I have written over thirty books both for children and adults. The book I am most proud of is ‘Coming to England’ which I wrote in 1994. It tells the story of me as a little girl living in the Caribbean and my journey as a ten year old to England. I left with great expectations only to find rejection and heartache when I arrived. It tells of my battle to feel as if I belonged, how I fought adversity and learnt to survive. The book is now on the National Schools Reading List and is loved by children and adults alike. To watch my Coming to England film on BBC iPlayer click here.
My latest book is Sea of Tears, which is my first novel. It tells of a young south London girl’s journey to Barbados with her parents.
Here is a list of my literary credits:
- 1980 – Wrote Jason’s Stories series of books for BBC Publications
- 1983 – Wrote activity book for Methuen,
- 1984 – Judge on Parents Magazine and WH Smith best books for children where she pointed out that ethnic children were not featured or illustrated in any of the books. WH Smith took up her cause and opened a section in their shops to cater for this market. They sent out a message to all publishers that they would only stock their books if on their list were books with ethnic faces.
- 1984 – Appointed patron of BookSpread, an organisation which encourage children of all backgrounds to read books.
- 1985 – A judge and presenter of the Smarties Book prize. She made a plea to publishers to have black faces in books. Many of them responded and culturally diverse faces appeared in many children’s books as a result.
- 1986 – Chairman of the Smarties Book Prize.
- 1987 – Written three other books by now and asked to spearhead Orbis Books and be Editorial Advisor to Century Hutchinson Children’s Books.
- 1988 – Spearheaded a campaign for libraries encouraging children to read books.
- 1992 – Judge for the Smarties Book Award.
- 1994 – Nineteenth book published.
- 1995 – Worked with several councils, spearheading a campaign to get children to read books and promoted it on Border Television and West Country TV. Promoted and judged environmental books for children for Friends of the Earth.
- 1995 – Joined the Advisory Panel for the National Reading Initiative, set up by the Department of National Heritage to encourage children to read more books.
- 1995 – Twentieth book published. – ‘Coming to England’
- 1997 – ‘Coming to England’ published in paperback by Puffin
- 1998 – Judge for the Whitbread Book Awards
- 1999 – Both ‘Coming to England’ and ‘Skip Across the Ocean’ published as educational titles for use in the National Curriculum
- 2000 – ‘Coming to England’ is now on the National Schools’ Reading List
- 2003 – BBC Television used ‘Coming to England’ to teach cultural diversity and creative writing in school
- 2004 – Commissioned by Walker Books to write ‘Arms of Britannia’ sequel to ‘Coming to England’
- 2004 – Commissioned to write ‘My Two Grannies’ for Frances Lincoln Books.
- 2010 – Commissioned to write ‘My Two Grandads’ for Frances Lincoln Books.
- 2012 – Commissioned to write ‘Sea of Tears’ for Frances Lincoln Books.
- 2016 – ‘Coming to England ‘ 20th anniversary re-published by Pan Macmillan – Selected as the Times Book of the Month and a Guardian Children’s Book of the Year.
- 2017 – Appeared at the Hay Festival and Barnes Literary Festival
- 2017 – Judge – 2018 BookTrust’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
- 2017 – Judge – Henley Festival ‘Dragonfly Tea – Children’s Writing Award
- 2017 – Will be appearing at Cheltenham Literary Festival on October 8th
- 2018 – Gave Book Trust Annual Lecture
- 2019 – Judged inaugural ‘Book Trust – Storytime Prize
- 2019 – Announced Storytime Prize shortlist at the Hay Festival
- 2019 – Commissioned to write ‘Coming to England Picture Book
- 2020 – Commissioned to write my autobiography ‘What are You Doing Here?’
- 2021- Commissioned to write ‘Keep Smiling’
BOOKS PUBLISHED 1983 – 2024
- JASON STORIES (Series of 6) – BBC PUBLICATIONS
- FLOELLA’S FUN BOOK – METHUEN
- WHY THE AGOUTI HAS NO TAIL – HUTCHINSON
- FLOELLA’S FAVOURITE FOLK TALES – BEAVER BOOKS
- FALL ABOUT WITH FLO – HUTCHINSON
- FLOELLA’S FUNNIEST JOKES – HUTCHINSON
- CARIBBEAN COOKERY – CENTURY-HUTCHINSON
- FLOELLA’S FABULOUS BRIGHT IDEAS – METHUEN
- FLOELLA’S CARDBOARD BOX BOOK – METHUEN
- FLOELLA’S FLOORBOARD BOOK – ORBIS
- FLO AND ASTON’S BOOKS (Series of 6) – ANDRE DEUTSCH
- SNOTTY AND THE ROD OF POWER – HEINEMANN
- EXPLORING CARIBBEAN FOOD IN BRITAIN – MANTRA
- FOR GOODNESS SAKE – HARPER COLLINS
- SKIP ACROSS THE OCEAN (HARDBACK) – FRANCIS LINCOLN
- SKIP ACROSS TH E OCEAN (PAPERBACK) – FRANCIS LINCOLN
- COMING TO ENGLAND (HARDBACK) – PAVILION BOOKS
- COMING TO ENGLAND (PAPERBACK) – PUFFIN BOOKS
- COMING TO ENGLAND (EDUCATIONAL) – PAVILION BOOKS
- MY TWO GRANNIES – FRANCES LINCOLN
- COMING TO ENGLAND (PAPERBACK) – WALKER BOOKS
- ARMS OF BRITANNIA – WALKER BOOKS
- MY TWO GRANDADS – FRANCES LINCOLN
- SEA OF TEARS – FRANCES LINCOLN
- COMING TO ENGLAND – MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
- COMING TO ENGLAND (PAPERBACK) – MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
- COMING TO ENGLAND PICTURE BOOK – MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? – PAN MACMILLAN BOOKS
- WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS – CAMPBELL BOOKS
- HEAD SHOULDERS KNEES & TOES – CAMPBELL BOOKS
- KEEP SMILING – MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS