What Makes Our Family Special - Guyana - Danielle Clarke
Story number seven is here! 😃 The next story is part of a series of books where two sisters learn about their diverse heritage through adventure! It’s called: “What Makes Our Family Special” and I’m reading the Guyana story 😃 🇬🇾 Written by the lovely Danielle Clarke @bluestellabooks for her daughters Evie & Isla and beautifully illustrated by Lily Carver @liustrationz Danielle Clarke: 2020 was a year that will go down in history! One that will never be forgotten! Me pre-2020: I knew all the ‘ism’s’ still existed. I’m not all-knowing but not totally ignorant either. But for me I felt lucky. I felt that the people around me were lucky too! We are a family and have a circle of friends of mixed cultures and heritages who love each other. Who we are as a unit is our norm. To introduce us: Jon is Bajan/Guyanese and I am White/Irish. Evie and Isla are a beautiful mix of us both. This is the beginning… Jon and I had an instant connection, spark, electricity, whatever you want to call it. We had similar views, goals and ambitions. We were and are pretty much on the same page. We decided to have a child. Evie. And then Isla came as a beautiful surprise. Jon also has a daughter from a previous relationship, Ruby. Our main thoughts on raising the girls were to teach them to always be kind, well-mannered, happy, have a great work ethic, love who they are, to always find a solution, and to be positive and proactive. For me, this is the aim for our future generations. Never taking away from their heritage and the part that plays in their identity. These characteristics are the overriding factors of how they are perceived by the world and not by the colour of their skin. I never thought about how society would treat them being female and of dual heritage. I always thought because of the love of our family and friends, how multicultural we all are and how multi-cultural London is. I ignorantly didn’t think they would be looked upon in any negative way! An idea started to form around the end of August 2020. What if I wrote books that taught not only Evie and Isla, but other children about the different heritages and cultures of our beautifully blended family and of the world? Then I just started to write. There is a major lack of diverse books and so many self-publishers are starting to write diverse books that need to be on book shelves, in libraries, schools and in nurseries. In order to create true equality and diversity, all races and cultures need to be represented, not only through peers and people in their communities but in the books they read, the toys they play with and who they get to see as role models. This generation of children can make a real difference in the role racism plays in the future and the more they experience equality through diversity, the stronger this change can be. The lead characters, Evie and Isla, will be familiar and relatable to other children of mixed raced heritage. It is also a great opportunity for children of other cultures to experience diversity. It educates children on another part of the world - taking it from the unknown to a celebration of an exciting and beautiful country. I want Evie and Isla to always be proud of who they are and the amazing family they are part of. We want equality in every aspect of the word, and we are proud to make a small contribution to help move towards this. I hope this story sparks some lovely conversations with the children. Are you ready to go on an adventure? 😃🦦🇬🇾 Thank you Danielle for sharing this wonderful journey of you and your family 🌎 🥰 Where to buy books: www.bluestella.co.uk £6.99 each @bluestellabooks --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/grab-some-sticks/message