Congratulations on the release of See! Let’s Be ME! How did the idea for a themed storybook about children’s emotions, inspired by Bible stories, come about?
This is the second in a series of books all about imitating the good role model of Jesus, taken from Bible stories but set in a modern day family. It is actually MY family in the book as I was unable to find good Biblical stories that showed mixed race families, like my own and many of the scenarios are from our family life, which most likely is the experience of other families too. The first book looked at being ‘A Good Friend’ where as Me! focuses on some of those big emotions children experience, like feeling jealous, perseverance and getting cross. My hope is that by seeing other children go through these feelings and emotions the reader will be able to relate in some way and hopefully learn from their positive experiences of dealing with the emotion. It’s not always easy for children to articulate how they feel but if they can empathise with a character from a story they may be able to recognise it in themselves and apply the positive changes they see in to their own circumstances.
As a children’s TV presenter and now a children’s author, you engage with young audiences in various ways. How does your experience on CBeebies influence your approach to writing for children?
I now fully understood the value of programmes on CBeebies, now that I am a Mum. I have always loved my job and enjoyed what I did, but now I’ve sat on the other side of the screen with my daughter I fully appreciate good children’s television as a way of entertaining, informing and educating my child, so now more than ever I want to use my influence to do the same for other families. We are always reminded on CBeebies of the influence we have and we need to remember the power of ‘imitative behaviour’ – our audience look up to and copy what we do so we need to do our best to be good role models. I want to be the best version of me on camera so that others can learn from, enjoy and be entertained by what I do and I have tried to transfer this in to my writing. It’s also me wanting to write something that I would like to read to my daughter and to see our mixed race family represented well in literature, as I know of so many other families that look like ours and also want to be ‘seen’.
The book is part of the “See! Let’s Be” series. Can you share your vision for the series and how each book contributes to helping children navigate different aspects of their lives?
With the power of imitative behaviour in mind, I wanted to create something which portrayed my favourite role model: Jesus. For me as a Christian, he is the ultimate role model and whom I try to base my life around to imitate the good he did. I have taken some well known and some more unknown Bible stories and the concepts/storylines/lessons from them and worked them in to a modern family setting so that readers can hopefully see themselves represented and can relate to the characters in day to day family situations. A Good Friend looks a ways we can be a good friend by looking at topics like sharing, love and kindness and ME! focuses on us trying to be our best version of ourselves by looking at some of our big emotions like anger, jealousy and perseverance.
How do you balance incorporating religious themes while ensuring the book is accessible and enjoyable for a diverse audience with varying beliefs?
I have tried to integrate the stories in such a way that if you know you know they’re Bible stories and if you don’t then they appear as fun, loving stories with a good message. Either way, I think that they can be enjoyed by people with faith or none at all as I believe that we all want to read to our children or have them read good quality stories with great morals that will be good for their personal development. I hope that these become family favourites regardless of their faith background.
As a mother and a children’s author, what advice do you have for parents on helping their children deal with jealousy, anger and other complex emotions introduced in See! Let’s Be Me!?
From my own parenting experience, it’s patience! I have had to do a LOT of personal soul searching, my own frustration management and practicing grace and love as I deal with these emotions in my family and that’s hard! I think that those explosive emotional moments definitely open up a can of personal worms when dealing with your own children, to parent in the best way we can. I’ve had to ‘check myself’ on more than one occasion to make sure that MY emotions and emotional well-being is the best it can be. It’s not easy, but in dealing with me first I’m then better equipped to have a more rounded and grounded way of dealing with my daughter in her moments of emotional need.
Representation is crucial, especially for young readers. For parents of mixed-race children, what tips do you have for making sure they feel seen and represented in the media they consume?
Watch, read and listen to a diverse array of media. There are so many films, TV shows, music and now more books available which show more diversity and it’s great to engage in these together. Some may be a bit ‘dated’ and not how we might think/act or speak now but this is also a great conversation starter to be able to discuss what is now seen as appropriate or inappropriate, making us all more appreciative of how far we have come and where we still need to go.
As a black author, you contribute to increasing representation in children’s literature. Who are some other black writers (in any genre) that you admire and that we should get to know?
Maya Angelou. I have all her books and her story is just incredible. The life she led, the experiences she had and the wisdom she gained is inspiring. Michelle Obama; her Becoming book taught me so much about politics but also and being a strong black woman in a role of influence. Her honesty about motherhood is also reassuring. Malorie Blackman is a wonderful children’s author with a plethora of picture books, novels and short stories. But most recently, my dear friends Naomi and Natalie Evans who are Kent based, like myself; they have a huge Instagram following on @everydayrascism_. They are award winning writers, educators and speakers on matters close to their hearts and experiences of being mixed race. Their book, The Mixed Race Experience, is a helpful insight for those who haven’t experienced racism and a validating reassurance to those of us who have lived it. They’ve also brought out a fantastic children’s book, Everyday Action Everyday Change, aimed at children 7+ to encourage children to know their power, develop empathy and see how their everyday actions can be a catalyst for change.
Given your diverse experiences, both as a presenter and children’s author, what exciting projects can we anticipate from you in the near future?
I feel like this is a new season for me, so watch this space. This is where my Christian faith always comes in to play as I do not know what is around the corner for me; I have to live by faith! I do know that there is a third book in the ‘See! Let’s be Me’ series that is somewhere bubbling around in my brain and maybe some other projects too, so say a prayer for me and I’ll hope to share some other projects with you soon!
