Mummy says that some things can’t be said with just words . . . Sometimes you have to say it with your feet…
Featured in LoveReading4Kids’ 2023 preview: ‘Brilliant Children’s Books to Look Forward to This Year’, My Mummy Marches by author Samantha Hawkins and illustrator Cory Reid is a joyful story celebrating the power of peaceful protest and the will to change things for the better.
The story tells of a young girl who watches her mummy proudly take to the streets to march for what she believes in. Mummy marches through the sunshine, through the rain and through the deepest snow, on her own or hand-in-hand with others, to give voice to causes that need to be heard.
Inspired to join the next generation of young activists, her daughter dreams of marching alongside her.
The book comes from award-winning Lantana, a publisher and social enterprise on a mission to publish inclusive books by authors from under-represented groups and from around the world.
Samantha Hawkins
A vital lesson
“If you think that teaching our children about the virtue of activism (speaking out, writing letters, staging protests, raising your voice, and just making a giant fuss about social injustice, bigotry, racism, hate, environmental indifference, and other wrongs in our society) is not your responsibility, well think again!” Samantha Hawkins says of her book.
“Behind every great leader that has ever graced the pages of world history was the backbone to stand up for something she or he believed in, and the nerve to do something uncommonly extraordinary.
“I wanted to introduce the concept of ‘activism’ to kids because no child is too young to learn the value of using their hands and feet to campaign for social, environmental, and economic change in the world they live in.
I want young readers to realise that the change the world needs today starts with them. Their words, their actions, and their behaviours truly make the difference!”
Samantha Hawkins
“I want young readers to realise that the change the world needs today starts with them. Their words, their actions, and their behaviours truly make the difference!
“Everyone says that kids ‘are the future’, and they are, but if we’re being totally honest, kids are our ‘here and now’ too. I want the children who read my book to understand that they are shaping the world they will grow up into by what they choose to do right now as children. It is never too early to change the world.
“They can learn to ‘put actions behind their words’, to speak up and say something, to use their ‘outside voice’ indoors when they see someone being mistreated, and they can dare to be the change they want to see even now.
“Just like the young girl in my story is watching her mom march for justice, they too can learn from the examples of the adults in their life who are doing brave, wonderful things to make the world a safer, happier place for everyone.”
“Effective protest is often uncomfortable and time-consuming but it’s always communal and human – putting yourself out there and being prepared to take a stand might lose you friends, but it will certainly mean you gain others.
Samantha Hawkins’ new picture book for younger children, My Mummy Marches, understands all of this and makes it sound exciting – as it should be. The simple story is narrated by the voice of a child trying to explain why his mummy is an activist, why she takes to the streets in support of the marginalised and, where necessary, why she marches on their behalf.”
Letterpress project
