A reflection post-world book day

I've loved to tell stories since I was a little girl. One of my earliest school memories was during Reception in London (P1 in NI), when our teacher was telling the class a story, which Young Amelia clearly found less enticing than telling her own. So, I took a small group of children to the corner of the room and told my own story, in the end resulting in the entire class (teacher included) listening to my little tale.

I began writing when I was 11, creating short stories about two little boys who got up to mischief around their sleepy suburban English housing estate. I then went on to write my first book at the age of 14, thanks to Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight Saga trilogy, which heavily inspired me to create my own fantasy fiction. As the years went on, and life got in the way of creativity, I put away my typewriter (yes, I’m one of those writers) and let the craft of the written word slip away. Even while I studied English at Queen’s University Belfast, I did not write. Back then, I’d have argued with you that I did continue writing, but I realise in hindsight that spending 20 minutes intermittently distracted by my phone in front of a laptop does not count. 

My first published book leads back to my ASD Assessment, when the Occupational Therapists gave me an array of objects and asked me to create a story. Fast forward two years, and I approached my best friend Jamie Beard and said, “Hey, wanna create and illustrate a children’s book with me? For… free?” And he obviously said yes, so we did! We spent numerous late nights and weekends in his studio perfecting what went on to be The Little Crayon, my first book. I was so proud of this little creation, about a crayon with two different coloured parents who didn’t know their colour. I made it for little me, I made it for my son, I made it for every mixed-race kid who ever felt out of place.

And it was with excitement and joie de vivre that I approached numerous agents with my book; 36 to be exact. And do you know what? They all had a similar response: the book is good, but it’s too niche. And so, I just left it—it wasn’t about the money for me, because unless I reached Julia Donaldson's success, one published children’s book wouldn’t change my life. That is, until 2020, when I asked Jamie Beard what he thought about us publishing it ourselves. And because he’s wonderful, close to perfect, and my best friend, he said yes! So, more time was spent researching the easiest way of distribution. I created a website and published our book for free PDF download. I posted on my social media to my small following, hoping a few friends would read it to the Littles in their lives. But within days, we had so many requests for physical copies of the book that we decided to give it a go at publishing it ourselves! I won’t lie, we were exhausted between printers, specs, postage options, and means of sale. 

Jamie and I had decided from the start that we would not sell our book for profit, only to cover the cost of printing and postage. We got a few hundred copies printed, and guess what? They sold out within two weeks. So we printed a few hundred more, and they also sold out within one week. On our final print run, our total number of copies for sale sold out in 5 weeks. And 3 months after the publication of The Little Crayon, data showed us that our book had been downloaded and read over 15,000 times, across five continents, worldwide. 

So that brings us closer to now, when I was asked if I’d consider creating a book that explores the history of integrated education in Northern Ireland. Now, I knew about integrated education to an extent, having gone to an integrated secondary school myself, and my son attending an integrated primary school. Still, I didn’t know much about the history. Nevertheless, Jamie and I teamed up once again to try and do something that had never been done in the 40 years of integrated education; find a way to explain what it is to the under-sevens. 

I won’t go into the details of the hours spent back in the studio working on our book, or the amount of tiny changes I asked Jamie to make to his illustrations, just because I was pernickety (or how that was a testament to our friendship, because we did not argue once!). But four months later, we had a children's book, we had The Bees and The Wind. The rest, including the book itself, is history!

I’ll be honest with you: I write because I love to make up stories, and I love to help children be seen. I think of tiny humans like my own and how their imaginations run wild when they see the colours, hear the words, feel the braille under their fingers, and touch the texture of textured pages. I love the power of storytelling and the creativity it evokes in children. 

I’m sure you’ll know now that I am no stranger to participating in World Book Day because of my children’s books. Still, one thing that will never stop being surreal is seeing children dressed up as our characters, creating work surrounding our books, and telling us that our books are their favourite bedtime stories! To find out that the Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) use The Bees and The Wind as an educational tool, and with schools considering the Transformation Process. And what a joy it is to have a career that allows me to combine two passions: integrated education and literature, visiting integrated schools on World Book Day and reading my books. 

I realise this is a longer blog and newsletter than usual, but that further affirms my passion for literature and integrated education, and most of all, my passion for the well-being of children. If you take anything away from these words, I hope it is that you pick up that book that has been sitting unread since you returned from your last holiday, you go back to that audiobook that you haven’t listened to since 2023, or you find a copy of your favourite children’s book in a library or charity shop and bring it home to share with your own tiny humans, or just to read yourself.

Nothing is more powerful in this world than our minds' creativity and our words' power. Let’s use that power for good.

Amelia x

You can download a free PDF copy of The Bees and The Wind here

You can download a free PDF copy of The Little Crayon here