Hello there parents, teachers and kids!

One of the greatest concerns we here at ERIF hear about on a regular basis, is the lack of sufficient books and films available to children of colour that are representative. Even when films come out that do feature black and brown characters, marketing of the film can leave much to be desired, as recently seen with the new Dreamworks film Home.

Actress Karyn Parsons has made a point of the fact that African American history is not as widely accessible to children as it could be by launching the Sweet Blackberry campaign in recent years.

Most notably, this week the story of little Natalie McGriff has gone viral, after the youngster won funding to produce her own comic book series about a little girl who uses her afro hair to fight off monsters.

All the same, while it is indeed difficult to find more representative alternatives for kids of colour, they are out there even if they are few and far between. What may frustrate parents is the vast amount of picture and story books available from US-based authors such as Jacqueline Woodson. Woodson has written books for kids of all age groups and arguably should appeal to a global audience. However it is understandable that European communities of colour wish to have books and films that are directly relatable to their cultures, such as by British author Trish Cooke.

We want to continue offering alternatives, particularly from within Europe so we will be regularly updating this section of the website as we come across inspiring authors and/or filmmakers. In the meantime, if you have suggestions that have worked for you and your family, feel free to share them with us in the comments of via email!