Stronger together E
VERYONE now agrees that children’s literature should reflect the world we live in, and that all
children should be able to see themselves reflected back from the books they love. And that’s a great thing.
But how do we achieve that change and create a wide range of books for librarians and children to choose from? And how do we bring about change that will be long lasting? At Strength in Stories, we believe that diverse-owned-and-led publishers are a crucial part of the solution to embedding change in UK publishing. As three micro-presses that have diverse leadership teams, we’ve come together to help create change. We all publish children’s fiction. Between us, we publish for ages five to 14 and our books are wide ranging. But as publishers we have the same aims: we want to do more to support and champion under-represented writers, publish inclusive stories in the UK, celebrate our beautifully diverse world, and change the publishing status quo.
Who are Strength in Stories? So who are we? Strength in Stories is a collaboration between Dinosaur Books Ltd, Formy Books and Parakeet Books. Collectively, we are determined to challenge the status quo in children’s fiction: we want to see an industry that celebrates our beautifully diverse world – both on and off the page. We’re micro
publishers (tiny businesses), owned and run by a group of people that have traditionally been excluded from the highest levels in publishing. And we’ve come together because we believe that working collaboratively is a great way to achieve change. Dinosaur Books Ltd is led by myself, Formy Books CIC is led by Ebony Lyon and Parakeet Books Ltd is led by Sheju Adiyatiparambil-John and Judy Skidmore.
I previously worked as a journalist for BBC television and Radio 4, and pursued the same values in publishing that motivated me as a journalist – integrity, a belief in quality and above all, respect for the audience. My aim is to offer young readers page-turning stories that feature a range of characters and locations that go beyond those that are usually represented in children’s books. This could be through characters’ class or race, as well as through the locations and cultural context of stories.
Ebony co-founded Formy Books in early 2020, and comes from a commercial sales background. She is passionate about delivering cutting edge children’s picture books featuring under-represented Black communities. Her passion goes beyond what is inside the pages; she is also focused on emerging black representation in the arts and fighting for inclusivity throughout children’s publishing. Judy was a graphic designer in magazine publishing, making information look beautiful. And Sheju runs a techfirm. When
Sonya McGilchrist is owner of Dinosaur Books Ltd.
their children came along, like many people, they got fed up with searching in vain for diverse kids books and they started making their own. Judy loves the creative process of making a book: the wordplay, the artwork, the design. Sheju loves the rhythm of storytelling. Together they want to create a place where hitherto marginalised voices can shout their stories from the rooftops.
Owning our companies gives us the power to publish the stories that we believe in As tiny companies, we are all deeply involved in every single aspect of each book that we publish. From editing, to designing, to marketing and more – there is not one aspect that we aren’t closely involved with. We own our companies, which means we’re in charge, and we are responsible – from making the tea to making the big decisions. We believe that inclusion means disadvantaged groups having
Spring-Summer 2023
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