How diverse is the book collection in your children’s room or the stories they hear? When one London mum and her friends realised how difficult it is to find good childrens’ books that represent their famly and friends they took action. The group decided to start an online platform where they could share diverse stories that reflect the LGBQIA community. Here, we speak with Rose, who created Queer Storytime with her mate Molly.
What is Queer Storytime?
Queer Storytime is inclusive storytelling with free access. The videos are posted on our YouTube channel, Facebook and Instagram.
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How did you come up with the idea?
I have a three year old and she is the inspiration for most of our ideas! A group of friends and I noticed when reading to my little one that we had to really search for books that represented all of our friends and family and it shouldn’t be that difficult. In addition to the co-creators Rose and Molly; Queer Storytime is produced by Tal, graphics, Paul, music and editing, and Gemma, editing and titles. They live across London and Hertfordshire.
How do you choose the books that are read?
We search for books that represent ALL of the LGBQIA community. We choose books that we have enjoyed ourselvess and we always ask the authors and publishing houses for permission before we read a book.
Featured books include Julian is a Mermaid, Red: A Crayon’s Story, I am Jazz, and The Prince and the Frog.
Who reads the books?
Anyone is welcome to read a book. So far they have been people involved in the creative process or friends that have shown an interest. We strive to represent every child and so will continue to diversify our readers.
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Why do you think Queer Storytime is important?
It is so important to grow up feeling represented, by reading inclusive books we hope to make parents and guardians more aware of the books that are available. If they don’t have access to the actual books themselves then we hope our videos will give them the chance to enjoy them.
What do you hope the kids watching get out of the experience?
We hope that kids will grow up feeling accepted for who they are and who they love. We hope that Queer Storytime will help with that.
Any future hopes or plans for Queer Storytime?
No plans as such, it would be lovely to continue to offer opportunities to performers and perhaps new writers to share their work, alongside continuing to share inclusive messages with families.
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