Pink Robin Pressis a new, independent children’s book publishing company founded by Chantel Boateng and Yasmin Owusu-Tutu featuring diverse characters as protagonists.
Co-founder Chantel Boateng fell into the Pink Robin Press project after a conversation she had with her daughter, which inspired the release of her book called Perfectly Perfect Me. In the book, Jenny wants blue eyes, straight hair and light skin; but after some encouraging words from her Grandmother, she soon quickly realises just how perfectly perfect she is. The book is a comforting and a heartfelt story which will encourage children to see that they are beautiful just the way they are.
Chantel says, “After having a heartbreaking conversation with my young daughter, where she expressed her desire of being White, as she associated it with being better; it was my mission to help educate her and show her ALL races are beautiful, and most importantly, that her being Black is a beautiful thing. She loves to read, so I thought it would be good to find a book that highlights this. Finding appropriate literature for children of colour which they can identify with is hard. This led me to not only write Perfectly Perfect Me, but I decided I would help other authors who also want to write stories; who were once told their books was not quite the right fit with the bigger publishers, in much the same way that I was. Our aim is to bridge the gap amongst representation and to produce the highest quality and most entertaining of books for our young readers.”
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
Why is it important to have books that have characters from a variety of different backgrounds?
Coming from London, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world; I have always grown up with people from diverse backgrounds; and just as this is the norm for myself and so many people from other countries, it is important that this reality is also reflected in our children’s books. This will ensure that anytime a child picks up a book, they too will feel represented.
How does Pink Robin Press find and choose books?
Whilst we will publish books from all types of authors, our main focus will be on stories from BAME authors with books that feature BAME characters as the protagonist. However, it is important to note that we want our books to be versatile; just like our second release book which will be due out in April 2021. At only 8 years old, Ellisha Boateng wanted to write a story where she got to see a little girl just like herself as she turned the pages. This prompted her to write her own story called Duck’s Don’t Eat Apples. In this book, there are no words of affirmation or words to drive the narrative that black is beautiful; it simply tells the story of a little girl just like Ellisha, who learns just how important it is to feed animals the right kind of food. This release exudes innocence and enables our young readers to just enjoy being young. At Pink Robin Press, it is important to us that our books provide adequate representation for our young readers.
How can families support changes in school libraries, even if it may mean some of their favourites are taken out of circulation?
The best way I can answer this question is to use one of my favourite analogies. “ If you have a bucket full of milk and a little drop of ‘poop’ falls in it… you would pour the whole bucket of milk away”. By adopting this mindset, families can begin to support changes in school libraries. It is no longer acceptable for our school libraries or public libraries to contain books which have a lack of representation or carry racist undertones, no matter how small it may be.
How can parents build a bookshelf that more accurately represents today's world?
By buying books that are inclusive or by simply having a diverse array of books that reflects representation.
How Pink Robin Press is working towards bridging the gap for all young readers.
Pink Robin Press will produce the highest quality and most entertaining of books for our young readers. In the UK only 5% of children’s books feature a BAME character as the protagonist; we aim to help change this statistic. Our goal is to empower, educate and inspire; but most importantly, to enable our readers to acquire a love for reading, which we believe will happen through fair representation for all.
How Pink Robin Press finds and chooses diverse and inclusive children’s books
Pink Robin Press look for stories that are relatable to our BAME youth, so this may be stories that represent a specific culture for example. At the same time, we also choose stories about being superhero’s, princes and princesses; just like the mainstream books our children bring home from school. The only difference in our stories, is that the kids bringing home these books will get to see characters that look like themselves.
Chantel’s thoughts on de-shelving the Dr. Suess books due to racist undertones in the storyline.
I think the fact that people are voicing their opinions and objecting to some of the Dr Suess books due to racist undertones; shows that we are definitely moving in the right direction towards combating racism in our books, However, the fact that we are even having to have these conversations in 2021 is a shame and shows that we still have a very long way to go.
The ways in which 2021 is pivoting with representation and inclusion being vital and how children’s education is changing so that kids can read books they identify with.
Although we may still have a long way to go, it feels as if 2020 has had a cumulative effect on 2021 and more and more people are starting to sit up and pay attention to issues such as representation and inclusivity. Take America for example, where we watched the first female woman of colour become a vice president. This was a monumental moment in history and is evidence that there is a shift being made towards societies views on representation. This aspect is vital for our schools who will hopefully continue to change curriculums to reflect accurate representations and provide books that are inclusive.
www.pinkrobinpress.co.uk
Facebook- @pinkrobinpress
Twitter @pink_press
Instagram @pinkrobinpress
More about:
Pink Robin Press is a small independent book publishing company that produces books for newborns up till preteen age. Whilst we will publish books from all types of authors, we aim to focus on stories from predominantly BAME authors. Pink Robin Press was established in July 2020. Our business is based in London.
The owners of the company have combined qualification of postgraduate law, BA digital media production and BA Fashion Promotion. Due to lack of representation in books, we wrote a children’s book, with the main premise of uplifting young black girls. After producing our first book, we wanted to help others bring their stories to life too, but also decided to help give a voice to the voiceless.
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