An instagram friend responded to our post about why the big publishers don’t give us what we want. And what do we want? DIVERSE BOOKS PLEASE. She asked, what can we do to make them change their ways.
What we did is start our own publishing company. The way we see it is Parakeet Books is an interest group that lobbies for change. By making diverse books our intention is to positively change the way children relate to reading and themselves. To be happy in themselves, accept themselves and their family and know that they are completely normal and acceptable and marvellous.
Eve’s New Brother is a nice story about a kid who get’s used to her new baby brother. She has two mums. No big deal right? But make no mistake Eve’s New Brother is a political document – books like this are rare, they’re very unusual. People think oh, I’m not sure that’s for us, we’re a hetero family. Teachers hide it away at the back of the bookshelf in case an angry parent tells them off for peddling homosexuality. And we’re not having it, I tell you! We will print more and more and send it out to all the schools we can. Our message is same sex relationships are normal, same sex parents are normal.
Guess what? Black people eat pancakes. People fo colour have exciting encounters with dinosaurs. And some kids have two mums.
So to be part of the change: Buy our books (please), buy from Knights Of publishing, use Thisisbooklove and Littleboxofbooks. And then tag them at say “look we’re buying elsewhere so get your act together!”
