I have seen and read my first Caribbean children’s e-book! The book is The Mermaid Escapade by
Suzanne Francis-Brown (Amazon UK). One of us has done it! Congratulations to
Suzanne! You cannot imagine how excited I was to see this breakthrough. The book
is YA/tweens (as this new in-between age group is called). It’s an adventure which
incorporates fantasy and fact. The fantasy is the mermaids and other sea creatures which are linked to our
own River Mumma. The conflict for the
adventure is partly that human children and mermaids should never see each
other, much less interact with each other, but they do in this story. Another challenge
is that seawater is infiltrating coastal rivers and wells. This could be a human
catastrophe. In this story we discover that not only humans may be affected. The
language is delightful, the images well
crafted – I kept being reminded of a CD
of a movie my grandchildren
watched. In other words, the writer’s images come to life without illustrations. The
only illustration is the cover. Of course, we do not need images in YA or tween
books, so this solves the challenge of getting illustrations into
children’s e-books. The other thing I liked was the detailed, yet not intrusive,
descriptions and explanations of the land where it meets the sea, the rivers as
they meet the sea, the imaginary life, yet scientifically based (the fact part of
the story) which is created just beneath the surface, and the workings of the groundwater
area beneath our feet. So this book takes
us into our environment without having to shout ‘environment’, which is great
for the target group. This accuracy in depicting an environment is important in that it gives integrity to the story without detracting from the fantasy elements. I do hope that this book makes its way not only
into homes, but also into our schools.
Now, as far as I know, this is the first Caribbean children’s
e-book, that is, written by a Caribbean person living in the Caribbean. This is
not to detract from authors like Geoffrey Philp, who has to date two Children’s
e-books with illustrations. He is a torch bearer. It’s just that when one actually resides in our
islands/countries it seems more challenging to do something like this, and therefore it requires a greater
‘shout out’. However, if you know of
others, please let me know about them, both from authors living here and in the Diaspora.
I’m sure that all of us will want to take note of these bold people and then follow where we
have not yet dared to go, much as we want to. And before you say, “But what she
talking about? Is easy like what to do an e-book”, then I beg you email me and
offer your services because I have one almost ready – still needs illustrations
(it’s a picture book), and hopefully I can afford them. That’s the other challenge,
you see. mdianebrowne@yahoo.com. But we moving forward!
May is child month and there have been special
reading days/children’s days, reading week, etc. I mentioned (on facebook, I think) seeing a photo with the Prime Minister reading to children, and
we could actually see the cover of the book, and it was a local
book, Shaggy Parrot and the Reggae Band by Jana Bent. Well I must say that there has been magnificent coverage in the press of
the child month activities, of adults reading to children, and even of an author talking
with children. In this case, it was another of our younger writers, Kerine Miller,
author of Coop Clan (mentioned previously in posts of mine). And even though I
see our authors visiting schools on facebook, it’s so important also to see
them in the press, because then ‘normal people' might think that local books are important enough for them to buy them for
their children/schools. Same old same old, eh! However, I must say that I feel
as if there might be a groundswell of interest in reading, perhaps even a
recognition of the fact that there are Jamaican children’s writers. What a something,
guys! Yes, I read at a primary school also and it was very enjoyable. Children
love books, you know!
