What stayed with me, however, was something that felt small at the time but was actually huge. There was a disabled character in that book. Not as a lesson, not as a historical figure. Not a ‘problem to fix’. Just a character. A person. Existing.
When you grow up not seeing yourself in stories, you don’t stop imagining. You imagine more, but imagination shouldn’t have to replace representation. So, I didn’t wait for change – I created the children’s book I wished I had growing up.
Halo and Rocky don’t just expect Casper to change, they learn that they have to do the work too. No one is left behind, no one is made to prove themselves. That is what real inclusion looks like. Not spotlighting difference, but normalising it.
For some of us, not seeing ourselves was impossible to ignore. And the truth is, I don’t want children to think about representation at all, in fact, I want the opposite. I want them to not notice it. I want it to feel natural, for them to just enjoy the story, falling in love with the characters and be entertained. Because the absence was loud for me and I hope it is quieter for deaf children today.
I used to go to my local library to get books, then to Blockbuster to rent DVDs. It feels like a precious memory now. A time where life felt slower and choices felt more thoughtful.
World Book Day has never felt more important. I remember those days my brother dressed as Willy Wonka and I just wanted to be a fairy. Now that memory reminds me not to take stories, books or imagination for granted.
View oEmbed on the source websiteIf it’s making this much of a difference to me, what is doing to a child’s brain? Reading gives children something that technology can’t, having an imagination that isn’t algorithm-led.
Books don’t just teach us how to read, they teach us how to see. In a world that moves ever so fast, learning how to really see each other might be the most important story of all.
For all the latest RT Book Club news, interviews, Q&As with the authors, reviews of previous books and more, visit The Radio Times Book Club.
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