Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ReflectingRealities
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Let's remember that Black people, indigenous people and people of colour were represented in many of the 'classic' British children's books. This is important. Why? A few thoughts to follow...
First, it means that when we frame our calls for better representation as an issue of 'inclusion' we risk erasing the long history of representations of BIPOC, the legacy of which is still felt in children's publishing.
Last year at Hay, I went to the second hand bookshops looking for kids' books. Pre-1950, my estimate would be that getting on for half of the books there were about Brits in Africa, India etc. And yes they were mostly racist.
Musa @Okwonga's Raheem Sterling (2020) is part of Scholastic’s Football Legends series. Sterling’s journey to the very top of professional football provides ample material for a story that would interest a football fan – but Okwonga’s text deserves an even broader readership. 
@Okwonga @sterling7 Okwonga focuses on the drama and emotion of Sterling’s journey from a child in Jamaica to a schoolboy kicking a ball a short distance from Wembley Stadium to a man scoring a hat-trick for England inside the stadium.
@Okwonga @sterling7 He writes of the love between Raheem, his mother and sister and the sacrifices each make in order to build a better life for themselves and each other. Sterling’s resilience and determination to succeed are emphasized, but so too is his vulnerability.
1/ Yesterday I ws pleased to join kidlit advocates at #NationofReaders hosted by @CILIPinfo. Everyone ws already doing a LOT 4 diversity&reading @Booktrust @imaginecentre @_KnightsOf @clpe1 @ILoveCopyright @thisisbooklove @readingagency @nickpoole1 & MORE Photo:@TinyOwl_Books
2/ Why get all these good ppl together? Surveys fr @Booktrust & @clpe1 reveal: Only 1% of #UKKidLit in 2017 had a BAME character bit.ly/2GZEdDY; less thn 2% of UKauthors are POC bit.ly/2IXNGzd Unsurprising but still shocking
#NationofReaders
@CILIPinfo
#NationofReaders
@CILIPinfo
3/ #NationofReaders was a kind of State of the Nation look at where we are now in #UKKidLit. We heard fr agent @nocturnalreader, publisher @aimeefelone, distributor @Petersbooks, @Nielsen,@sarahmears10 on empathy, @NewhamBookshop & author @sufiyaahmed Photo: @EmilyDrabs
Thread: On from yesterday’s post about #ReflectingRealities @clpe1 research into representation of BAME lives in kids books... I shared the Newsround report with @nikeshshukla @rapclassroom about it with some Y6s. See here if you wish to do the same - bbc.co.uk/newsround/4484…
A slow discussion followed, not a lively sparky one. One pupil said that an author has a right to create whatever characters they wanted, and nobody has the right to force an author’s hand. Interesting starting point and one to interrogate.
We unpicked a little about the role of children’s books and whether there is a responsibility for the stories to reflect society. Shared that 1% vs 32% statistic. Eye brows were raised.
