Part of my job as Children's Laureate is to visit schools and talk about my love of books and stories and encourage them all to do it as well - to read, to write, to never be afraid of their own voice. Because we all have something to say.
Interpretation
Encouraging children to embrace literature and express themselves freely is vital.
In this quote, Malorie Blackman highlights the importance of fostering a love for reading and writing among children. She emphasizes the role of educators and advocates in encouraging young people to express their own voices and stories, reinforcing the belief that everyone has valuable thoughts and experiences to share.
In practice
During a school assembly, this quote can inspire students to explore their creativity through reading and writing.
What I wanted to do was use literature and different kinds of stories and poems as a springboard, tapping into the creativity of our teens - I wanted teenagers to come up with their own creative responses to literature - using books themselves as a starting point.
I remember going into a bookshop, and the only book I saw with a black child on the cover was 'A Thief in the Village' by James Berry, and I thought, 'Is this still the state of publishing?' Then I thought, 'Either I can whine about it or try to do something about it.'
I hope to instill, in every child I meet, my love and enthusiasm for reading and stories.
Children will go with any story as long as it's good, but white adults sometimes think that if a black child's on the cover, it is perhaps not for them.
History should belong to all of us, and it needs to include people from different cultural backgrounds. Otherwise, it risks becoming irrelevant to children, who could then become disenchanted with education.
I read a lot of highly unsuitable books for an 11-year-old. I was desperate to read as widely as possible. I thought, 'There are so many places I am never going to get the chance to visit, but I can if I read them.' And I did. I could go anywhere in the world - and off it - by reading.
Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge.
Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.
We are a democracy, and there is only one way to get a democracy on its feet in the matter of its individual, its social, its municipal, its State, its national conduct, and that is by keeping the public informed about what is going on.
Malala Day is not my day. It is the day of every girl and every boy. It is a day when we come together to raise our voices, so that those without a voice can be heard.
Are you a reader? If you aren't a reader, you might as well forget trying to be a writer.
Without education, we are weaker economically. Without economic power, we are weaker in terms of national security. No great military power has ever remained so without great economic power.
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