About Parakeet Books

CHILDREN'S BOOKS | PRINTS | GREETINGS CARDS Fed up with searching in vain for diverse books for our kids we started making our own. We are co-founders Sheju Adiyatiparambil-John and Judy Skidmore. When we started Parakeet Books our goal was to make stories for our kids and their friends, because the vast majority of books we were seeing did not reflect our family OR that of many of our friends. Where were the families with two mums? Where were the single parents? Where were all the people with brown skin? Representation of Black people and people of colour in children's books is slowly rising but the number is still low. And characters with a disability, a visible difference, or with an LGBTQ+ theme get even less representation. Publishing can and should do better. Often when people of colour are featured in a book the focus is on their "difference" or their struggle. And although addressing themes of difference or struggle are important so are books about normal stuff, funny stuff, adventures. A child of mixed heritage eating pancakes, a girl getting used to her new baby brother (she has two mums), or two brown-skinned kids meeting some dinosaurs. So here we are. Parakeet Books publish fab stories where the main characters represent all genders, ethnicities, and abilities. We show the everyday diversity that makes up our world. We've branched out, making high quality prints showing sublime scenes of everyday diversity; dinosaurs in lush forest; quirky poetry cards.Read their story