Beyond the Secret Garden:: children's literature and representations of black and racially minoritised people

Drawing on and expanding their long-running column for Books for Keeps, Darren Chetty and Professor Karen Sands O'Connor trace how Black and racially minoritised characters have been represented in 'the secret garden' of British children's literature from its earliest stages. Examining how children's literature has both been shaped by, and shaped, prevailing attitudes towards people of colour, they take a thematic approach that offers teachers and parents contextual knowledge that will enrich how books are discussed with children.

Table of Contents:
About the Authors Foreword Introduction A Note on Terminology You Can't Say That! Stories Have to be About White People Books children read, and books they write Section 1 - 'Classic' Children's Literature & Britain's Children's Book Industry The Fantasy of Story Finding a way into the secret garden of children's books Island Kingdoms and Robinsonades Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and why it still matters Classic Literature and Classic Mistakes How to approach (and not to approach) classic children's books With You in History Using traditional forms to tell Black Britain's story The Other Side of the Story Historical fiction and nonfiction for children from a different point of view Guardian's Galaxy The Guardian children's fiction prize and Black Britain And the Winner Isn't Prizes and Black British children's literature Carnegies So White The Carnegie Medal controversy and racially minoritised readers and writers Black & White & Read All Over Diversity and the Carnegie Medal Drawing Conclusions The Kate Greenaway Medal and racially minoritised readers and writers On Values, Knowledge and the Imagination White British writers and representation Witness Literature Speaking up for someone else's community Section 2 - Books and Belongings World Book Day Books, dressing up, and racially minoritised children Whose World? World Book Day and selecting the books for 2017 England's White and Pleasant Land Connecting racially minoritised readers to British spaces From the Street to the Garden: Nature and Black Britain Britain's natural world and racially minoritised readers Reading Joyfully Finding and foregrounding joy in books about racially minoritised children Animal Fables and Dehumanisation in Children's Books The problem of substituting animals for human characters We English Nonfiction for children and who counts as English Taking Series Seriously Readers finding themselves in series books Lessons from School Books School stories as a microcosm of society Section 3 - Making Change A Change is Gonna Come Book Creators speak up at Seven Stories' Diverse Voices Symposium #Reflecting Realities and #OwnVoices Campaigning to make British children's books more representative The Value of Reflecting Realities for all Readers Farrah Serroukh on why she started the Reflecting Realities reports We're Here Because You Were There ... and There, and There Literature by and about migrants from Britain's former colonies Stan Firm Inna Inglan Growing up Black and British in the Thatcher era Powerful Politics The right to speak up in British children's literature In Times of Peril South Asian and Muslim representation after the 7/7 bombings East Asian Characters in British Children's Fiction Expanding the definition of 'Asian' in British children's books Jewish Representation in British Children's Books Exploring the portrayal of Jewish people in British children's books Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Representation in British Children's Literature Revising representation for all British readers Mixed, not Mixed Up Characters with multiple heritage backgrounds How to Write Children's Books About Africa? Stereotyping a continent - and how some authors resist stereotypes Home is Where You're Understood LGBTQ+ identities and racially minoritised characters Palestinian People in Children's Books How British children's books have represented Palestinians It Starts in Wales Expanding the definition of Britishness beyond whiteness through Welsh books Home from Home? Racially minoritised characters embrace their Britishness Book List

About the Author :
Dr Darren Chetty taught in primary schools for over twenty years. His essay in the best-selling The Good Immigrant has been used in schools, and universities and shared widely in children's and young adult publishing. Professor Karen Sands O'Connor is Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield and a former British Academy Global Professor specialising in the history of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children's literature and publishing, and the author of three books on children's literature. In addition to their Books for Keeps column, Darren and Karen advise on CLPE's Reflecting Realities research and contributed to the CILIP Carnegie Awards Diversity Review.