You Can!

Alexandra Strick is passionate about giving children a voice. She has a background in working with children/young people as well as running various national book programmes (including Bookstart). She loves reading, writing and listening to children talk about what they want to see in books. She is author of You Can and We Can, co-author of Max the Champion (with Sean Stockdale and Ros Asquith) and works on a range of ‘touch and feel’ books. She also co-founded Outside in World (promoting translated children’s books) and Inclusive Minds (which helps book creators consult people with lived experience) and she is a consultant/reviewer for BookTrust. Alex lives in Surrey, England.Steve Antony is an award-winning writer and illustrator of over 25 picture books, having sold over one million books worldwide. His books include the Mr Panda series, The Queen’s Hat series, Unplugged, Amazing and Rainbowsaurus. Steve also illustrated You Can! (with Alexandra Strick), as well as the all-new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (adapted by Peter Bently), Tim Minchin’s When I Grow Up and a 70th anniversary cover of The Famous Five. He has contributed work towards LGBTQ+ anthology Proud; Drawing Europe Together and the anthology, Kind. Steve is Swindon Libraries Patron to Children’s Reading Services and an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust. In 2023 he was named ‘School Libraries Champion’ by the School Library Association. He lives in Swindon.Inclusive Minds' Inclusion Ambassadors are a network of young people (and some parents, teachers and youth workers) who share a real interest in seeing better representation of one or more facets of diversity. These are individuals (generally aged between 8 and 30) with important first-hand knowledge of particular facets of diversity and a genuine interest in sharing their expertise and experience to the benefit of children’s books.

"A joyous ode to inclusion, realised in the most delightful, uplifting way."