The amazing singer, author and all round superstar, Alesha Dixon joined Giovanna Fletcher for her final episode of the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast series!
In this episode, Alesha discussed life as a mum to her two daughters: Azura and Anaya, covering topics from knowing when is the right time to have a child; the emotions and fears you go through post-partum; going back to work after having a child; and feeling comfortable in your own skin- all wrapped up in a plenitude of giggles and emotional beats.
In addition to this, Alesha also delved into why she wanted to write for children and what the responsibilities are that come with it.
Alesha stated that her girls were a ‘huge part’ for why she wants to write. She explained that when she grew up:
‘I never read any books where I felt represented’
As such, Alesha developed Aurora Beam (the protagonist in the bestselling Lightning Girl series) so her daughter, Azura, would never feel like that too. Alesha believes every child should be able to feel represented and seen in the books they read- championing the phrase ‘we can represent’. This movement is especially poignant, as Alesha reminds us in the podcast, that only ‘4% of all books released in 2018 had somebody of colour on the front of the book.’ As such, something that ‘began as a passion project’ has now become ‘something where I feel like we have to keep going, we need these characters and we need to encourage others to invest in supporting.’
This especially rings true in children’s fiction as Alesha comments that:
‘Kids do not see colour, they just see a great character.’
