Building confidence with inclusive books: Nicola Skinner, Author - Peters
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"Be bold even if you’re a little unsure about things": Nicola Skinner on finding confidence

Author Nicola Skinner, author of childrens books about diversity

July 12th 2022

Nicola Skinner, author of inclusive books for schools

About Nicola Skinner

Nicola worked as a copywriter and journalist before being inspired to write for young readers. She has been longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and Branford Boase Book Award, nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, and won the North Somerset Book Award. She lives near Bristol and writes in her garden shed, which she shares with spiders.
After studies have revealed that children's confidence and self-esteem has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, now more than ever we need comforting words and characters who show us that there is always a way to overcome adversity. Described by the Guardian as a 'wild, hilarious, surreal adventure of self-discovery', Giant by Nicola Skinner sees protagonist Minnie confront the truth about her island, her guardian giant, and ultimately herself. 
Book cover of school picture book by Nicola Skinner

We love the gutsy character of Minnie. Can you tell us more about her?

Thank you very much; although I think Minnie isn’t very gutsy at all – I think she’s very scared and very unsure of things. I like to show children that you can still have huge adventures and discoveries even if you’re full of doubt. Just keep taking one step after the other. Perhaps you can be bold even if you’re a little unsure about things.

How can this book help teachers to explain concepts such as loss, empathy and bravery?

The bond between Minnie and Speck, the giant, is very strong, and the love that Minnie feels for her giant – and fear of losing her - is what drives her to be brave. Her growing empathy for Speck – and later, for the other giants she meets – also ultimately makes her determined to make some changes, and helps her grow, as a person.

How did you work with the illustrator Flavia Sorrentino to bring your imaginary island to life? 

Scarred Island sort of popped into my head one day when I was in the garden shed. I’d never drawn a map for any of my previous books, but a map felt essential for GIANT. This is because Minnie has to run away from home, and her journey around the island drives the plot forward and reveals lots of secrets, one by one. I had to understand her route quite intimately, and so the island and map was created.

It’s a place of contrasts, where great poverty lives side by side with great opulence (which is a bit like Brazil, where I lived as a child.) There are some lovely places, like a lagoon, and a cobbled old town with ice-cream parlours, but there are also some bad places, like a factory full of caged jackals, and a mountain range that houses some terrifying criminal giants. It was, essentially, just huge fun to create. Flavia Sorrentino did all the hard work bringing the map to life, and there was some toeing and froing on a few minor details like font, but she is just so innately good at what she does. My editors on the book were also brilliant with the detail too.

Discover Nicola's collection

Giant book cover, a key stage 1 reading book   School picture book, Bloom by Nicola Skinner   Childrens books about diversity, Nicola Skinners book Storm's cover   Starboard school picture book cover by Nicola Skinner

Would you like recommendations for similar books? Contact us! 

 

Are there any other key themes that you’ve explored?

Maybe the insidious use of government propaganda. There’s definitely an element in GIANT of the people in charge – in this case, the Giant Management Company – consistently telling the people of the island that the giants are a sub-human species. I’m extremely suspicious of ruling parties at the moment, like most people, and I’m sure this was borne out of that.

Were you inspired by any other giants in literature?

Of course – the BFG. Roald Dahl taught me that giants look through windows, and in GIANT I also have giants looking through windows. He also taught me that children can love giants, and vice versa. GIANT owes so much to Dahl. Honourable mention also to The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde – we had this picture book at home when I was a child, and I thought it was astonishing. Both writers looked at the relationship between giants and children, and so paved the way for me, I guess.

How about real-life events?

I have always been haunted and horrified by what the Nazi party did during the Second World War. So yes, I was indirectly inspired, or influenced, by the cruelty that can be inflicted by a governing body on anyone that looks different.

You’ve previously said that ‘children deserve the best from authors and illustrators’. What do you mean?

I mean that we should never hold back from the stories we tell them. Children have such incredible imagination and so much capacity; if we dig deep and give them the best of our stories, and our own reserves, wonderful things can happen. It’s all an act of love, isn’t it, and there’s nothing useful about watered down love, and the same rule applies to story-telling.

 

 

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