Our Writer in Residence Tom Percival explores how books can open up different places and cultures for children.
Tom Percival is an author, illustrator, and BookTrust’s current Writer in Residence
How many places have YOU visited? I’ll be honest, I’m not very well travelled – but as with most things in life, there are reasons. Some are to do with choice, some with circumstance.
When I was young, my family didn’t have much money, so travel simply wasn’t an option. As I’ve grown older, I’ve always prioritised other things (like work!) over it.
So, I might not have physically travelled to many places, but one of the many wonderful things about reading is that you can get a real taste of somewhere without ever actually going there.
Plus, you can spend as long as you like in your chosen location and get there without worrying about where you last put your moth-eaten passport.
The multi-sensory magic of reading
Of course, you can also experience travel through films. Surely one of the great joys of a film is the fantasy of visiting exotic locations without having to queue for security or kill two hours in duty free.
But I’d argue that books bring a far richer sense of place than film ever could, because writing is multisensory.
An author can make you feel the heat of sand on the soles of your feet, the taste of a meal you’ve never eaten, the dense, almost overpowering scent of jungle flowers.
You can smell, hear, feel, see and taste everything. You feel it all, you understand it – even if it’s something that you’ve never done before.
Discovering different cultures through books
Reading about a place makes it real in your head in a way films never can. And it’s not just about the places – it’s about the people, the cultures.
Growing up in a small hamlet on the Welsh border in the 1980s meant my lived experience of different cultures was limited. Towards the end of my time at Norbury Primary School, fewer than 20 children were there. On the plus side, this meant I was always picked for the school football team, despite barely knowing one end of a ball from the other. That’s a joke, BTW – I know footballs don’t have ‘ends’ (That’s rugby balls, right?)
The point is that, firstly, I was not a very sporty kid, but more importantly, during my childhood, it was incredibly rare to meet anyone with a different background or heritage to my own.
Not that I’m denigrating where I grew up – I absolutely love the place and it feels a hugely important part of who I am – but without the books I read as a child, my understanding of the world beyond the immediate hills and valleys could have felt very limited.
The books I read literally made me who I am – they fed into my sense of humour, my turn of phrase, my curiosity, my creativity.
I was lucky though: my mum was a school librarian, and so libraries have always been a huge part of my life. Taking the librarian’s superpower of combining a deep knowledge of the books with an understanding of the reader, she was always able to suggest a wide range of books to me.
Some of these books took me through time and space, some to fantastical lands of pure invention, and some introduced me to cultures and characters that seemed, at first, very different from my own understanding of the world.
The quiet way books can change the world
But as ever with books, the more you read, the more you understand.
It wasn’t long before I realised that despite any superficial differences, what these stories show above all is the ways in which we are the same.
Because ultimately, no matter where you’re from, what the climate is like, or how you get to school (if you even get to go to school), everyone wants a secure future, a loving family, clean water, food, warmth, opportunity, and happiness.
And once you realise those fundamentals are universal, you see there is always more that unites us than divides us.
This is one of the many quiet ways books can change the world for the better. They break you out of a narrow understanding of life, shatter echo chambers, and reach across miles and years to help you recognise how your deepest hopes and needs connect with those of every person who has ever lived.
Books help to make the unknown less intimidating, the inaccessible reachable, and by taking the time to read about another world and someone else’s lived experiences, you feel as though you’ve been to a different place and come back changed. Which is the exact same thing you hope for when you travel somewhere new.
So that’s what I love most about reading: every time you open a book, there’s a chance you’ll come back with a whole new perspective on the world.
Here’s a list of seven great books that introduce children to different cultures and places in our world.
Twelve year-old Clara can’t remember what happened last summer, or understand why her best friend is so angry with her. What mysteries will she uncover this summer?
Three excellent short stories about the irrepressible Tola, a little girl with a big heart, living at the centre of her community in Lagos. Warm, fun and full of compassion.
Buckle up for the road trip of a lifetime in Pedro Martin’s hilarious graphic novel memoir, Mexikid, an adventure-packed, deeply personal tale of family and identity.
Brilliantly insightful and full of thoughtful detailing, this is a thoroughly engaging graphic novel that will have young readers gripped right until the end of this epic life-affirming journey.
Ken Wilson-Max’s lovely story is based on the planting of the Great Green Wall of Africa, a project involving people from 11 countries that aims to slow down the spread of the desert by planting trees and plants.
In Uijung Kim’s fabulous book, young readers will learn about subway systems in 10 international cities. The bright illustrations bring underground transport to life for little ones at a time when many of them are obsessed with trains, trucks and cars.
