I have been a frequent visitor to the Willesden Bookshop’s website over the years. It’s a veritable honey-pot for anyone looking for “Children’s Books from Around the World”: they stock many books it is difficult to find elsewhere in the UK. On our last trip to London we decided to go to the actual bookshop, where we were overly tempted by the array of books, and met Steve Adams, the owner.

As its name suggests, the bookshop is situated in Willesden, in North West London, which is one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in London with upward of 30 languages spoken in its schools. Steve talked about rising to the challenge of finding books that reflect this diversity of culture in modern Britain. As far as publishing goes in the UK, “There’s a great time lag between recognising that diversity and publishers coming out with appropriate books” – with some notable exceptions, namely Frances Lincoln, Tamarind Books and some books from a few of the big publishers like Penguin. There’s an increase in books reflecting contemporary African heritage but it is still difficult to find Asian children in a normal British setting. There are some lovely books like My Mother’s Sari but they do not often step outside the stereotypical view. However, looking out into the wider world, books are starting to appear which show modern Indian cities – and the same with Africa: not just a focus on rural life in these countries but also books showing the modern urban areas. (more…)

On her fascinating web-page about the process of writing The Snow Leopard (Frances Lincoln, 2008), author and illustrator Jackie Morris says:

Many years ago I bought The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. At last I settled to read it, thinking it was about the search for the leopard. It wasn’t, it was a search for other things, but the book created wonderful images in my head, images of wildness and patience.

Her beautiful book is about much more than the snow leopard too – I would say that she has pulled those images of wildness and patience into a magical story, which proffers inspiration both to help in the conservation of this extremely rare animal and to live in peace and harmony with our surroundings.

The story reads like a poem, in rich, sonorous prose that emphasises its sense of timelessness. To give a bare outline, the Snow Leopard is “the great ghost cat” whose song from the beginning of time “clothed the world in white and built a crackling fortress of snow […] to keep all things safe and secret”. However, she is getting old and has begun her search for a successor. There is a child asleep in the village who is dreaming her song. When soldiers attack the valley, the Snow Leopard carries her to the safety of the mountains…

The story is complex in all it has to offer about notions of identity and safety; and of respect for what is precious to life: themes which have particular resonance in today’s world. Jackie’s stunning watercolour illustrations get this across too, both through the sweeping Himalayan landscapes and in the uncanny depth of expression in her characters’ eyes. While young listeners will immediately be enchanted by the story and its illustrations, something of its deeper message will hopefully find its way into their hearts.

For more information about the snow leopard, go to the Snow Leopard Trust and the Snow Leopard Conservancy websites; and be sure to follow the other links Jackie gives towards the end of her Snow Leopard page too, including teaching resources.

…and a little aside: Jackie is one of the illustrators of our current Book of the Month, the superb We are All Born Free.

Over on the main PaperTigers website we have just posted our new Book of the Month, following our current theme of War and Peace in children’s books. The recently published We Are All Born Free: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures (Frances Lincoln, 2008, in association with Amnesty International) couldn’t be a more apt choice and I can’t resist sharing with you this wonderful image of its book cover in 25 of the 30 languages it has so far been translated into! It is a superb book, in which, as I said in my review (you can read the whole thing here),

Amnesty International has simplified the language of all 30 articles to make them accessible to young people; and a glittering array of internationally renowned illustrators has been brought together to convey a powerful visual interpretation of the text…

Achockablog gives a complete list of the illustrators here, as well as photos of some of them with their illustrations.

There’s also a short film based on five of the illustrations – great school assembly material.