Coming to England: An Inspiring True Story Celebrating the Windrush Generation

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Was the plot exciting, thought-provoking, serious or light-hearted (or any mixture of these)?Sad. Floella was bullied. Wrigglers, wanderers, stampers and shy children... reading different stories to different listeners This book is about her life as a little girl who came to England. She always had a lot of ambition. In the book she says, “I dreamt of meeting the Queen.” She came from a very positive family; as they say in the book, “We have been invited to go to England!” They were among many people who went to work in England. Small ideas can resonate through everything': Poet Steven Camden introduces the books shortlisted for the CLPE Children's Poetry Prize Teenage rebels": Cane Warriors author Alex Wheatle on writing about young people living through incredible events

Coming to England by Floella Benjamin is a biographical story Coming to England by Floella Benjamin is a biographical story

Which of the characters (if any) you did not like. Why?Floella’s new classmates. They called her names. Even though Floella was discriminated against as a child, she kept her ambition, “I still dreamt of meeting the Queen.” She never let things get her down. I think Floella is happy that she migrated to England: otherwise, she would not be a Dame, a politician working in the House of Lords. And, she yes, did meet the Queen! When Floella left school she went to work in a bank, but what she really wanted to do was show business - acting and singing in front of an audience, either on TV or in a theatre. Floella went on to appear in many different shows, and when she was 27 years old Floella became one of the presenters of a children's TV show called Play School . It's one of the most popular children's TV programmes ever! Is there anything you did not like about this book? Jacob said “I didn’t like it when the people at school were mean.” I think Coming to England is a great book. The story tells us about the author, Floella Benjamin’s troubles, as she perseveres and one day meets the Queen.This book told me how important it is never to give up and always believe in yourself. Floella overcame many problems. She travelled on a floating house to England where people were unfriendly at school. After a while though, she made lots of friends and was happy.

Coming to England CBBC - Coming to England

Which of the characters (if any) did you dislike and why?Jacob said he didn’t like Mardie because “she left the children behind.” No, it was always an autobiographical story. In fact, when I wrote it at first it was twice as long and had to be edited to be so much shorter. So I didn't conceive it as a picture book until now. What made the history or the time it was set in interesting to you?The clothes in England. They were smart, classy and different. England wasn’t a giant iceberg as Floella’s brother said. It was cold but not that cold! Much colder and less colourful than Trinidad and getting around London was very different to getting around Trinidad. The escalators and underground trains were new to Floella and her family. I was sad that people were not very kind to them at first but they got through it.

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Children should be of all cultures in stories because that's the society we live in, and this is especially true of picture books. With non-illustrated books for older children you can imagine what you like. But in a picture book you must spell it out. I love the way BookTrust gives books to all children and parents. That is so important. Before a child can read the words, a picture is telling the story and connections are being made - for life. Children are connecting all the time and they are seeing things for the first time, and that's why it's such a responsibility to get things right. Floella was the first person in this country to appear on TV with beads in her hair, but Floella didn't just appear in children's TV shows, she started making them as well - which means that as well as being on the TV herself, it became her job to help other people also appear on TV. Discussion. Floella has written about how she did not feel welcome when she arrived in the UK and how she did not feel like she fitted in. Discuss with the children how they think Floella must have felt. Discuss how your school community seeks to welcome a new child. (You might refer to the school's stated values or ethos.) What do you think may have changed in Floella's life to make her feel welcome?