Beyond the Secret Garden: Patrice Lawrence, UK Children’s Laureate

In their latest column, Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor celebrate the appointment of Patrice Lawrence as the new Waterstones Children’s Laureate.

In July, BookTrust and Waterstones announced Patrice Lawrence as the fourteenth UK Children’s Laureate. Lawrence is the perfect choice for a role that requires someone to be both a highly accomplished author and a talented communicator on subjects such as reading, literature, education, families and childhood.

While she had already published other shorter works, Orangeboy was marketed as Lawrence’s debut. Lawrence has said that she initially thought she was writing a book for adults. The book won the YA Prize.  Set in Hackney, it featured a multicultural cast and, though the plot was driven by an element of mystery, the story examined the consequences of crime on a family – a theme Lawrence would explore in subsequent colour-themed titles. Lawrence demonstrated an ability to work within established genres while also remaining alert to their limitations.  Of Eight Pieces of Silva, Fen Coles wrote in Books for Keeps ‘…most refreshingly of all, the classic male detective voiceover has been shunted off, giving way to the confident tones of a 16-year-old, working class, lesbian of colour….’

Subsequent titles have shown Lawrence engaging with many of the questions we have considered in these columns. As she writes in the introduction to our book based on these columns, Lawrence read many of the classics that are still available for children—Enid Blyton, Doctor Dolittle, Little House on the Prairie, and The Secret Garden among them. She notes how these books taught her about who belonged in the book world, and maybe in the real world as well. She loved books, but didn’t expect to see herself in them—so much so that it affected her own writing. ‘I was a story-writer from childhood but I’d absorbed damaging stereotypes so thoroughly that every character I created was white.’ (Patrice Lawrence: The Books That Made the New Children’s Laureate | Waterstones.com Blog).

Lawrence has shown an interest in critically and creatively engaging with the classics.  She contributed to Return to Wonderland, the 2019 anthology of stories inspired by Lewis Carroll. More recently she wrote a version of Jane Eyre. She also contributed to a new collection of Blyton’s Malory Towers adventures.  Her story A Bob and a Weave (New Class at Malory Towers 2019), not only made a place for Black girls at the fictional school, but also provided an opportunity for white readers to learn about the experience of being Black and female. Enid Blyton’s school stories connected young Patrice to Blyton’s world famously comprised of midnight hamper feasts, lacrosse, and pranks on teachers.  But Blyton also connected Patrice to her peers, most of whom read and enjoyed Blyton’s stories through the local library with its surfeit of Blyton books. In her Laureate acceptance speech, she said, ‘I believe that we, as humans, are changed by stories. They connect us to different worlds, and they connect us to each other. People who feel this connection – who feel heard and believe in each other’s humanity – are the foundation of stronger, safer and more inclusive communities.’

As well as this engagement with classics of children’s literature, Lawrence has written books that centre Black characters in British history. Diver’s Daughter (Scholastic 2019) allows all readers to see Black families as part of an English Tudor past which had traditionally been depicted as an all-white space in children’s books. The Elemental Detectives trilogy is historical fantasy centring Black children.

Families, Care Experienced

In her laureateship acceptance, Lawrence said, ‘I have written for children and young people of all ages, and I know that stories help children – particularly vulnerable children – feel seen, understood and, most importantly, valued. Stories help readers explore unfamiliar subjects safely with space to pause and reflect on complex emotions. And, just as importantly, reading helps us understand each other’s stories.’

Her books help readers understand what happens when a character feels that they don’t belong.  This is especially true of her award-winning novella, Needle (Barrington Stoke 2022), which has a main character, Charlene, who is not always likeable.  Patrice wanted the reader to understand Charlene’s ‘difficult’ personality: ‘She is angry and makes questionable judgements – but she is also a child trying to survive in a challenging world where decisions are made about her that she can’t control’ (Patrice Lawrence: The Books That Made the New Children’s Laureate | Waterstones.com Blog). ‘Negative’ behaviour does not negate a person’s value, and by understanding this we stop trying to save people and start trying to connect with them.  Needle is for readers who are like Charlene, and for readers who have never tried to understand someone like Charlene.

The final part of Patrice’s laureate acceptance speech confirms her vision of reading’s value for young people: ‘During my tenure as Waterstones Children’s Laureate, I will champion the power of books to make us feel like we belong, and shared stories as a tool for bringing people together. We are living in a divided world where many people feel isolated, we need this now, more than ever.’ But Patrice will not begin to do this during her tenure: she has been doing this all along, and for all ages of readers.  This is exemplified by Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush (2022), which is not just one story, but stories within stories, all of which highlight connecting communities in a divided and isolated world.  Ava has to dress up as her hero in school, so she asks her grandmother for help.  Ava’s grandmother connects her to the Black diaspora through suggestions of Winifred Atwell, Mary Seacole, and Rosa Parks. These suggestions remind Ava she is connected to women who have stood up for their right to be part of a society that didn’t always want them.  Lawrence carefully parallels their stories with the story of ordinary Black women like Ava’s grandmother, who may not have been famous but who were heroic nonetheless, surviving being divided from their families and isolated within society.  It is inevitable that Ava, having learned both lessons, stands up for her everyday hero, her grandmother, by dressing up and sharing her story at school.

In Is That Your Mama?, illustrated by Diane Ewen, Lawrence offers a narrative where children no longer need to explain themselves and their diverse families to curious adults. And in Our Story Starts in Africa, illustrated by Jeanetta Gonzales, we encounter a text that is both literary and educational and raises our expectations of what a picture book can be. As we write in Beyond the Secret Garden: Racially Minoritised People in British Children’s Books, ‘Lawrence deftly balances uplifting and celebratory themes with histories of oppression, showing that it is possible to write (and illustrate) wider-ranging, complex narratives for young picture book readers.’ (p169)

In standard picture book format Lawrence beautifully combines her interests in families, diaspora, education and childhood. Like so much of Lawrence’s work it deserves the close attention of young readers and her writing peers.

Dr Darren Chetty is a writer and a lecturer at UCL with research interests in education, philosophy, racism, children’s literature and hip-hop culture. He contributed to The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla, and has since published five books as co-author and co-editor. He tweets at @rapclassroom.

Karen Sands-O’Connor is a Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield. Her book British Activist Authors Addressing Children of Colour (Bloomsbury 2022) won the 2024 Children’s Literature Association Honor Book Award.

Darren and Karen’s book Beyond the Secret Garden: Racially Minoritised People in British Children’s Books is out now, published by English Media Centre.

Books mentioned, all by Patrice Lawrence unless stated:

Orangeboy, Tempest, 978-1444927207, £9.99 pbk
Eight Pieces of Silva, Hodder Children’s Books, 978-1444954746, £9.99 pbk
Return to Wonderland, various authors, Macmillan Children’s Books, 978-1529006858, £6.99 pbk
New Class at Malory Towers, various authors, Hodder Children’s Books, ‎ 978-1444951004, £7.99 pbk
Diver’s Daughter, Scholastic, 978-1407191409, £6.99 pbk
The Elemental Detectives, Scholastic, 978-0702315626, £7.99 pbk
Needle, Barrington Stoke, 978-1800901018, £7.99 pbk
Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush, illus Camilla Sucre , Nosy Crow, 978-1839942310, £7.99 pbk
Is That Your Mama?, illus Diane Ewen, Scholastic, 978-0702314971, £7.99 pbk
Our Story Starts in Africa, illus Jeanetta Gonzales, Magic Cat Publishing, 978-1915569097, £7.99pbk