tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post3925449513709768963..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: NOT JUST THE SINGLE STORY – THE BOY ON THE BEACH – Dianne HofmeyrUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-52339125969954513432014-08-03T13:00:48.745+01:002014-08-03T13:00:48.745+01:00Niki you have put it so well... 'children of c...Niki you have put it so well... 'children of colour experiencing recognizable childhood experiences in different environments'. How appalling of that publisher not believing a story of a black child was appropriate in Germany... missing the point entirely of the need for inclusive stories in every society. <br /><br />And yes we do need more black writers in children's books both for YA and picture books. Thank you for your lucid comments. What discussions we could have if only you lived around the corner! Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-15109275524080233012014-08-03T07:38:07.212+01:002014-08-03T07:38:07.212+01:00Di, thanks for your most enjoyable and informative...Di, thanks for your most enjoyable and informative writing on your selection of multicultural picture books that occupy a small nook on the bookshelves of most bookshops and (less so) libraries. And MANY thanks for including some of my titles. I smile because I had to learn what multicultural books were AFTER I done Not So Fast Songololo. I make no distinctions between my books - my motives are always the same - to tell a story. But I became aware of the importance of showing children of colour experiencing recognizable childhood experiences in different environments when a German publisher decided not to publish the Jamela books because, as she put it,'We don't have a sufficiently large black population to justify publishing such books'. This, of course, is the VERY reason for offering children of a dominant race a glimpse of the 'other' - so that they get a balanced idea of their place within a richly diverse world. You don't touch on the politics of 'writing beyond one's own culture' - and that would need more than one blog! But the identified lack of black representation in YA fiction, points to the problem, I think, of there being a lack of black writers of both picture books and YA fiction - leaving that base being covered by white writers. It's a position that we have not been made to feel politically comfortable in, and must tread carefully and with respect as we slip into the skins of others. Another story!<br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-25191539719582149972014-08-02T10:01:06.101+01:002014-08-02T10:01:06.101+01:00Lovely to get a glimpse into so many beautiful boo...Lovely to get a glimpse into so many beautiful books!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-18570691237195918132014-08-02T09:48:06.502+01:002014-08-02T09:48:06.502+01:00Thanks for this overview of overlapping stories!Thanks for this overview of overlapping stories!Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.com