White Ribbon Day 23 November 2018

Two BIG days occur in the month of November: White Ribbon Day 23 November and the United Nations UNiTE to End Violence against Women: 25 November. Both aim to create societies where women and children can live in safety free from fear and abuse. 

AT THE END OF HOLYROOD LANE is a picture book that dares to address this fear and provide acknowledgement and hope for suffers in abusive situations. 

With its soft, supportive illustrations that encapsulate and extend the sensitive, subtle text superbly, and endorsed by a number of agencies concerned about the children caught in the middle of domestic violence such as Act for Kids, RizeUp, Paradise Kids, and Think Equal, this is a conversation starter that may bring a lot of comfort, help and hope to the children in our care. Barabara Braxton, ReadPlus & The Bottom Shelf

 

I wrote this picture book because of a plea to create meaningful stories accessible to children suffering or witnessing family violence. The task became a challenge and ultimately one of the most fulfilling stories I've ever had the pleasure of penning. But much more than writing something that I'm proud of and gives domestic violence victims some small voice, this book has become a conduit of caring.

 I try to explain some of the unforgettable connections I've made through sharing Holyrood Lane with others in the post - Profound Encounters along Holyrood Lane. 

Complete strangers feel compelled to share their stories with me, as though confessing their true thoughts and fears with someone who has tried to echo these through the non-judgmental, fictional Flick somehow lessens them. In a way, I guess it does. Sharing a problem, reaching out, acknowledging the hurt, amassing the courage to move forward - all are powerful ways to help achieve the ultimate goal of creating caring, informed, pro-active communities where women and children can live in safety
  
It's not a book about having all the answers. No way. The problem is too large for one story. It is a book that speaks loudly, in sublimely subtle ways*, about facing your fears and daring to ask for help. And, I hope, will invite others to include this issue more often in mainstream children's literature. Maybe then we can find the answers faster and more absolutely.

 Because love should always feel safe.

 Follow the campaigns and programs of help through organisations like White Ribbon Australia.

 #dosomething 

 Images courtesy of Nicky Johnston - Illustrator

*Flick's story is told in metaphors using gentle yet arresting imagery and text rich with poetic vocabulary (Kirkus Reviews). Flick's fear of raging thunderstorms reflects the same anxieties a child of abuse might harbour yet the parallels are subtle enough for children to relate to and understand even if they are not in domestic violence situations.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Goldfish Boy

Image
Twelve-year-old Matthew Corbin is your regular pre-teen boy living in an unspectacular cul-de-sac deep in British suburbia. The major difference between him and the other inhabitants of Chestnut Close however is the state of his red-raw hands and tortured mind and the fact that he barely steps outside his terraced-home second story bedroom. Matthew is afflicted with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD and can barely function as a result. From his fishbowl vantage point, Matthew keeps track of his neighbours, dutifully recording their every movement, their comings and goings, and their habitual rituals in his notebooks. In this way we are introduced to the residents and their characteristic irks and quirks from the get go in a way that is both intriguing and comical. Matthew’s observations allude to his condition; he is both analytical and detailed in his approach. The orderliness of his notations suggest a mind used to repetition and accuracy, an intense desire to ‘get things r
Read more

Review: My Shadow Is Pink

Image
What are little boys made of? Is it really frogs and snails ; everything that is not sugar and spice and all things nice that are otherwise attributed to the makeup of girls? Should blue be the only shade that maketh the man? Debut author illustrator, Scott Stuart blows these outdated tropes well and truly out of the water with this deliriously amusing and tender picture book, My Shadow is Pink . Our intrepid main character’s little face is a picture of consternation after he concedes that his shadow is not the strong blue that trails the other males in his family. His is a delicate shade of rose and mirrors that which he loves most: sparkles, dancing, twirling and dressing up. Despite his father’s reassurances that his shadow will adopt a more ‘manly’ appearance one of these days , and the little boy’s own yearning to fit in with the other acceptable shadow groups, he is unable to dismiss his conflicting feelings. Then one day an invitation to let his shadow dress up in its favour
Read more

Christmas Countdown Day 3 - The Grandest Bookshop in the World

Image
The Grandest Bookshop in the World It’s something I’ve always wanted to do – live in a bookshop and be surrounded by the magic of words and other spellbinding things, like cake. Siblings Pearl and Vally Cole are living that dream. But it’s not just any old bookshop; it’s the Cole’s Book Arcade in Melbourne. Their fantastical story germinates from their father’s own stirring rags to riches tale and meanders closely to the actual chronological time line of the eccentric Edward Cole, founder of Coles Book Arcade in the late 1800s. The key thing to remember be you staff, family member or patron of the Arcade is that buying a book is secondary to enjoying your visitation. Customers are encouraged to relax, read, dine on tantalising fare, wander through the exotic gardens harbouring monkeys, or perhaps select a curious toy for a well-behaved youngster. These fascinations really did exist and in the Cole children’s thrilling tale form the critical backdrops to their chilling (fictional) a
Read more