By Mellissa Dzinzi
A YORKSHIRE BORN award-winning journalist has become a children’s author.
Dawn-Maria France, has published a book targeted at four to seven year old children. It is named ‘The Adventure of Jenny and Phillip’ which challenges gendered stereotypes and was inspired by her passion of challenging equality in society.
She said: “The idea about the book was mainly about challenging stereotypes and turning them on the head. I have spent my life trying not to be a stereotype, society pushes an ideology of how young children should be so this book is important.
“Jenny, the protagonist, is very strong minded and knows what she wants. Her character is to inspire other little girls out there and reassure parents that it is okay for little girls to be a different.”
Driven by her passion for equality, before becoming a journalist over 30 years ago, Dawn-Maria worked closely with a children as a youth worker.
She said: “I worked on the book for five years with various children organisations.
“The book is targeted for children so their input was important for the narrative, they were able to say what worked for them in the book and what did not.
“Within the book factual subjects are mentioned, from issues about war to learning how to appreciate the little things in life. The purpose of the book other than engagement through humour and illustrations was to encourage children to learn and to have fun reading.”
Since publication the book has received good reviews on Amazon from buyers.
She added: “I have had a good feedback since the book published because the character is a girl and she is from Yorkshire just like me.
“It is about showing people that you don’t have to place the story around London.”
The Adventure of Jenny and Phillip is available to purchase from Amazon and Waterstones.