Finding books that are inclusive of children of colour, but also that do not present them in a stereotyped manner are hard to come by. Violence and ridicule inflicted upon the black body in Western (children’s) literature is a common theme by literary giants such as Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren to name a few.

This topic became one of the main focal points at our conference last year as the real need to find safe and positive alternative imagery for children became apparent. Therefore, we intend to use the Learning and Resources Centre on our website to also provide alternative narratives and images of children of colour, starting with this post on 10 African children’s illustrators. Published by Okay Africa, the list is comprised of finalists short-listed for the Ghanian Golden Baobab’s Prize for African Illustrators.  The images portray a very different sense of identity, home and environment than usually promoted in Europe.

You can check out OKAY Africa’s list (with more information on the illustrators’ works) here and/or scroll through their gallery below.