In the Picture: The Story So Far Conference

Part of their innovative In the Picture Project, Scope’s The Story So Far conference (held in London in October 2006) was designed to ‘reflect on the changing equality and inclusion agenda that the book industry is part of and to provide what we hope will be a refreshing and innovative insight into including disabled children’. Will publishers take up the challenge? Julia Eccleshare reports.

In the Picture was created by the charity Scope to promote the inclusion of disabled children in early years picture books, encouraging publishers, illustrators and writers to embrace diversity. The debate about the representation of children with disabilities is not a new one but it has definitely been given a far higher profile since being taken up as a cause by Scope and the effect is slowly being noticed in children’s books. At their The Story So Far Conference, speakers and delegates demonstrated that there is a lot of idealism, a powerful lobbying group and some good ideas for taking the debate forward. But what now?

Publishers have made some attempts to take up the cause but they also have to keep their businesses going and, as with books reflecting cultural diversity, in general, the public just don’t want to know. And, there’s the additional problem about what a good representation is. For some, it’s about highlighting triumphs through positive images; for others, it’s about mainstreaming. As one child interviewed as part of the Quentin Blake Award said, ‘It’s like you have a different religion or wear a different costume from everyone else. I’d just like to fade into the crowd more.’

Images from the past and the situation today

Richard Reiser, Director of Disability Equality in Education, set a context for the discussion with a wide-ranging historical overview. There were ‘bad’ kings like Richard III, whose hump back earned him the nickname Crookback Dick, sinister heroes such as the one-legged Long John Silver and, at the other end of the spectrum, over-achievers such as Forrest Gump who are at the same time outcasts because of their ‘differences’. Reiser described eloquently how attitudes had changed over the years charting the Eugenicist thinking of the early twentieth century up to the current social model of disability which focuses on the barriers that lie in the way of the disabled rather than their inherent barriers to success.

Following him, author/illustrator Laurence Anholt who has been involved in the work of The Living Paintings Trust made a heartfelt plea for more awareness about the need for books with disabled children being a natural part of any picture book. ‘It’s an “of course” idea,’ he said. ‘As soon as someone has had it, it is so obvious. Why do we not have disabled children in all picture books?’ He urged the next Children’s Laureate to take up the cause and promote it.

Children’s views

Quentin Blake, a former Children’s Laureate, has already promoted the cause. Alex Strick, who managed the Booktrust/Roald Dahl Foundation Quentin Blake Award project which collected children’s views of disability issues in books, presented the findings. Their premise had been that ‘there was a need for natural and casual images of children (with disabilities) in books’. From their work talking to disabled and non-disabled children they found that the majority of both wanted to see all kinds of disability portrayed as just part of the picture. As one child said, ‘impaired people can be heroes too. Someone can be a hero not because she’s deaf but just because’. The project plans to continue to consult with young people about books and disability issues with the aim of making inclusion the norm.

Moving the debate forward

Other speakers included Dr Nicole Matthews from Liverpool John Moore’s University who presented her research on Learning from Stories, a pilot project which ‘generated stories and ideas from material created by those who are living it’; Wendy Cooling on good books which included disability; and Carole Wolstenholme from Lancashire County Library who presented the work she did on inclusive practice in libraries saying, ‘We need the books to help children get over ignorance’. Together they put together a good case for how different initiatives to overcome prejudice were moving the debate forward.

A final panel which included illustrator Jane Ray, author Joyce Dunbar, librarian Annie Everall and Beth Cox, educational sales co-ordinator at Child’s Play, as well as some of the previous speakers gave a useful opportunity for those involved in making and promoting books to add their voices. No one thinks the door is open yet as the market remains reluctant and creators are unsure just how and what they are doing. As Jane Ray said, ‘We are going to get it wrong but we shouldn’t worry about that. It’s worse not to do it at all.’ But, speakers and audience alike were sure that the change would come – and soon.

Further information

Scope: www.scope.org.uk

The Quentin Blake Award: www.roalddahlfoundation.org

The Living Paintings Trust: www.livingpaintings.org

Julia Eccleshare is the children’s books editor of the Guardian and co-director of CLPE.