British Activist Authors Addressing Children of Colour

Karen Sands-O’Connor is British Academy Global Professor at Newcastle University, UK, where she previously held a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship. Her previous monographs, Soon Come Home to This Island: West Indians in British Children’s Literature (2008) and Children’s Publishing and Black Britain (2017), examine inclusive literature in the British context.

• IntroductionGet Up, Stand Up—Then Sit Down and Read: Books, and Rights, for Readers of ColourChapter OneEmpire and Activism: A Pre-Windrush History of Activist British Children’s Authors and RaceChapter TwoBlack, White, Unite and Fight? Children’s Books and Activism across Racial LinesChapter ThreeTo be Young, British and Black: Writing for a New Generation of British ReadersChapter Four“Good” Britishness: Black Identity, White Racism and Children’s Publishing 1965-1995Chapter FiveHostile Environments for History and Publishing: Activists Addressing Children of Colour 2012-2021BibliographyIndex

Karen Sands-O’Connor’s British Activist Authors Addressing Children of Colour brilliantly explores the history of activist writing for children of colour in Britain, the historical context in which this writing appeared as well as the impact activist writing had and continues to have on its readers. The illuminating book provides deep insights into the agendas and politics of activist writing about and for children of colour, and most importantly, encourages readers to rethink dominant white perspectives in children‘s literature and its publishing industry. This thought-provoking and engaging study is an important contribution to understand literary activism for children in Great Britain, recommended for specialists and non-specialists alike.