MOST childhoods for Brits were made up of reading books like The BFG, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Next year, you’ll be able to experience some true nostalgia as a new museum showcasing the work of famed illustrators, like Sir Quentin Blake, will open in the UK.
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The new House of Illustration will be in ClerkenwellCredit: Tim Ronalds ArchitectsSome of Quentin Blake’s own work will be shown in the museumCredit: Sean Dempsey/PA Wire
Sir Quentin Blake is well-known for illustrating lots of Roald Dahl’s books, as well as his own like the Mrs Armitage series.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will open in May 2026, and it’s an attraction that has been 20 years in the making.
On the project, Sir Quentin said: “I have long dreamt of a permanent place with ‘illustration’ above the door, and now the amazing reality is that we have it.
“I am proud to think the centre has my name on it – illustration is a wonderful universal and varied language.
“Here we shall celebrate its traditions and welcome the astonishing diversity of visual language from across the world. Hurrah!”
Once open, the museum will have exhibitions that will feature rarely-seen works from all over the world.
Original illustrations from leading and emerging illustrators, including work loaned from Quentin Blake’s own archive, will be on show.
There will be open spaces and a cafe for visitors to grab a bite to eatCredit: Tim Ronalds ArchitectsOn-site will also be a gift shop full of illustrated goodiesCredit: Tim Ronalds Architects
Also on the site will be free spaces, including public gardens, displays and an illustration library.
You can take a seat at the café which will serve up fresh food and drinks, and there will be a shop stocked with illustration gifts.
There will be illustrator residencies in London‘s oldest surviving windmill which is also on the old waterworks site in Clerkenwell.
Other events at the museum will be illustration workshops and learning programs.
Previously, the House of Illustration was in Granary Square from 2014 to 2020.
Oct. 8 (UPI) — Parents are struggling to manage their children’s heavy use of screens, including television, computers, phones and gaming devices, according to a Pew Research survey.
When asked how they are managing the use of screen time, 42% say they could do a better job with 58% believing they are doing the best they can, according to the survey released Wednesday.
Thirty-nine percent said they believe they are stricter about their children’s screen time than other parents they know.
Parents have more priority over other daily routines. Pew found 42% make sure screen time is reasonable with 76% believing enough sleep is a priority, 77% good manners, 61% staying active and 54% reading.
The survey was conducted May 13-26 among 3,054 eligible parents sampled from the American Trends Panel, Pew Research Center’s nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults.
Separately, four online focus groups were also conducted from March 4 to 6 with a total of 20 U.S. parents or guardians of at least one child 1 to 12.
“I think eventually we will give it to them, but now … she’s not ready,” one parent said. “We spend too much time on phones. … How can we expect a 9-year-old to control and have a balance between their screen time?”
“I also have three other children in the house, and I work full time,” another parent said. “To just keep some of my sanity, the first thing I do is turn the TV on. … Being the wintertime, it’s hard for them to go outside. … I want to work on the screen time for the summertime.”
A vast majority of children 12 or younger have access to devices — 90% for TV, 68% for tablets, 61% for smartphones, 50% for gaming devices, 39% for desktops or laptops, 37% for voice-activated assistants, 11% for smartwatches and 8% for AI chatbots.
In the survey, 82% said they allow a child younger than 2 to watch TV.
Involving smartphones, 76% of parents say their 11- or 12-year-old uses one, 64% of those 8-10, 58% 5-7 and actually higher 59% ages 2 to 4. Thirty-eight percent of their child younger than 2 ever use or interact\ with one.
A total of 23% say their child has their own smartphone. Broken down, it’s 57% those 11-12, 29% for 8-10, 12% for 5-7 and 8% younger than 5.
Among specific content, 85% of parents said their child ever Watches YouTube, including 51% daily. In 2020, it was 80% for children 11 and younger.
And 15% said their children 12 and younger use TikTok, 8% Snapchat, 5% each Facebook and Instagram. They are using these platforms even though companies have put age restrictions in place.
Eighty percent say social media harms outweigh the benefits, though 46% say a smartphone is more harmful and 20% for tablets.
Parents surveyed explained why they let their children use cellphones: 92% to contact them, 85% for entertainment, 69% to help in learning, 43% to calm them down and 30% so they don’t feel left out.
Pew found there are only slight differences in views for Republican and Democratic parents.
A LOVE Island star has told of the moment she made a desperate 999 call to “catch a paedophile”.
Series ten star Mal Nicol, who entered as a bombshell in 2023, has claimed she got a predatory male arrested – after spotting him lurking by a children’s park.
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Mal Nicol has told fans about her efforts to catch a ‘paedophile’
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Mal was on series ten of Love IslandCredit: ITV
She told fans on TikTok: “We got a paedophile arrested. I literally cannot believe what we witnessed. It was honestly like a movie or something.”
Mal, who was with a friend at the time, was approached by a group of young boys close to a London park who complained about a “creepy man”.
Concerned for their welfare, Mal walked towards the park area in Little Venice, London, to see what was going on for herself.
“Moments later we clearly see that this guy is not okay,” she continued.
“He’s standing by the park swaying, like putting his hand into the park over the fence and trying to high five this little boy who’s about five years old.
“We kind of wanted to distract him and see what he was doing or saying.
“We then saw a mum with her daughter, like a little 3, 4 year old girl who is on a scooter. This guy tries to grab her from behind and the dad jumps in between them both.
“He then goes into the park where there’s a lot of young mums with their like 3 year old girls who are obviously feeling vulnerable and scared.
“So I call 999 and I’m literally so impressed with the police and how fast they came.
“When the officers arrives I was running up to them shouting ‘he’s going to get away, he’s going to get away’.
Maya Jama confirms her future on Love Island amid rumours she is set to quit the villa
“I felt like I was in a movie. I’m like running.”
“The police arrested the suspect and Mal was interviewed alongside other witnesses.
“This is happening in London and I just think you have to do something. You can’t just watch. It was crazy.
“He better be put in for time. Like this is not okay.”
Proud Mal added: “Sorry for the long video, but we put a paedophile in jail.”
Hackers holding pictures and private data of thousands of nursery children and their families to ransom say they will publish more information online unless they are paid.
Criminals calling themselves Radiant hacked the Kido nursery chain and posted profiles of 10 children online on Thursday and a further 10 on Friday.
They have also published the private data of dozens of employees including names, addresses, national insurance numbers and contact details.
Kido has not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment. But it is working with the authorities and the Met Police is investigating.
On their website on the dark web – a part of the internet accessed using specialist software – the hackers had posted a “Data Leakage Roadmap” saying “the next steps for us will be to release 30 more ‘profiles’ of each child and 100 employees’ private data”.
Kido told parents the breach happened when criminals accessed their data hosted by a software service called Famly.
The software is widely used by other nurseries and childcare organisations, and it says on its website it is used by more than one million “owners, managers, practitioners and families”.
“This malicious attack represents a truly barbaric new low, with bad actors trying to expose our youngest children’s data to make a quick buck,” Famly boss Anders Laustsen told the BBC.
“We have conducted a thorough investigation of the incident and can confirm that there has been no breach of Famly’s security or infrastructure in any way and no other customers have been affected.
“We of course take data security and privacy extremely seriously.”
The criminals’ site contains a gallery of 20 children with their nursery pictures, date of births, birthplace and details – such as who they live with and contact details.
Parents have contacted the BBC concerned about the hack, with one mother receiving a threatening phone call from the criminals.
The woman, who did not want to be named, says she received a phone call from the hackers who said they would post her child’s information online unless she put pressure on Kido to pay a ransom.
The mother described the call as “threatening”.
Another parent, Stephen Gilbert, told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that someone in his parent’s WhatsApp group also received a call.
“The revelation the children’s details could have been put on the dark web, that’s very concerning and alarming for me.”
The data on the dark web contains the names, genders, dates of birth of children – as well as their picture
But Sean, who has a child at the Kido nursery in Tooting, contacted BBC News to say he sympathises with the staff there.
“We’re in the digital age now where everything’s online and I think you go into this knowing that there is a risk that at some point this could happen,” he said.
“Any parents that are getting angry should probably direct their anger towards the scumbags that have actually done it.
“You only see the people that run your nursery, and all of them are great. And these poor people are the ones getting the brunt of it on the front line.”
‘We do it for money’
Cyber criminals have been known to make calls to victim organisations to put pressure on them to pay ransoms.
But to call individual victims is extremely rare.
In conversations through the messaging app Signal the fluent English-speaking criminals told the BBC English is not their first language and claimed they hired people to make the calls.
It’s a sign of the callousness of the criminals but also a sign of desperation as it appears Kido is not complying.
Police advice is to never pay hacker ransoms as it encourages the criminal ecosystem.
The hackers first contacted the BBC about their breach on Monday.
After they published the first batch of children’s’ data online the BBC asked if they feel guilty about their distressing actions and the criminals said: “We do it for money, not for anything other than money.”
“I’m aware we are criminals,” they said.
“This isn’t my first time and will not be my last time.”
But they also said they would not be targeting pre-schools again as the attention has been too great.
They have since deleted their Signal account and can no longer be contacted.
Additional reporting by James Kelly and Mary Litchfield.
The Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission inquiry into alleged violations of child privacy laws.
The settlement, disclosed Tuesday, covers videos that Disney uploaded to YouTube that were not properly marked as children’s content. That lapse allowed the videos to become targets for online advertising, drawing the attention of federal regulators.
The company said the violations did not occur on Disney-owned platforms.
“Supporting the well-being and safety of kids and families is at the heart of what we do,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement. “… Disney has a long tradition of embracing the highest standards of compliance with children’s privacy laws, and we remain committed to investing in the tools needed to continue being a leader in this space.”
In 1909, French journalist-turned-entrepreneur Pierre-Francois Lardet returned from a trip to Nicaragua determined to recreate a beverage he had tasted there.
Five years later, in August 1914, Banania was born.
The arrival of the chocolate-flavoured banana powder drink came just as France found itself at war.
The following year, its mascot – a Black soldier wearing a red fez – first appeared on an advertising poster.
During World War I, 200,000 African soldiers fought for France on the battlefields of Europe, Africa and Anatolia. They came from French colonies in West and Central Africa. Many were forcibly recruited.
The African soldier on the Banania poster resembled soldiers known as the Senegalese Tirailleurs (riflemen), who wore a signature red fez. This military corps, founded in 1857, was given its name because its first recruits came from Senegal.
The tirailleurs were famed for their bravery. They were first sent to serve in the colonial wars in West and Central Africa, before fighting in World War I (1914-18). During World War II (1939-45), they served in France, North Africa and the Middle East. At least 30,000 tirailleurs died during the First World War, while an estimated 8,000 died during the Second.
Banania’s tirailleur is smiling, sitting on the grass with a bowl of the powdered drink and a rifle by his side. His exaggerated smile and facial features resemble the racial stereotypes popular at the time and seen in advertisements for chocolate, soap and shoe polish.
The poster’s slogan, “Y’a bon”, meaning “C’est bon” (this is good) in the simplified French taught to colonial soldiers, furthered the racist caricature of the cheerful but simple African. The company referred to its mascot as “L’ami Y’a bon” – the Y’a bon friend.
Against the backdrop of World War I, Lardet’s Mascot tapped into a mood of patriotism and pride in French colonialism. But it also helped to encourage public acceptance of African soldiers fighting on French soil, explains Sandrine Lemaire, a historian and co-author of several books on French colonisation. Banania wasn’t alone. The French authorities also sought to use images highlighting the loyalty and military qualities of France’s African soldiers through propaganda, postcards and news articles.
Senegalese riflemen rest during the First World War. These soldiers were the inspiration behind Banania’s first mascot [Roger Viollet via Getty Images]
“The tirailleur was an opportunistic advertising invention from Lardet … which made the consumption of Banania a quasi-patriotic act,” said Pap Ndiaye, a politician and historian, during a 2010 talk about Banania and colonial oppression.
Banania was promoted through children’s comics featuring the mascot. In one, he returns to his homeland from France, bringing two boxes of Banania to Africans dressed in loincloths. In an illustrated booklet published in 1933, he takes Banania to France before going to the West Indies, the Canary Islands and French colonial Indochina to set up banana plantations.
“In the 20s, 30s, 40s, Banania was everywhere. It had touchpoints in all domains – cinema, packaging, promotional items, notebooks,” said branding expert Jean Watin-Augouard in a 2014 documentary about Banania.
Meanwhile, between the late 1930s and the early 1950s, according to the sole book published about Banania’s history, the company tripled production. These were Banania’s golden years before Nesquik entered the market in the 1960s.
The mascot, which appeared in advertising, packaging and collectible items, such as toys, was popular throughout the 20th century because it reinforced French people’s pride in their colonial empire and their “subjects’” contribution to the war effort, says Etienne Achille, an associate professor of French and Francophone studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
A Renault Estafette with Banania branding and a 1979 Tour de France sign [Creative Commons]
Shaken by decolonisation
But as the French colonies in Africa fought for and gained independence in the 1950s and early 1960s, Banania was also shaken by decolonisation.
Increasingly, Banania – with its slogan and stereotyped mascot – became shorthand for colonialism and racism. The tirailleur, in representing soldiers forced to fight for France, came to embody the injustice denounced by anti-colonial movements.
“I will tear up the Banania smiles from all the walls of France,” wrote Leopold Sedar Senghor, who became Senegal’s first president in 1960, in a 1948 poem dedicated to the tirailleurs.
A few years later, Martinique-born philosopher-psychiatrist Frantz Fanon made several references to “Y’a bon Banania” in his 1952 book Black Skin, White Masks, to denote how Black people in France are seen through the lens of racist tropes.
But, despite the criticisms, the mascot remained, albeit with updates.
In 1967, when advertising sold modern, aspirational lifestyles, it became simplified and geometric: a brown triangular face with cartoon eyes and a red rectangular hat on a yellow background. The slogan, however, was retired in 1977.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a cartoonish child’s face was introduced on some of the brand’s products, while others retained the mascot.
The ‘grandson’ of the original tirailleur adorns modern packaging [Clement Girardot/Al Jazeera]
In 2004, after Banania was acquired by French company Nutrial under a holding company, Nutrimaine, a new mascot was unveiled: the “grandson” of the 1915 tirailleur, who, according to Nutrimaine, symbolised diversity and the successful integration of migrant communities into French society. But his stereotyped features weren’t so different from his predecessor’s, with his ecstatic smile, white teeth and red fez.
During the last decades of the 20th century, the French brand never regained its dominant position and continued to lose ground to competitors like Nesquik. It had struggled financially while becoming less popular among younger generations.
“They had to return to the golden era of the brand to save the company. There was only one way to do it: to go back to the emblem. Very few brands are so connected to their emblem,” explained Achille. “This rejuvenated version effectively plays on the idea of superposition. When you see it, you immediately think of the old tirailleur.”
The design also caught the attention of writers and activists at Grioo.com, an online platform for the French-speaking Black community in Europe and Africa. “Can we tolerate that in 2005 we are represented as our ancestors were 90 years ago?” Grioo asked its readers, launching an online petition against Banania.
Graphic designer Awatif Bentahar reimagined the packaging of a drink that was part of her childhood [Courtesy of Awatif Bentahar]
‘Hurtful’ heritage
More than two decades later, the “grandson” still smiles on Banania boxes in supermarkets across France.
For Achille, Banania’s marketing epitomises France’s lack of public debate about colonialism and postcolonial racism. “Only the complete imbrication of the colonial into popular culture can explain why Banania can continue to operate with impunity,” he said. “In other countries, this would not be possible.”
A spokesperson for Nutrimaine declined to provide comment for this article.
Awatif Bentahar, 37, grew up seeing Banania on supermarket shelves and drinking it on occasion. She says, “The company hasn’t understood how their heritage can actually be hurtful to a big part of the population.
“The French ‘children of immigrants’ see the painful history of colonisation and the struggle we are waging today to be respected in a society that cannot help but refer on a daily basis to our status of ‘different’ French.”
As a graphic designer and a French woman of Moroccan descent, Bentahar would like to see Banania evolve. As a personal project, she created alternative decolonised packaging, removing the mascot and drawing from previous designs to include playful eyes and a smile.
“I decided to try to rebrand Banania, not because I hate it, but because I actually like the idea of what it could be. Brands are part of our lives, whether we like it or not,” she wrote on her blog.
“This one happens to be part of my childhood, and I would love to see it being on the good side of history for a change.”
This article is part of “Ordinary items, extraordinary stories”, a series about the surprising stories behind well-known items.
UNICEF says “famine is absolutely ravaging Gaza City,” as aid workers at a nutrition centre warn parents have run out of options to feed their children. Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud visited the centre, where “the signs of famine are everywhere.”
A BELOVED children’s author who wrote over 150 books has died aged 87.
Allan Ahlberg produced a host of bestselling nursery classics during a stellar career as an author.
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Allan Ahlberg has died aged 87Credit: Alamy
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The children’s author left behind an incredible legacyCredit: CLPE
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He worked with his late wife Janet on books together
Some of his most famous work includes lasting favourites Peepo!, The Baby’s Catalogue and Each Peach Pear Plum.
He came to writing in his late thirties, when his wife Janet grew tired of illustrating non-fiction and asked him to write a story for her to illustrate.
Allan later recalled the moment was “as if she turned a key in my back and I was off”.
The Ahlbergs went on to produce 37 books together, and Allan also wrote more than 100 others, some in Janet’s lifetime, and some since her death from breast cancer in 1994.
Following Janet’s death, Allan worked with illustrators such asRaymond Briggsand Bruce Ingman.
His career came full circle in a series of collaborations with his daughter Jessica including Half a Pig and a pop-up set of anarchic variations on the tale of Goldilocks.
Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, CEO of Walker Books Group, which published some of his books, said: “He was enormously playful in spirit and language and had the ability to make you smile in one sentence.
“Allan inspired generations of children’s writers, inspired all of us who worked with him, and inspired artists to make some of their very best work.”
When Children’s Hospital Los Angeles first told thousands of patients it was shuttering its pediatric gender clinic last month, Jesse Thorn was distraught but confident he could quickly find a new local care team for his kids.
But by the time the Center for Transyouth Health and Development officially closed its doors on Tuesday, the father of three was making plans to flee the country.
“They’re targeting whoever they can,” Thorn said. “[I’m afraid] the police will show up at my door because I took my child to see their doctor.”
Until this week, Children’s was among the largest and oldest pediatric gender clinics in the United States — and one of few providing puberty blockers, hormones and surgical procedures for trans youth on public insurance.
The closure of the renowned program signals a wider unraveling in the availability of care across the country, experts said. That includes in former safe havens such as California, New York and Illinois, where state laws protecting trans-specific healthcare are crumbling under mounting legal pressure and bureaucratic arm-twisting by the Trump administration.
In the last week, University of Chicago Medicine and Children’s National in D.C. announced they will end or dramatically scale back services for trans youth, following similar moves by Stanford Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
“There’s a rapid collapse of the provision of this care in blue states,” said Alejandra Caraballo, a civil rights attorney and legal instructor at Harvard. “By end of 2025, most care will effectively be banned.”
Some parents in L.A. say they fear the Department of Justice will use private medical data subpoenaed from California’s largest pediatric safety-net hospital to take their children away from them.
“It’s absolutely terrifying,” said Maxine, the mother of a Children’s Hospital patient, who declined to give her last name for fear of attacks on her son.
“I’m very afraid that the DOJ and this acting Attorney General are going to come after parents and use the female genital mutilation law … to prosecute parents and separate me from my child,” she said.
On July 9, Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi announced the Department of Justice was subpoenaing patient medical records from more than 20 doctors and clinics, the latest in a cavalcade of legal and technical maneuvers against providers who care for trans youth.
“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Bondi said in a news release announcing the move.
Children’s would not say whether it had been subpoenaed or if it had turned over records responsive to the government’s demand.
The Justice Department was already investigating pediatric specialists for a litany of alleged crimes, from deceptive trade practices to billing fraud. Federal health agencies have vowed to withhold funding from institutions that continue to provide affirming care.
“These threats are no longer theoretical,” Children’s Hospital executives wrote to staff in an internal email announcing the closure June 12. “[They are] threatening our ability to serve the hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on CHLA for lifesaving care.”
Advocates say gender-affirming care is also lifesaving. They point to statistics — contested by the federal government and some experts — showing high rates of suicide among trans youth.
In June, the decision to shutter the clinic was widely condemned. Advocates said Children’s Hospital L.A. had “thrown trans kids under the bus” in disregard of state law.
Few are saying that now.
“You could see kids with leukemia being cut off their chemo therapy unless these hospitals stop provide care to trans people,” Caraballo said. “If one of the biggest children’s hospitals in the country couldn’t shoulder that burden, I don’t see many others being able to do so.”
Others agreed.
“No matter what California or any other state has done to say, ‘We want to protect these kids,’ unless they can write checks that equal the amount of money that’s being lost, [programs close],” said Dara E. Purvis, a law professor at Temple University.
So far, the Trump administration has painted parents as victims of “radical gender ideology.”
Some experts warned that as the government tightens the screws on doctors and hospitals, trans teens and their families are likely to seek hormones outside the medical system, including through gray market channels.
“We’ve seen this with abortion,” Caraballo said. “People are going to go about getting it whichever way they can.”
There are fears that families could face prosecution for continuing to seek medications, similar to charges being filed against mothers who have secured abortion pills for their teenagers.
“We’re working with Congress on existing criminal laws related to female genital mutilation to more robustly protect children,” Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle said during a Federal Trade Commission workshop entitled “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors.”
“We are using all of the tools at the Department of Justice to address this issue,” Mizelle said.
For now, dozens of hospitals across California still provide gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and surgical procedures.
But the list changes almost day to day.
“Even programs that may have been operating a month ago are not operating now,” said Terra Russell-Slavin, chief impact officer at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “There’s a lot of concern about even being public about offering care because those agencies become targets.”
With the medical care their children rely on under threat and few promised protections from the state, some families are unsure what the coming months will bring.
For one Orange County father, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation against his trans son, plans for future travel are suddenly in jeopardy.
He said only about half of his son’s identity documents match his gender, and they’ve been warned not to try to change others.
“He won’t be able to leave the country because he can’t get a matching passport,” the father said.
For Maxine, the L.A. mom, balancing the banal with the existential is a daily strain.
“My kid is just living their life. They want to go to concerts, they want to go shopping for back to school — they don’t know any of this is happening,” the mother said. “You have to experience this intense fear while maintaining a normal household for everybody else.”
Picture books are not usually the stuff of Supreme Court rulings. But on Friday, a majority of justices ruled that parents have a right to opt their children out of lessons that offend their religious beliefs — bringing the colorful pages of books like “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” and “Pride Puppy” into the staid public record of the nation’s highest court.
The ruling resulted from a lawsuit brought by parents in Montgomery County, Md., who sued for the right to remove their children from lessons where LGBTQ+ storybooks would be read aloud in elementary school classes from kindergarten through 5th grade. The books were part of an effort in the district to represent LGBTQ+ families in the English language arts curriculum.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that schools must “notify them in advance” when one of the disputed storybooks would be used in their child’s class, so that they could have their children temporarily removed. The court’s three liberals dissented.
As part of the the decisions, briefings and petitions in the case, the justices and lawyers for the parents described in detail the story lines of nine picture books that were part of Montgomery County’s new curriculum. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor even reproduced one, “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” in its entirety.
Here are the nine books that were the subject of the case:
Pride Puppy Author: Robin Stevenson Illustrator: Julie McLaughlin
Book “Pride Puppy” published by Orca Book Publishers.
(Orca Book Publishers)
“Pride Puppy,” a rhyming alphabet book for very young children, depicts a little girl who loses her dog during a joyful visit to a Pride parade. The story, which is available as a board book, invites readers to spot items starting with each of the letters of the alphabet, including apple, baseball and clouds — as well as items more specific to a Pride parade.
Lawyers representing the parents said in their brief that the “invites students barely old enough to tie their own shoes to search for images of ‘underwear,’ ‘leather,’ ‘lip ring,’ ‘[drag] king’ and ‘[drag] queen,’ and ‘Marsha P. Johnson,’ a controversial LGBTQ activist and sex worker.”
The “leather” in question refers to a mother’s jacket, and the “underwear” to a pair of green briefs worn over tights by an older child as part of a colorful outfit.
Love, Violet Author: Charlotte Sullivan Wild Illustrator: Charlene Chua
Book “Love Violet” published by macmillan publishers.
(macmillan)
The story describes a little girl named Violet with a crush on another girl in her class named Mira, who “had a leaping laugh” and “made Violet’s heart skip.” But every time Mira tries to talk to her, Violet gets shy and quiet.
On Valentine’s Day, Violet makes Mira a special valentine. As Violet gathers the courage to give it to her, the valentine ends up trampled in the snow. But Mira loves it anyway and also has a special gift for Violet — a locket with a violet inside. At the end of the book, the two girls go on an adventure together.
Lawyers for the parents describe “Love, Violet” as a book about “two young girls and their same-sex playground romance.” They wrote in that “teachers are encouraged to have a ‘think aloud’ moment to ask students how it feels when they don’t just ‘like’ but ‘like like’ someone.”
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope Author: Jodie Patterson Illustrator: Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Book “Born Ready” published by Random House.
(Random House)
In “Born Ready,” 5-year-old Penelope was born a girl but is certain they are a boy.
“I love you, Mama, but I don’t want to be you. I want to be Papa. I don’t want tomorrow to come because tomorrow I’ll look like you. Please help me, Mama. Help me be a boy,” Penelope tells their mom. “We will make a plan to tell everyone we know,” Penelope’s mom tells them, and they throw a big party to celebrate.
In her dissent, Sotomayor notes, “When Penelope’s brother expresses skepticism, his mother says, ‘Not everything needs to make sense. This is about love.’ ”
In their opening brief, lawyers for the families said that “teachers are told to instruct students that, at birth, people ‘guess about our gender,’ but ‘we know ourselves best.’ ”
Prince and Knight Author: Daniel Haack Illustrator: Stevie Lewis
“Prince and Knight” is a story about a prince whose parents want him to find a bride, but instead he falls in love with a knight. Together, they fight off a dragon. When the prince falls from a great height, his knight rescues him on horseback.
When the king and queen find out of their love, they “were overwhelmed with joy. ‘We have finally found someone who is perfect for our boy!’ ” A great wedding is held, and “the prince and his shining knight would live happily ever after.”
“The book Prince & Knight clearly conveys the message that same-sex marriage should be accepted by all as a cause for celebration,” said Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion, a concerning message for Americans whose religion tells them that same-sex marriage is wrong.
“For young children, to whom this and the other storybooks are targeted, such celebration is liable to be processed as having moral connotations,” Alito wrote. “If this same-sex marriage makes everyone happy and leads to joyous celebration by all, doesn’t that mean it is in every respect a good thing?”
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding Author: Sarah S. Brannen Illustrator: Lucia Soto
In “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” a little girl named Chloe learns that her beloved uncle is engaged to his partner, a man named Jamie. At first, she worries that the marriage will change her close bond with her uncle. But she soon embraces the celebration and the joy of getting another uncle through the union.
In the majority opinion, Alito wrote that the book sends children the message that “two people can get married, regardless of whether they are of the same or the opposite sex, so long as they ‘love each other.’ ” That viewpoint is “directly contrary to the religious principles that the parents in this case wish to instill in their children.” Parents ability to “present a different moral message” to their children, he said, “is undermined when the exact opposite message is positively reinforced in the public school classroom at a very young age.”
In her dissent, Sotomayor includes the entire book, writing that, “Because the majority selectively excerpts the book in order to rewrite its story.”
The majority’s analysis, she writes, “reveals its failure to accept and account for a fundamental truth: LGBTQ people exist. They are part of virtually every community and workplace of any appreciable size. Eliminating books depicting LGBTQ individuals as happily accepted by their families will not eliminate student exposure to that concept.”
Jacob’s Room to Choose Author: Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman Illustrator: Chris Case
Book “Jacob’s Room To Choose” published by Magination Press.
(Magination Press)
“Jacob’s Room to Choose” is a follow-up to “Jacob’s New Dress,” a picture book listed as one of the American Library Assn.‘s top 100 banned books of the last decade.
Jacob wears a dress, and when he tries to use the boy’s bathroom, two little boys “stared at Jacob standing in the doorway. Jacob knew what that look meant. He turned and ran out.” The same thing happens to his friend Sophie, who presents as a boy and is chased out of the girl’s bathroom.
Their teacher encourages the whole class to rethink what gender really means. The class decides everyone should be able to use the bathroom that makes them feel comfortable, and makes new, inclusive signs to hang on the bathroom doors.
“After relabeling the bathroom doors to welcome multiple genders, the children parade with placards that proclaim ‘Bathrooms Are For Every Bunny’ and ‘[choose] the bathroom that is comfy,’ ” lawyers for the parents wrote.
IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All Author: Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council and Carolyn Choi Illustrator: Ashley Seil Smith
Book “IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All” published by Dottir Press.
(Dottir Press)
“IntersectionAllies,” written by three sociologists, is a story about characters with different identities, including one who uses a wheelchair, and another, Kate, who identifies as transgender. One page shows Kate in a gender-neutral bathroom, saying, “My friends defend my choices and place. A bathroom, like all rooms, should be a safe space.”
In the majority opinion, Alito describes a discussion guide included with the book that he said asserts: “When we are born, our gender is often decided for us based on our sex . . . . But at any point in our lives, we can choose to identify with one gender, multiple genders, or neither gender.” The guide asks readers, “What pronouns fit you best?” Alito wrote.
What Are Your Words?: A Book About Pronouns Author: Katherine Locke Illustrator: Anne Passchier
“What Are Your Words” is a picture book about a child named Ari whose pronouns are “like the weather. They change depending on how I feel. And that’s ok, because they’re my words.” Ari’s Uncle Lior (who uses they/them pronouns) is coming to visit, and Ari is struggling to decide which words describe them.
“The child spends the day agonizing over the right pronouns,” the lawyers for the parents wrote. At the end, while watching fireworks, Ari says, “My words finally found me! They and them feel warm and snug to me.”
My Rainbow Author: DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal Illustrator: Art Twink
“My Rainbow” tells the true story of a Black child with autism who self-identifies as a transgender girl. Trinity wants long hair, just like her doll, but has trouble growing it out. “The mother decides that her child knows best and sews him a rainbow-colored wig,” lawyers for the parents wrote.
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is the preeminent center for pediatric medicine in Southern California. For three decades, it’s also been one of the world’s leading destinations for trans care for minors. Don’t take my word for it: CHLA boasts about its record of providing “high-quality, evidence-based, medically essential care for transgender and gender-diverse youth, young adults, and their families.”
Earlier this month, it abruptly ended all that, telling its staff in a meeting that the Center for Transyouth Health and Development would be shutting down. (My daughter was, until this announcement, a patient at the center.)
Did some new medical breakthrough, some unexpected research drive the decision to cut off care for roughly 2,500 patients with no warning? No. It came, the hospital said, after “a thorough legal and financial assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of recent administrative actions and proposed policies.”
In other words, the hospital caved. In advance.
CHLA made the move a week before the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in the United States vs. Skrmetti, which upheld a Tennessee law that bans most gender-affirming care for minors. More than 20 states have passed similar laws that prevent trans minors from accessing many different forms of medical care. The decision essentially shields those laws from future legal challenges.
But the Supreme Court ruling had nothing to do with CHLA’s decision. There is no such law in California.
Why, then, without any court order or law, did the center suddenly close, leaving so many young patients in need of doctors, medications and procedures? You can probably guess the answer.
Pressure from the Trump administration threatened the hospital with severe repercussions if it continued to serve these patients. One form of pressure arrived in a May 28 letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, signed by its administrator, the former TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz. He announced that his agency would seek financial records on a range of gender-affirming care procedures from several dozen hospitals.
Being faced with the choice of discontinuing care for an entire class of patients or battling the administration over access to financial records is not a dilemma any doctor wants to face. To be clear, this is not a debate over medical science or proper care for trans youth. CHLA followed the science — until it didn’t. This is a debate over ideology about who is deserving of medical care.
In the past few months, we have seen powerful law firms, large corporations and universities forced to contend with difficult bargains. Settle with an administration that has singled you out? Or take the battle to court?
In February, when Children’s Hospital announced that it would stop taking on new patients in its Transyouth Center, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sternly reminded them that they had a legal obligation to continue to provide this care. The hospital quickly reversed course.
That’s why the recent choice of the CHLA board marks a huge shift that could potentially affect care for not just trans youth patients but so many others as well.
Because what the board of CHLA did was, in fact, a choice. Moreover, CHLA’s choice went against its own medical advice about the urgent need for such care. On its website, the hospital claims it was “immensely proud of this legacy of caring for young people on the path to achieving their authentic selves.”
When confronted with threats, the board chose to sacrifice the care of one group of patients in the hope that it could continue to care for others. Perhaps the board concluded that it was following a crude, utilitarian logic: denying the medical needs of some would allow it to provide for many more.
That’s not how I see it. In caving to blackmail, they have endorsed the administration’s bigotry. They have demonstrated that trans youth are expendable. The board has made it clear that this group of patients is not as deserving of care as others. When CHLA faced actual pressure, its own record of providing “high-quality, evidence-based, medically essential care” simply became too inconvenient.
This time, it was trans youth. Who will it be next time? Disabled children? Children born outside the U.S.? CHLA agreed to play the game rather than call it out for what it is.
As a journalist, I occasionally grant anonymity to a source. It’s not an action I take lightly. The decision means that if pressured, even when threatened with contempt of court, I will not reveal their identity. Thankfully, it’s never come to that for me, although other journalists have gone to jail to protect sources. If I were to break that pledge once, I could never in good conscience grant it again.
I now wonder how doctors at CHLA can ever look their young patients in the eye again and promise that, no matter what, they will fight for their care.
Gabriel Kahn is a professor of professional practice at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Under mounting pressure from the Trump administration, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will shutter its longstanding healthcare program for trans children and young adults this summer, according to emails reviewed by The Times.
The Center for Transyouth Health and Development began telling its nearly 3,000 patient families of the closure on Thursday, saying there was “no viable alternative” that would allow the safety-net hospital to continue specialized care.
“There is no doubt that this is a painful and significant change to our organization and a challenge to CHLA’s mission, vision, and values,” hospital executives wrote to staff in a Thursday morning email.
The email said the decision to close the center on July 22 “follows a lengthy and thorough assessment of the increasingly severe impacts of federal administrative actions and proposed policies” that have emerged since the hospital briefly paused the initiation of care for some patients this winter.
The note sent shock waves through the tight-knit patient community, members of which had recently breathed a sigh of relief after CHLA reversed its brief ban on some care for new patients in February.
“We’re just disappointed and scared and enraged” said Maxine, the mother of a current patient, who declined to give her last name for fear of attacks on her son. “The challenge is how we break news to this kid who has had such a positive experience with everybody at Children’s.”
In the email, executives said that continuing to operate the center would jeopardize the hospital’s ability to care for “hundreds of thousands” of other children, noting that federal agencies including the Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had warned of dire consequences for doctors and hospitals providing care opposed by the administration — including threat of prosecutions for doctors.
“These threats are no longer theoretical,” the note said. “Taken together, the Attorney General memo, HHS review, and the recent solicitation of tips from the FBI to report hospitals and providers of GAC strongly signal this Administration’s intent to take swift and decisive action, both criminal and civil, against any entity it views as being in violation of the executive order.”
The hospital’s Transyouth center is among the oldest and largest programs in the country, and among the only facilities that provides puberty blockers, hormones and surgical procedures for trans youth on public insurance.
But the hospital is also significantly more reliant on public funding than any other pediatric medical center in California — a situation that leaves it particularly exposed to the Trump administration. Roughly 40% of pediatric beds in Los Angeles are at Children’s.
“CHLA has a responsibility to navigate this complex and uncertain regulatory environment in a way that allows us to remain open as much as possible for as many as possible,” executives wrote. “In the end, this painful and difficult decision was driven by the need to safeguard CHLA’s ability to operate amid significant external pressures beyond our control.”
Protests erupted in February after the hospital briefly paused hormone therapy for some patients under 19, in response to President Trump’s executive order.
That move was reversed a few weeks later, amid pressure from patient families, LGBTQ+ civil rights groups and the state Department of Justice.
“Let me be clear: California law has not changed, and hospitals and clinics have a legal obligation to provide equal access to healthcare services,” Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta wrote on Feb. 5, days into the pause.
The California Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thursday’s internal email from Children’s leadership notes the pressure from the federal government has risen at the same time that support from the state has ebbed.
“Over the past several months, California’s deepening budget crisis, President Trump’s executive orders, proposed federal legislation and rulemaking, and growing economic uncertainty have made the situation even more dire,” the email said.
Activists say the closure sets a dangerous precedent.
“CHLA needs to be a leader in this and stand up to the Trump administration, because other hospitals are taking note of what they’re doing,” said Maebe Pudlow, a trans nonbinary activist and Silverlake Neighborhood Council member who helped lead the protests when care was paused this winter.
“It feels very conveniently timed when everybody’s focus is on ICE raids happening in Los Angeles,” the activist went on. “I think it’s despicable.”
Maxine, the mom, was more measured.
“We’re slowly going underground, underground, underground,” the mother said. “You put one thing in place, and then you have to prepare for when that gets taken away. We’re just trying to stay a couple of steps ahead, sticking together with other parents, knowing who our allies are.”
WHEN you are a parent it can be expensive buying clothes for your ever-growing kids.
Thankfully shoppers have been raving about spotting George at Asda currently has a bumper sale on with numerous items down to just £1.50.
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A mum shared the bargains she had picked up, with some items down to £1.50Credit: Facebook/Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Group
One mum took to the Facebook group Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK and showed how she filled her basket on the George app with discount clothes.
She wrote: “Lots of clothes reduced on the George app.”
Including in her shopping haul were some gamer-themed boys pjs for £1.50, which were for aged seven to eight.
The woman also bought a five-pack of cotton socks for £2 and some Pokemon-themed socks for £2.50.
Other shoppers commented saying they had also stocked up for their kids’ summer wardrobes.
One mum got a £1.50 girls T-shirt, a two-pack of long-sleeve tops for £3 and some £4 swim shorts.
She also got a £2 tennis-themed pink sweatshirt, and a £2 mint green sweatshirt which said ‘Happy Moments.’
Meanwhile, a third Asda fan wrote: “Just got grandkids some bits too.”
One bargain hunter also pointed out that you can save on delivery by getting it sent to an Asda store, which waivers the usual £4 shipping fee.
George store launch
We recently shared how Asda has launched its first-ever stand-alone George store, and it could be rolled out across the UK if it’s a hit.
Kat Farmers new George at Asda Collection
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George at Asda currently has a bumper sale on for kids’ clothesCredit: Alamy
The debut site opened on Saturday, May 10 in Leeds, taking over the old Asda Living at Crown Point Retail Park.
The slick new store is packed with head-turning fashion, stylish homeware, must-have toys and baby bits – plus a fresh café to fuel your spree.
There are 30 Asda Living stores across the UK, and bosses will decide later this year whether to roll out more George stores after another trial run.
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Another Asda shopper shared the bargains they had found on the app
Fashionistas can bag the Spring/Summer 2025 collection fronted by supermodel Yasmin Le Bon, plus new celeb collabs – including a chic kidswear range by Erica Davies and a sunshine-filled drop from Billie Faiers.
And it’s not just the clothes getting a makeover – the whole experience is sleeker, quicker and easier, with speedy self-checkouts, faster queues and slick Click & Collect.
Shoppers will also be able to pop into the brand-new Kitchen café, where staffers are dishing up hot meals, cold bites and stone-baked pizzas.
Liz Evans, Asda’s Chief Commercial Officer for George and Retail, said: “Our Asda Living stores have been a huge success – but as shopping habits change, we want to make it even easier for customers to enjoy quality, style and value with George at the heart of it.”
The George label launched in 1989 when fashion guru George Davies teamed up with Asda to make the UK’s first-ever supermarket clothing brand.
By 2004, it was the nation’s biggest clothing retailer, and Asda launched its first Living store to expand into homeware.
The supermarkets have really upped their game when it comes to their fashion lines. These days, as you head in to do your weekly food shop you can also pick up a selection of purse-friendly, stylish pieces for all the family.
Tesco has just announced a 0.7 per cent increase in the quarter thanks to a ‘strong growth in clothing’ and M&S has earnt the title of the number one destination for womenswear on the high street.
Asda’s clothing line George has made £1.5 million for the supermarket in 2023, 80 per cent of Sainsbury’s clothes sold at full price rather than discounted and Nutmeg at Morrisons sales are also up 2 per cent in the past year.
So what is it about supermarket fashion that is becoming so successful?
Apart from the clothing actually being affordable, it’s good quality too – with many being part of schemes such as the Better Cotton Initiative.
A lot of the time they keep to classic pieces that they know will last the customer year after year.
Plus because they buy so much stock they can turn around pieces quickly and buy for cheaper because of the volumes.
NETFLIX has struck a new deal that will see a popular kids show come to the streaming giants service.
The show was facing an uncertain future after losing funding but has been saved by the new Netflix deal.
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The new deal will see episodes released later this yearCredit: Getty
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Sesame Street has been on TV for decades and boasts hundreds of awardsCredit: Alamy
Sesame Street will be hosted on the streaming service with 90 hours of previous episodes and a whole new season added to the Netflix catalogue.
The move comes after HBO decided not to renew the 50-year-old show’s deal.
Sesame Street was threatened with cancellation in the wake of the news but has now been thrown a lifeline.
The deal will see new episodes of the beloved children’s show run on Netflix, PBS, and the PBS Kids app later this year.
No date has been announced for the premiere as of yet.
Warner Bros Discovery, who aired the show since 2016, decided not to renew its deal for new episodes to air on HBO and Max.
However, episodes of the children’s TV series will remain there until 2027.
The new series, to be aired on Netflix, will be the shows impressive 56th season.
Episodes in the new season will revolve around a single, 11 minute story.
Sesame Workshop said in a statement: “This unique public-private partnership will enable us to bring our research-based curriculum to young children around the world with Netflix’s global reach, while ensuring children in communities across the US continue to have free access on public television to the Sesame Street they love.”
Sesame Street has been entertaining children since 1969 with beloved puppet characters.
The show has won more than 200 Emmys in its long history.
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Characters like Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird and Cookie Monster lead the episodesCredit: AP
NETFLIX PRICES AND PERKS – HOW MUCH ARE YOU PAYING?
Here’s what you need to know…
Netflix Standard with Ads
Price: £4.99 UK / $7.99 US
Ad-supported, all but a few movies and TV shows available, unlimited mobile games
Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
Download on 2 supported devices at a time
Netflix Standard
Price: £10.99 UK / $17.99 US
Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
Watch on 2 supported devices at a time
Watch in 1080p (Full HD)
Download on 2 supported devices at a time
Option to add 1 extra member who doesn’t live with you
Netflix Premium
Price: £17.99 UK / $24.99 US
Unlimited ad-free movies, TV shows, and mobile games
Watch on 4 supported devices at a time
Watch in 4K (Ultra HD) + HDR
Download on 6 supported devices at a time
Option to add up to 2 extra members who don’t live with you
Netflix spatial audio
Picture Credit: Netflix
Episodes are led by Big Bird and a cast of characters that educate children about colours, shapes and numbers.
Funding for the show was thrown into question earlier this year when President Trump issued an executive order to block funding for TV network PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).
The move resulted in federal funding for the show, among other TV programmes for kids, being cut.
Netflix’ new deal will see the show saved from an otherwise uncertain future.
The streaming giant called Sesame Street a “beloved cornerstone of children’s educational television.”
Netflix promised to keep fan favourite segments like Elmo’s world and Cookie Monster’s Foodie Truck in the show.
The streaming service did hint at changes for the new season as well though, telling viewers to “expect new ways to play along.”
Sesame Street was co-founded by Lloyd Morrisett and Joan Ganz Cooney.
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Netflix hinted at minor changes to the showCredit: Getty Images – Getty
