posted on 28 Jul 2015

Where are the tattoos in children’s books?

In the not so distant past of my 1950s childhood, tattoos were usually associated with the armed forces and possibly prison - all rather exciting, dangerous and edgy. I certainly didn’t come across anybody in my social circles who had one and in retrospect I recognise that this was largely because of my middle class, sheltered background. But they have certainly been part of celebrity culture and the wider mainstream social landscape for a long time now. In fact, as people strip off their layers for the summer in the Western world, it seems pretty unusual not to have at least one on display. It therefore follows that a lot of ordinary children will have mums, dads and other family members with all kinds of tattoos, but this version of the world doesn't seem to feature in the illustrations of many children’s books. Of course there is The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson published in 1997 for older readers. However in this story the tattoos define Marigold as a very unorthodox mother. Her tattoos mark significant moments in her troubled life and Nick Sharratt's illustrations that head each chapter show us some intricate examples. She is portrayed as an artistic outsider character who is also an ego centric woman with serious mental health problems that place huge caring demands on her two children. So not a particularly positive literary portrayal in this case but, despite their current prevalence, I would argue that tattoos remain associated with this kind of unconventional, possibly ‘unsuitable’ style of parenting. 

 

       

 

We know that that is an inaccurate old fashioned perception, so surely some modern illustrators of children’s books must be including family members with tattoos in their representation of a realistic modern world? For instance, Shirley Hughes prides herself on keeping up to date and making sure that we see mobile phones and skateboards as part of the multicultural urban landscape. Well I couldn't spot any when I looked. Perhaps Anthony Browne or Emma Chichester Clark would include one somewhere? But once again, there is not a tattoo in sight. In fact, looking through my extensive picture book collection - I can only find one example of a tattooed mother in Let’s get a pup, said Kate written and illustrated by Bob Graham published in 2003. 

 

 

I and several others have been looking for more examples for several years and they do seem to be surprisingly rare. Most recently, I have discovered Sardines of Love ’written and illustrated by Zurine Aguirre published in 2015 where both grandparents have tattoos. 

 

 

So what is going on here? A friend with a tattoo parlour assures me that she has plenty of parents who would love to buy such books for their children and grandchildren but the only ones that exist are on the internet via a specialist American publisher ‘ Mommy has tattoos’ which produces a very limited range in a cartoon style. Other than that, all a further internet search reveals is that an inordinate number of people have tattoos inspired by the text and illustrations of children's books from The Tale of Peter Rabbit to Matilda. 

 

There appears to be a gap in the market which is perhaps unlikely to change if the association between tattoos being in some way unusual or unsuitable persists, despite their ubiquity. Picture books in particular still seem to be representing a romanticised, conventional, safe and cosy world that isn't much like the real experience of many children. Is this aversion to tattoos as being an accepted and ‘ normal’ body decoration still rooted in class prejudice given that the majority of illustrators are probably from backgrounds very similar to mine? And what about some acknowledgment that body piercing is now very common? I guess that is probably a step too far, but I'm off to see how many examples of pierced ears I can find outside the exotic storybook world of gypsies.

 

Karen Argent  July 2015