I discovered Fujikawa’s work on Pinterest. I often have a scroll for inspiration and was down a vintage illustration rabbit hole. The few ethnically diverse images I found all led me back to Fujikawa. So, naturally I did a little digging to find out more about her.
Not only is her work bursting with character, beautiful, and charismatic but it speaks on the issue of diversity which persists in the field of Kid Lit today. She is often seen as the first children’s illustrator to depict multiculturalism. She was also one of the first illustrators to command royalties rather than a flat fee. In many way’s she was ahead of her time.
As an Art Therapist, I am also taken by the way she seems to consider children as people. Though this may sound obvious, quite often the people working with and creating media for children are so far removed from empathising with them. I recently tied up some work on a project and realised the language I was using wasn’t particularly child friendly. This was somewhat necessary given the subject and target age but it also reminded me how important meaningful contact with children is for informing the stories I want to make.
“I am flattered when people ask me how I know so much about how children think and feel. Although I have never had children of my own, and cannot say I had a particularly marvelous childhood, perhaps I can say I am still like a child myself. Part of me, I guess, never grew up.”
https://gyofujikawa.wordpress.com/
That being said I decided to pick up and finish a small series I had begun a while ago. I never spent much time thinking about books for smaller children, but I’m aware from my previous job role that it is particularly hard to find diverse board books.
We play outside,
We engineer,
We bandage Mr Snuggles ear.
We wait our turn, to play dress up,
And when we’re done,
We tidy up!
Amara Antoinette
Amara Antoinette 