February is the month of love supposedly; although l think every month should be the month of love!

February is also LGBT+ history month. I wrote The Princess Without a Crown (https://tinyurl.com/3ebw6z2k) because I wanted little people to be able to read books that gave a strong ‘Love is Love’ message. I read many books as a Primary School Teacher, and felt frustrated that there weren’t enough books where the main characters represented the diversity of love that surrounds us.

Love is love and we should be free to love whoever we love, without fear of prejudice and discrimination.  I felt very proud when my 9-year-old granddaughter came home and said,

“Nanny, someone at school was being mean and called me gay.”

I asked her if she understood what it meant. 

“Of course!” she said, “It’s when a boy loves a boy, or a girl loves a girl.  But I don’t understand why they said that when they were being mean. It’s nothing to be mean about!”

Out of the mouths of babes! 

This is why books to smash stereotypes are so important.

This is why young minds need to be encouraged to understand and celebrate diversity. 

This is why I write books to smash stereotypes.

A great champion of this is my friend Mama G.  Check out this video she has made about LGBT+ history; I’m excited to say that it features The Princess Without a Crown.

Perhaps the most important love though is loving ourselves. Loving who you are and what you look like. Loving the skin, you’re in!  But that can be hard sometimes, can’t it?  Many of us put our love for others above our love for ourselves.  In fact, we are conditioned to believe we must be a good wife, a good mother, a good sister and a good daughter. Quite often at the cost of being good to ourselves.

I’m not suggesting you become selfish and don’t think about others, BUT I am encouraging you to think about yourselves more; to love yourself more.

You are special, you are unique.  You deserve love, from yourself and others.  Not just in February, but all year round.  So, I have a little task for you. Write a love letter to yourself.  Yes, to yourself!  Tell yourself how absolutely amazing you are and everything you love about yourself! Here’s mine!