Fantastic worlds, amazing stories!
Rob Green
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk
WELCOME to our Autumn/Winter edition of Pen&inc., the magazine and listing guide for anyone working with children’s books and who cares about representation. Once again, we have hundreds of children’s books with a focus on diversity, inclusion and representation featured in our unique listings section. It gives you a handy guide to upcom- ing and recent releases. This issue we invited publishers to highlight how their titles help improve diversity and representation in children’s publishing, and have included these in the listings section so keep an eye out for them. There are great storytellers out there and great stories featuring characters that reflect different realities. Pen&inc. wants to put those stories and characters at the centre of chil- dren’s lives, giving young people the opportunity to see themselves in the books they read, and discover books that open up new worlds and build empathy. But we need your help – whether your work is in a school, library or bookshop you can make decisions that start to build positive changes through the stock you carry. The latest Reflecting Realities report from the team at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (pp. 17-19) highlights the disparity between reality and representation. Around 33 per cent of school-aged children are from a BAME background, but this is reflected in just seven per cent of characters in primary aged books, and just four percent of books feature a BAME main protagonist. This is not just about doing what is right, there are commercial benefits by tapping into new markets.
Literary agents Davinia Andrew-Lynch and Abi Fellowes talk about how more inclusive representation can prime the pipeline for a diverse publishing industry (pp. 20-21). Inclusive Minds, a collective for people who are “passionate about inclusion, diversity and equality in children’s publishing”, offers one solution by hosting a network of Inclusion Ambassadors (pp. 9-11) who will share their experiences with authors and editors, helping them to include more positive representation.
We also speak to poet and author Joseph Coelho (pp. 8-10), and TV Presenter turned author Konnie Huq (pp. 14-16), who both speak about the importance of representation in the books children read.
Ian Eagleton, who is behind the popular Reading Realm education app, guides us through some of the best LGBTQ+ titles out there for children and young people (pp.22-24). There is much more besides, so enjoy the rest of what this issue of Pen&inc. has to offer, and if this is not your copy of Pen&inc., you can subscribe to future issues by visiting www.
cilip.org.uk/penincsubscription.
To advertise in Pen&inc. email
penandincadvertising@cilip.org.uk.
Cover Front Cover Illustration from Everyone Can Draw © Fifi Kuo, Published by Boxer Books Limited. Boxer® is registered trademark of Boxer Books Limited.
Autumn Winter 2019
PEN&INC. 3
Contents & Intro
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