British rapper Stormzy’s Merky Books company has announced its first children’s book titled, ‘Superheroes.
‘Superheroes’ will focus on fifty famous people from underrepresented communities in children’s literature, including Candice Carty-Williams, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Riz Ahmed, Reggie Yates, Ian Wright, and Mo Gilligan.
The comic book was written by Sophia Thakur, illustrated by Denzell Dankwah, and features an introduction written by Stormzy. Sophia Thankur said:
The earliest seeds that are planted often influence the rest of the garden. If from a young age, we only really meet blackness from a position of weakness, of slavery and shootings – stereotypes and racist media – as children, we don’t get an opportunity to develop a healthy and confident outlook on what it means to be black. It was important to work on this book to plant a new seed of celebration. Of black excellence into our young minds who will hopefully bloom into their very own superheroes. Confident and powerful.
Denzell Dankwah adds:
Working on this project has been an exciting experience as I grew up with a love for superheroes and cartoons. Since my illustrations are heavily influenced by comic books, this was a great opportunity to portray such huge figures and role models as heroes for young readers to look up to. This is a dream come true as I’ve always wanted to illustrate a book and I’m grateful to have collaborated with Sophia and the amazing team at Merky Books.
The book will be published on September 16, with eight percent of proceeds going to Stormzy’s Merky Foundation, a charity that aims to tackle racial inequality and injustice.
🚨 We’re very excited to announce our first-ever illustrated kids book: SUPERHEROES ✨
Written by @SophiaThakur, illustrated by design student @Denzelld_art + features a special intro by Stormzy 🙌🏽
Out 16 September. Pre-order now!https://t.co/w00EHyxp2rhttps://t.co/Elyp5DzMNJ pic.twitter.com/jtv38gcLvu
— #Merky Books (@MerkyBooks) June 29, 2021
