We are delighted to welcome Rowena Seabrook, Human Rights Education Manager at Amnesty International UK to the blog to talk about ways of using children’s books as a means for discussing and exploring Human Rights.  Rowena is an Associate Lecturer on the Open University’s Children’s Literature module. Her PhD research is in human rights education and children’s literature with the University of Glasgow

“It is through literature, not simply literacy, that we learn to understand and empathise… Through literature, we can find our place in the world, feel we belong and discover our sense of responsibility. Amnesty understands this very well.”

Michael Morpurgo

Children’s books have the power to bring to life human rights that may otherwise seem abstract. Exploring stories, poetry and non-fiction can encourage learning about, and celebrating, human rights. More than that, it can enable young readers and writers to enjoy their rights and practise being agents of change through critical thinking, expressing their voices and experience, trying on other perspectives, and taking action in their schools and communities.

Get started with these 10 ideas for exploring human rights through children’s books…

1. Story Explorer

Download or order Amnesty’s Story Explorer for free. This piece of classroom origami will help young people explore human rights themes in fiction with questions designed to promote discussion and critical thinking.

2. Draw human rights values

As Debi Gliori says, words are weaselly! This is especially true of big words like freedom or safety which mean different things to different people. Email hre@amnesty.org.uk to order free values bookmarks. Invite students to choose one of the values – like ‘truth’ or ‘safety’ - and draw what it means to them.

3. ‘Tell me…’

Borrow from writer Aidan Chambers and encourage students to practise freedom of expression, thought and opinion. Start with the invitation ‘tell me…’ and then see where the conversation takes you.

4. Show and tell

Ask students to find and share objects that connect to human rights themes in the story they’re reading. This might be something they would take on a journey, connects them to their family, or celebrates their identity.

5. Rewrites

Invite students to take action for human rights in or on the fictional world. Ask them to rewrite or insert dialogue so that people are respected and celebrated. Suggest that they role play conversations in which people express themselves and feel heard. Invite them to choose a story that you have read or watched, select a supporting character and rewrite the story with them as the hero.

6. Share the impact

Consider the first book that changed your life. Where did you meet it? How did it impact on you? Why was it so important? Share this experience with your students and explore how it shaped your attitudes and behaviour.

8. Create a Poem

Encourage students to collect words from the book and turn them into a poem. You could also use activities from Words that Burn, Amnesty’s poetry and human rights project, to further explore relevant human rights themes and support the students to express themselves through poetry.

9. Dialogue rather than debate

Invite students to write down questions about a book or extract. Ask them to read their questions out loud and listen to each other without responding. Only start to discuss once everyone has shared their perspective.

10. Show solidarity

Ask students to write or draw a message of solidarity connected to the themes of the book. This could be for someone in their family or community, or an individual defending human rights.

Visit Amnesty International’s website to find more resources, creative ideas, and details of our work on children’s books.

A big thank you to Rowena Seabrook and Amnesty International for the blog.

Happy Halloween!  To mark the date, we are delighted to welcome Sam Pope to the blog to give her run-down on her top five spooky books for children, the second of two blogs. Sam is the brilliant author of The Haunting of Lindy Pennyworth, a brooding psychological horror published by UCLan publishing.

Sam's Top 5 Spooky books YA /children’s version

I love a good, scary read. It’s hard to pick just five of my favourites, but here are some (in no particular order) that really get my pulse racing!

1. Anya’s Ghost, by Vera Brosgol

For me, graphic novels work so well in the Gothic genre. In Vera Brosgol’s debut, Anya could be any teenager – she feels unconfident, unhappy in her body, embarrassed by her family and lacks a friendship group at school. She thinks she’s solved the final problem on this list when she discovers a new best friend … at the bottom of a well who’s over a hundred years old. This is a really sensitive portrayal of the trials of the teenage years, but it packs a scary punch that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

2. The Lockwood & Co series, by Jonathan Stroud

This is an amazing series which I recommend to both children and adults. It’s really tricky to write a scary and funny ghost story but Stroud does this brilliantly in the five books of this series. The premise is this: the UK has been overrun with ghastly ghosts that threaten the lives of the living once the sun sets. Only children can see, and therefore hunt down, the ghosts so Lucy, our feisty narrator, moves to London to find a ghost-hunting agency she can work with. She encounters the charismatic Lockwood – who reminds me somewhat of Sherlock Holmes in his brilliance – and his partner George. There is plenty of tea-drinking, rapier-wielding and genuine scares in these stories.

3. Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror, by Chris Priestly

To be honest, most books I’ve read by Chris Priestly scare the pants off me. He has a talent for inducing real fear and this book is a perfect example. In this book, Uncle Montague entertains (or should I say terrifies?) his nephew with a series of spooky tales by the fireside. Each one is terrifying in itself … but it gets even worse. For these stories aren’t make-believe; they are Uncle Montague’s dreadful memories of what has happened in his past. There are some very scary moments in this book – be warned!

4. Breathe, by Cliff McNish

In this story, our hero, Jack, is always in danger of his next asthma attack. You might think this is his biggest fear but, when he moves into his new house, he finds a bigger threat to him and his mother: the spirits of the dead. The trouble is, only he can hear their screaming and see their presence. I think this is one of the scariest books I’ve ever read, and that includes books written to frighten adults, so you will need to be careful if you pick this up – it’s not for the fainthearted.

5. Thornhill, by Pam Smy

Graphic novels are the perfect medium to relate spooky tales and author and illustrator Pam Smy does this brilliantly in Thornhill. Using monochromatic illustrations, she tells the story of Ella, a lonely child who has just moved into a new home overlooking what appears to be a derelict house… or is it? Smy combines illustrations and words so cleverly – in effect she is telling two stories and both are equally chilling.

Ruth Estevez is the author of Jiddy Vardy and Erosion.  Her latest novel is The Monster Belt which published in September with UCLan publishing.  Ruth is the project co-ordinator for The Portico Sadie Massey Awards and has previously written for Youth Libraries Review  about young people’s reviewing.  We are delighted to welcome Ruth to the blog at the start of Libraries Week to talk about the supernatural as a means for exploring grounded themes (such as loss, hope and dreams) in her new novel The Monster Belt.

One of the main characters in The Monster Belt, seventeen year old Dee, has encounters with both mythical and real creatures and her interactions with them reflect who she is, how she’s feeling emotionally and how she develops. The fact that she is more afraid of the real creatures than the stranger, supernatural ones, adds to the theme of questioning what the term monster means. Throughout the book there are dictionary definitions and Dee is on a quest to find her own, with hopefully, the reader aiming to do the same.

Eventually, Dee realises that some questions do not require answers, as shown by her actions near the end of the book.

Using the supernatural in the story not only provides wonderful visuals to stoke our imaginations, but it also offers the expected exciting and sometimes frightening moments. Various reactions to any of the creatures in the book aims to ask the reader how they react when they encounter something alien to them. I use tender moments in the supernatural encounters, to show how the unknown does not need to be frightening, but can be something to embrace. The use of the supernatural in this way, shows that our labels for creatures we don’t understand may be mistaken and we need to rethink them. Dee is labelled a Monster Magnet because she sees these creatures, in this aspect, she is immediately set apart and the theme of identity and belonging are raised.

An exterior and ‘other’ entity, such as a squonk, or Loch Ness type creature, mirrors Dee’s emotions and helps us see her inner world visually as well as creating another thread to the story. The fact that the other main character, Harris, feels he has merely glimpsed a shadowy outline of a sea monster and is desperate to see it clearly and meet it, is a way of showing that he is blocking his emotions and only when he acknowledges his grief that his best friend has died will he have any chance of seeing the creature he is on a mission to find. He focuses his grief on tracking down a physical being and by his quest to find this ‘monster’ that killed his friend, he masks his grief in anger and in ‘doing.’ Only when he stops searching and let’s go, is he able to move on.

The book is a coming of age story and at this time in our lives, we are often searching for answers, exploring our emotions, our identity and trying to make sense of what is happening around us. This is a time to look for possibilities, new experiences and to follow dreams. By placing the characters in a world where anything is possible, that there is a real chance that a mythical type creature resides in the village lake, or that a sea monster killed Harris’s best friend, we have permission to question everything. And by making them both outsiders, they find they have the freedom to follow their own paths rather than unquestioningly joining the majority.

The end of the book brings resolutions, but also shows that one choice doesn’t have to be the final one and that when one ending comes, another journey begins.

We are delighted to welcome Susan Brownrigg to the blog.  Susan is the author of The Gracie Fairshaw Mystery and her latest novel Kintana and the Captain’s Curse is part mystery, part adventure set on the high seas and is a perfect summer read!

Pirates feature heavily in the story, can you tell us about some of the research you did as part of the book?

I love researching, and I always do my best to combine learning from books and other source material with finding ways to inhabit the world I’m creating. I’ve read lots and lots of books on pirates and watched documentaries and films. I found visits to the Merseyside Maritime Museum, in Liverpool, and the Vasa Museum, in Stockholm, and stepping aboard tall ships at various festivals enabled me to get a more immersive sense of what life was like on board ship. I know I would make a hopeless pirate – I’m not good with enclosed spaces or heights and I get seasick! I have also been to fabulous pirate festivals in Hull, Whitehaven and Liverpool, and that is also useful for seeing Living History and getting a feel for the objects pirates used – when I worked at Norton Priory Museum, I also got to spend many a summer performing as a pirate at our family friendly storywalks.

Kintana is obviously a girl, how possible would her involvement have been?

There were female pirates, so it is definitely possible! Anne Bonny and Mary Read. They both had been dressed as boys in their youth and became friends when they joined Calico Jack’s pirate crew.

Before them there was Gráinne Ní Mháille/ Grace O’Malley – the Irish Pirate Queen, who became a seafarer at age 11! There is a legend that Grace was told by her father that she couldn’t go to sea because her long hair would get caught in the ship’s ropes. To embarrass him she cut it all off, earning her the nickname Bald Grace.

Why do you feel pirates have such a popular place in children’s books?

Gosh, the desire to find treasure is definitely part of it! I think children love the idea of being rich. The fact that pirates are bad, yet we root for them, makes them very interesting as characters. The colourful clothing, action-packed battles, and exotic lands add to the appeal.

Since Peter Pan and Treasure Island, children have been enthralled by pirate adventures and it’s fabulous to see a flotilla of new pirate stories being published year after year – each with their own unique story to tell.

You’ve created a really vivid and memorable setting; it opens with that most wonderful thing in books – a map!  Did you create a map to help create the setting?

I didn’t, though I did do some sketches of some of the characters early on. I did however use real maps, both paper ones and Google earth. I adore the map in my book, (it was created by cover illustrator Jenny Czerwonka) it made my imaginary world suddenly very tangible. I was quite giddy when I first saw it.

How much research was involved with Malagasy Culture and what were some of the things you discovered?

Malagasy culture is fascinating and complex. There are over 18 different ethnic groups living on the island, each with different beliefs, styles of dress and dialect.

I read a lot of books, travelogues and travel guide books, as well as National Geographic articles.

I was fascinated by the fact that pirates once had their own island settlement at Nosy Boraha (there really is a pirate cemetery) and that Captain Kidd’s treasure is thought to have been buried somewhere off Madagascar – his ship was scuppered at Nosy Boraha.

I also enjoyed learning about the famadihana ceremony, also known as the turning of the bones, a funerary tradition where families rebury their ancestors.

After I had finished writing and editing my book, I reached out to the Anglo-Malagasy Society and the Ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar as I was anxious to make sure my book was accurate. I asked if they could suggest anyone who might read my book and offer any comments. I was incredibly grateful when the ambassador, Dr Phil Boyle, offered to read Kintana himself, and Daniel Austin of the AMS introduced me to two Malagasy women who kindly also offered their insightful comments and answered specific questions. Their generous feedback was so useful, particularly around fady, beliefs, clothing and language, and was especially specific to Nosy Boraha which was harder to find information about, as well as Madagascar’s varied wildlife.

I gained a deeper appreciation in particular for the impact finding an aye-aye hand would have on Kintana which prompted some rewriting and a better story.

Part of the setting focuses on the extraordinary flora and fauna of the islands, I understand some of this has been informed by your time at Blackpool Zoo, can you tell us a little more about that please?

Yes, I was very fortunate to spend a summer season working at an education assistant at Blackpool Zoo in 2012. One of my many duties was to do animal talks, and that meant telling visitors about lots of different animals – one of my favourites was Darwin, a giant Aldabra tortoise, which definitely had an influence on my book. Darwin is over 100 years old! I also especially enjoyed talking about the lemurs – they were rather cheeky, trying to steal the food I had for them before it was time! One of the keepers kindly also let me see the nocturnal mouse lemurs up close after months of trying to spot them! They are unbearably cute!

Back in 2009 I also spent a day as a zookeeper at Lakeland Oasis where I was able to hold a chameleon and feed the lemurs. They also had a fossa – but you certainly don’t want to get to close to one of those!

I have seen lots of Madagascar wildlife in zoos across Europe including tenrecs, fanaloka, bokiboky, geckos, tomato frogs, all kinds of lemurs including aye-ayes and sifaka as well as giant jumping rats!

Did you have a favourite animal that you wrote about, if so why?

I love Polly, the vasa parrot. I’ve seen them in zoos and they are so active and full of character! Parrots are often thought of as colourful, and vasas are dark grey, though the female loses her head feathers to reveal her yellowish skin underneath when she is ready to mate. In my book the vasas talk, but they don’t in real life! Polly always has a lot to say!

Although set in the 1700s, there are some very shrewd and timely comments around nature and conservation on p52 ‘Sadly finding [him] a mate has proved impossible.  It seems there are no other surviving Madagascar giant tortoises.’  Is this ecosystem under threat?

Very much so. Madagascar has its own unique eco system since it split from Africa 160 million years ago. A very high percentage of its mammals, reptiles and plants are endemic – meaning they are not found anywhere else of earth. Madagascar has over 800 endangered species including frogs, tortoises, lemurs and plants.

There are a lot of riddles woven through the story, were these fun to create?

Yes, I really enjoyed adding in these puzzles for Kintana to solve – I like using play on words and having clues in my stories for my characters to work out.

You have worked both as a living history presenter and as a journalist, do you feel these have fed into your approach to writing and storytelling?

I hope I have developed a good sense of what children enjoy from delivering school sessions at the museum, zoo and various heritage attractions. Working as a living history presenter helps you see that people in the past often had the same basic needs and emotions. My journalism skills have hopefully helped me to tell a story well! In both careers I had to take information and repackage it so it could be easily understood.  I like to keep the plot moving and enjoy sharing what I’ve learned from research.

I understand the book was actually your first children’s book and it has been around twenty years in the writing, can you tell us a bit about this?

Kintana was a very long time in coming to life! I first started writing about pirates and Madagascar back in 2000, when I found out my sister was expecting a baby. Up to then I tried writing for adults. My nephew is now 20!

The original book was quite different – it was called Dr Midas and the pirates. It was a time travel adventure with a time machine powered by smelly socks with an adult main character and a robot dog sidekick! The original story was longlisted in a Writers & Artists Handbook competition and I got very excited! I sent it to lots of agents, and someone at Puffin read it, but it never made it off the slushpile.

I reworked it a few times, because I still thought there was a good idea there. In 2020 I submitted it to Uclan Publishing, and I was thrilled when they said they would like to publish it. I have often joked to my writing friends that my rejected books are my catalogue – and one day after some editing perhaps they will find their time has come too.

You were named as one of the Undiscovered Voices by SCBWI, what kind of support have you had from the organisation?

I really don’t think I would be a published author without SCBWI. I have made so many friends, and the critique meet ups (currently done via Zoom) spur me on to write a new chapter each month. The feedback I receive from the tween group always helps me to see ways to improve my drafts and has encouraged me to keep going. Featuring in the UV anthology was a real boost to my confidence, and I have learned so much from the many workshops etc that SCBWI offer.

You’ve taken us to Blackpool and Madagascar, where do you think you will take us next?

Well, I’ll be taking readers back to Blackpool first! Gracie Fairshaw and Trouble at the Tower is being published in October. I’m not sure, after that. I have an idea for a story set in Russia (so I’m hoping to make a trip there once travel opens up.) I also have a book set in Peru during the Inca Empire that I’m hoping to revisit. It’s another historical adventure with some interesting animals!

Image Bank:

One - Aye Aye with Leaves

Two - Susan cleaning out lemurs at Blackpool Zoo

Three - Kintana's hat and accessories

Four -Jenny Czerwonka's map

Five - Susan and a lemur at Blackpool Zoo

Six - Susan with a telescope

Seven - Susan at vasamuseet in Sweden

Eight - Vasa parrot

A big thank you to Susan Brownrigg for the interview

We are delighted to welcome Joy Court to the blog, our expert Conference Manager.  Joy generously answered our questions on this year’s Youth Libraries Group conference which will take place in Torquay, 17 – 19 September, Representations of Place: New Lands and New Ways of Looking.

Can you tell us about your role with conference

As Conference Manager it is my job to find a venue that is within our budget. We decide as a group, steered by the Chair who will be the host, which area to search in and we also try to move around the country to give our members a chance to try us out as a day delegate if they live locally. 

 I liaise with the Chair over theme - usually something they suggest and then we all jointly seek out speakers. We invite pitches from publishers and proactively seek sponsors and then I try to piece together the  jigsaw to amke an engaging and relevant programme from all those ingredients.

I do all the liaison with the venue over menus and set up of rooms and manage all the bookings. During the conference it is my job to ensure everything runs smoothly and troubleshoot any problems. Luckily there is an Exhibition Manager to specifically look after that complex operation and a Conference Secretary to organise session chairs and look after our speakers. 

The theme this year is around representations of place, can you tell us what delegates can expect?

 We have interpreted place very broadly- feeling at home in your body for example or exploring the past as a different country but also the importance of representation and ensuring that everybody has a place at the table. We have a fantastic range of speakers- authors who are sharing their experience and passion for these themes, academics sharing research, industry partners showing us the way forward and  practitioners sharing their expertise and good practice. Delegates can expect to meet and network with all of these and during the weekend find colleagues who are as passionate about children and young people's reading as they are! The there is the famed Publisher's exhibition - time to make contacts and connections and find out about all the great books coming up and the equally famed Norfolk Children's Book Centre shop where Honorary YLG superstar Marilyn Brocklehurst will have any book you could possibly want and more!

Which sessions do you personally feel most excited by and why?

That is like asking which is your favourite child! From the opening keynote from Michael Morpurgo to the Robert Westall Memorial lecture on Sunday by Anne Fine to amazing panels with Geraldine McCaughrean, Philip Reeve and Frances Hardinge discussing imagined worlds or Hilary McKay and Phil Earle sharing their views on WW2 or Brian Conaghan, Melvin Burgess and Jason Cockcroft discussing masculinity - there is so much to get excited about!

Do you remember your first YLG conference?  When was this and what sticks in your mind?

 This would be a long time ago... early 90's..I remember feeling so much in awe of the giants of our profession who were leading the sessions and starstruck by the authors and  revelling in all the books, but thinking this is my special place- everyone here shares my obsessions! 

In your experience, how do delegates benefit from attending conference?

I think I have already alluded to finding colleagues who share the same passion. This is particularly important for school librarians who are often sole practitioners. You will go away with a headful of inspiring ideas and a suitcase full of exhibition giveaways - proofs/ posters/ competitions etc. You will probably be exhausted but in a very satisfying way!

Do you have any tips for people wanting to make a funding case to their employers to attend

Everyone should recognise their entitlement to CPD - they are worth it! Employers should recognise this and the crucial benefits that attending conference will bring. Nowhere else will provide training directly related to specialist children and young peoples librarianship.   Nowhere else will you find opportunities to develop crucial book knowledge and  keep up to date with current library and educational trends and pick up practical and inspirational ideas to improve your library service to young people

Conference wasn't able to take place physically last year, what steps will be being taken to keep attendees safe?

The conference hotel takes its COVID 19 security very seriously. This page details exactly what steps they take to ensure your safety

https://www.theimperialtorquay.co.uk/coronavirus-update

Even if the 19 July release date is further extended we are confident that the conference can be delivered  successfully under current restrictions.

A big thank you to Joy for the interview and to her and the whole of the conference team for their exceptional work against a really challenging backdrop.