Healthy Holly" books generated more than $850,000, prosecutors said. Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2020-02-27 19:47:47 UTC ]
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A librarian makes the case: Kids’ connection to comics helps create lifelong readers. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-27 15:14:00 UTC ]
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Diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a child, Amanda Leduc saw plenty of disabled characters in fairy tales, but none she wanted to identify with. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Beano is today (Wednesday 26th February) launching a special comic in support of World Book Day (WBD) (March 5th) with a free £1 WBD token. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-26 07:46:04 UTC ]
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I do not understand why you would turn to The Office for anything other than its grimly comic tableaux of late-capitalist malaise and self-deluded mediocrity. Apparently I have missed its potential to teach 4- to 8-year-olds the “importance of teamwork” and “that it’s always OK to ask for help.”... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-25 21:39:17 UTC ]
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The Bologna Children’s Book Fair has been postponed for a month owing to the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, organisers announced today. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-24 03:08:08 UTC ]
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The latest in Coronavirus-19 affected world publishing events, BolognaFiere announces its major annual children's book fair and trade show is postponed. The post COVID-19: Bologna Children’s Book Fair Postponed to May appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-02-23 11:10:27 UTC ]
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The 2020 edition of Bologna Children's Book Fair will feature four of the most visible publishing leaders in today's African markets. The post At Bologna Children’s Book Fair: A Program on African Innovators appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-02-21 18:31:14 UTC ]
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For his latest project, the writer best known for “The Da Vinci Code” is turning his attention to a younger audience. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-02-20 14:15:06 UTC ]
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