posted on 22 Feb 2023

My Mummy Marches by Samantha Hawkins, illustrated by Cory Reid

I want to put my cards on the table at the very outset – I just love this book. I cut my political teeth through the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and the lessons I learned about protest, social justice and campaigning were learned on the street. In the closing years of my career as a university lecturer I found it quite difficult to convince students that being prepared to take to the streets in support of the causes you believe in is an essential part of your role as a citizen. It’s never going to be enough, I always insisted, to sign on-line petitions, contribute to sponsored events or wear badges.

Effective protest is often uncomfortable and time-consuming but its always communal and human – putting yourself out there and being prepared to take a stand might lose you friends but it will certainly mean you gain others.

Samantha Hawkins new picture book for younger children, My Mummy Marches, understands all of this and makes it sound exciting – as it should be. The simple story is narrated by the voice of a child trying to explain why his mummy is an activist, why she takes to the streets in support of the marginalised and, where necessary, why she marches on their behalf.

Simple as the words seem, they contain a superb insight of why it will always be necessary sometimes to let your feet do the talking:

“Some problems can’t be fixed by staying in one place. Sometimes you have to say it with your feet.”

Making a stand fills the activist with a sort of undeniable energy:

“She marches like the beat of a terrific giant drum. She marches ferocious and tall, like lightening burning across the open sky.”

You can’t pick and choose the times when protest is called for – and you’re never able to guarantee the weather. But commitment demands you take to the streets in rain, snow and sun and:

“She marches through tunnels, on pavements and over bridges.”

Ultimately, for me, the book comes to its most important and triumphant moment at the end when the baton of protest gets passed on to the next generation:

“I’m already learning to march…………….I’m going to march for all the people out there who feel invisible, or just want to be heard.”

This inspirational book is wonderfully illustrated by Cory Reid, a freelance illustrator who has come to children’s book illustration in recent years. In his online profile, Cory says:

“My main passion has always been in character design and creating worlds for them to inhabit and hopefully creating a few laughs along the way.  For the last few years, I've been able to really dive into this, as I have been working more in the Children's Book market.”

The book is brought to us by the ever excellent Lantana Publishing and if it isn’t stocked by your local independent bookshop (if they don’t stock it, tell them they should!) it can be ordered by them. You might also choose to order it direct from the publisher through their website, if you’d prefer.

 

Terry Potter

February 2023