The Week Junior - UK (2022-06-11)

11 June 2022 • The Week Junior 9

People

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L

ast month, author and illustrator

Dapo Adeola was named Illustrator

of the Year at the British Book Awards.

He won the award for Hey You!, which

he both wrote and illustrated. Hey You!

is about black children

in the UK who face

racism (when people

are treated badly or

unfairly because of

their skin colour,

culture or nationality)

as they grow up.

The message of

Hey You! “is one of

positivity, it’s one of

hope, it’s one of optimism and it’s

one of celebration,” Adeola tells The

Week Junior. “It’s also one of pride.”

He describes the book as a celebration

of the British black community, in

particular its creativity. Adeola aimed

to give black young people in the UK a

picture book that represents them. “We

didn’t have anything that celebrated

the joys of black culture,” Adeola

says of his childhood. “People were

absolutely starving for that kind of

representation in the UK.”

The book features

18 illustrators who

worked together to

create the artwork. Each

one “brought a piece

of themselves,” says

Adeola. He describes his

prize at the British Book

Awards as “a celebration

and acknowledgment”

of his journey as an illustrator, as well

as the book itself. He says the award

will be a spotlight to help him in the

rest of his career. Nevertheless, he

says, “I look forward to a break” after

working so hard on the book for so

long.

The author who

draws on hope

Dancing to an honour

A

ngela Redgrave, a dance teacher from Bristol,

England, has become the oldest of the 1,

people to be named in this year’s Queen’s Birthday

Honours (a list of people who received awards for

outstanding contributions to society). She was born in

1917 in London during the First World War, and took

over the Bristol School of Dancing in 1970. She has

trained thousands of students since then, making sure

to include children with special needs. “We take in

every child who comes to us with open arms,” she said.

Angela’s daughter Felicity now runs the school, but her

mother is nearby. The school is “her baby”, said Felicity.

Sharing the joy of toys

A

collection of antique toys and puppets is soon to

be displayed at a museum and puppet theatre in

Hastings, England. The objects are from the personal

collection of 82-year-old John Bright, an award-

winning film costume designer. The display will

include antique doll houses and more than 100

puppets. The Bright Foundation, a charity that he set

up, has organised the display and will put on free

puppet shows and workshops. Speaking to The

Guardian newspaper, Bright said, “Children respond

so extraordinarily to toys and they have got to be

Angela Redgrave with given the opportunity to do so.”

one of her students.

John Bright and

some of his toys.

Dapo Adeola was awarded Illustrator of the Year.

Dapo

Adeola

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Nibbies

.

“Books are

magical

portals that

can comfort,

console and

delight.”

Author Nadia Shireen

reacts to the news that

one of her books will be

part of Dolly Parton’s

Imagination Library. The

scheme offers free books

to young refugees.