Real experiences for real children

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

The hardest part about writing for children is making sure that I stay true to myself as a writer. I strongly believe in crafting stories that are realistic and speak to children’s experiences. I tried to make sure that I followed this thinking as I penned my installment about the rooftop club. At the time, I had never written a story from the perspective of the villains or in this case the bullies of the school. In this book, I attempted to include their perspectives and also to show what happens when bullies are reported. They don’t stop being bullies. They simply just retaliate and get worse. Many children go through this and don’t understand the language to communicate their experiences. It is my hope that children, parents, teachers, and caregivers see the importance of discussing this work. Diverse children need to read about diverse experiences.

Tiffany A. Flowers, Children’s Author

Diverse Books offer Realistic Experiences for Children

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

I wrote the Rooftop Club book series in 2006. It was long before I became a published author. My goal with the series was to write a series for African American boys and girls that they could relate to as children of color. I wrote the series and set it in the backdrop of a city. I chose Chicago, Illinois since it is my home. Also, I wanted to ensure that I wrote a children’s book that dealt with a serious issue that often does not get addressed. Therefore, I penned the first installment of the book series that deals with bullying among older and younger children. My goal through this work was to create a book that was realistic and helped children open up and have discussions about how they feel when these things happen. The response has been pretty good. However, each time I see a news story it makes me wonder whether my work could have helped open up dialogue about this issue. Bullying is a serious issue for schools and especially children of color that often experience this issue daily. The problem with most books on this issue is that bullying is limited to small incidents and doesn’t really reflect the experiences of the children going through this daily nightmare. This is why we need diverse books. Children need to see realistic experiences in books to help them navigate tough circumstances.

Tiffany A. Flowers, Children’s Author