Children’s Laureate enthusiastic about children reading digitally but thinks
publishers should ‘proceed with caution’
by: Stuart Dredge
by: Stuart Dredge
Author and Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman is enthusiastic about the
potential for children to read books digitally, but thinks the publishing
industry should “proceed with caution” to ensure key benefit of reading aren’t
lost.
“I love my gadgets – I used to be a programmer! – but I think we’re always going to need stories,” said Blackman, during an appearance at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield.
“Maybe the delivery mechanism will change: in 10 years time or maybe even less, most children and teenagers will be reading more electronic books than otherwise. But I think we have to proceed with caution.”
Blackman cited the importance of “reading with meaning” – children not just reading a story, but understanding it – and questioned whether some book-apps with “all the bells and whistles” further that aim, if children are distracted from the story itself.
“I do think it has to be carefully handled how you do that, but we’ll have more reading going on on electronic devices. That’s inevitable,” said Blackman, before citing a study suggesting that 17% of teenagers are embarrassed to be seen reading by their peers – with e-reading a possible solution to that.
Blackman is curating a Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) as part of the London Film and Comic Con convention this month, in a deliberate effort to position books alongside other cultural forms that appeal to young people.
“For me it’s about embracing stories. If you’re into films and into TV and into computer games there’s absolutely no reason why you couldn’t be into books as well,” she said, before suggesting that no child should be lost to reading.
“It’s about finding out what they’re interested in. When I go into schools and ask ‘who doesn’t like reading?’ and a few hands go up, I just say ‘you haven’t found the right book yet!’” said Blackman.
“I firmly believe that there are books out there for every child. You just have to put the right book in that child’s hand. And that includes comics and graphic novels.”
Blackman told an anecdote from her childhood about a teacher snatching a Spider-Man comic out of her hand and tearing it up, on the grounds that it wasn’t proper literature.
“I would sit there with my Guardian newspaper and have my Batman comic hidden inside!” she said. “This snobbery about graphic novels and comics, we have to get past it. For some people that’s their way into reading. Anything that gets a child into reading? That’s valid.”
Clashes with teachers had cropped up earlier in Blackman’s speech, when she related the tale of sitting down with a careers teacher during her A-Levels to discuss her desire to become an English teacher.
“She looked at me and said ‘Black people don’t become teachers. Why don’t you become a secretary instead?’” said Blackman, to gasps from the audience. “‘And besides, I don’t think you’re going to get your English A-Level’. I remember looking at her and thinking I’ll show you, you old cow!”
And how. Blackman has published 60 books for children and young adults, as well as TV scripts and stage plays. She was awarded an OBE in 2008, and appointed as Children’s Laureate in 2013.
Blackman said her career has been inspired by memories of her voracious reading as a child, and what was missing from the books that she read.
“I didn’t read a single book that featured a black child like me. The first one I read was The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and that was when I was 21,” she said.
“I loved reading, and put myself in those stories, but I was very aware that I was not reflected in the descriptions I was reading of the characters in those books. I took on the message that this world I loved of literature wasn’t for me, because I couldn’t see myself reflected anywhere in it.”
Blackman’s career has been a journey in “writing all the books I’d loved to read as a child”, after a bumpy start characterised by rejection letters from publishers, and unsettling reactions from companies who were interested in publishing her work.
“One publisher said ‘We really like the story, but would you mind if we made your characters white? We already have a book that features a family that is black’,” said Blackman.
“I said ‘how many books do you have that feature a white family?’ and it went silent. Then they said ‘How about if we made them Asian…’.”
Blackman talked about the inspiration for some of her most popular books, including current affairs. Noble Conflict, for example, was driven by the actions of US army private Chelsea Manning (Bradley Manning at the time) and NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
“I loved the idea of a boy who thinks he’s working for the greater good: a guardian, a cross between a soldier and police, who thinks he’s on the right side and he isn’t,” said Blackman, about her 60th book.
She also talked about her history of confounding doubters within the industry. “I was told white children would never want to read a story featuring a black child, and I was told these stories would never get international sales, and it was all nonsense,” she said.
This is one reason Blackman took on the Children’s Laureate post, including a busy schedule of visiting schools around the UK and talking to children.
“It’s not just about encouraging BAME [Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic] children, but about working-class white children too: anyone who’s been told you can’t do this because of your background. It’s nonsense,” she said.
“You need to get out there and show everybody that these avenues are open to everybody, so that if you do have a careers teacher saying ‘that’s not for the likes of you’, our children will know differently.”
“I love my gadgets – I used to be a programmer! – but I think we’re always going to need stories,” said Blackman, during an appearance at the Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield.
“Maybe the delivery mechanism will change: in 10 years time or maybe even less, most children and teenagers will be reading more electronic books than otherwise. But I think we have to proceed with caution.”
Blackman cited the importance of “reading with meaning” – children not just reading a story, but understanding it – and questioned whether some book-apps with “all the bells and whistles” further that aim, if children are distracted from the story itself.
“I do think it has to be carefully handled how you do that, but we’ll have more reading going on on electronic devices. That’s inevitable,” said Blackman, before citing a study suggesting that 17% of teenagers are embarrassed to be seen reading by their peers – with e-reading a possible solution to that.
Blackman is curating a Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) as part of the London Film and Comic Con convention this month, in a deliberate effort to position books alongside other cultural forms that appeal to young people.
“For me it’s about embracing stories. If you’re into films and into TV and into computer games there’s absolutely no reason why you couldn’t be into books as well,” she said, before suggesting that no child should be lost to reading.
“It’s about finding out what they’re interested in. When I go into schools and ask ‘who doesn’t like reading?’ and a few hands go up, I just say ‘you haven’t found the right book yet!’” said Blackman.
“I firmly believe that there are books out there for every child. You just have to put the right book in that child’s hand. And that includes comics and graphic novels.”
Blackman told an anecdote from her childhood about a teacher snatching a Spider-Man comic out of her hand and tearing it up, on the grounds that it wasn’t proper literature.
“I would sit there with my Guardian newspaper and have my Batman comic hidden inside!” she said. “This snobbery about graphic novels and comics, we have to get past it. For some people that’s their way into reading. Anything that gets a child into reading? That’s valid.”
Clashes with teachers had cropped up earlier in Blackman’s speech, when she related the tale of sitting down with a careers teacher during her A-Levels to discuss her desire to become an English teacher.
“She looked at me and said ‘Black people don’t become teachers. Why don’t you become a secretary instead?’” said Blackman, to gasps from the audience. “‘And besides, I don’t think you’re going to get your English A-Level’. I remember looking at her and thinking I’ll show you, you old cow!”
And how. Blackman has published 60 books for children and young adults, as well as TV scripts and stage plays. She was awarded an OBE in 2008, and appointed as Children’s Laureate in 2013.
Blackman said her career has been inspired by memories of her voracious reading as a child, and what was missing from the books that she read.
“I didn’t read a single book that featured a black child like me. The first one I read was The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and that was when I was 21,” she said.
“I loved reading, and put myself in those stories, but I was very aware that I was not reflected in the descriptions I was reading of the characters in those books. I took on the message that this world I loved of literature wasn’t for me, because I couldn’t see myself reflected anywhere in it.”
Blackman’s career has been a journey in “writing all the books I’d loved to read as a child”, after a bumpy start characterised by rejection letters from publishers, and unsettling reactions from companies who were interested in publishing her work.
“One publisher said ‘We really like the story, but would you mind if we made your characters white? We already have a book that features a family that is black’,” said Blackman.
“I said ‘how many books do you have that feature a white family?’ and it went silent. Then they said ‘How about if we made them Asian…’.”
Blackman talked about the inspiration for some of her most popular books, including current affairs. Noble Conflict, for example, was driven by the actions of US army private Chelsea Manning (Bradley Manning at the time) and NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
“I loved the idea of a boy who thinks he’s working for the greater good: a guardian, a cross between a soldier and police, who thinks he’s on the right side and he isn’t,” said Blackman, about her 60th book.
She also talked about her history of confounding doubters within the industry. “I was told white children would never want to read a story featuring a black child, and I was told these stories would never get international sales, and it was all nonsense,” she said.
This is one reason Blackman took on the Children’s Laureate post, including a busy schedule of visiting schools around the UK and talking to children.
“It’s not just about encouraging BAME [Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic] children, but about working-class white children too: anyone who’s been told you can’t do this because of your background. It’s nonsense,” she said.
“You need to get out there and show everybody that these avenues are open to everybody, so that if you do have a careers teacher saying ‘that’s not for the likes of you’, our children will know differently.”
from: Guardian
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