Reading the story, children can check their initial perceptions (she is good atĪcting and dancing she’s talented/imaginative/creative/graceful/proud). What Grace is like from the book cover (she’s going to be good atĭancing/acting…she’s going to do something amazing she’s a happy Black girl). (For reference see CBBC's Newsround footage re character diversity in children's books.)īook also lends itself to understanding character. In which they feature for a class display, and adding books containing leadingįemales to balance things out. The literary figures mentioned in Amazing Grace, collecting the texts

Older children might also enjoy researching some of Explain that years ago when Amazing Grace was written, Peter Pan was often played by women but, today, menĪnd women play him equally. You could watch a film clip of a panto or organise a theatre trip. Pan? Do boys have the best parts in stories you’ve read? Should Grace beĪllowed to be Peter Pan? Do you think Raj and Natalie were fair to Grace? In the story? (They are mainly boys/men.) Why did Grace want to be Peter What do you notice about the famous characters mentioned That children understand, while also offering natural links to PSHE and drama. Literacy text for Y2 and Y3, it promotes talk around gender and racial equality within familiar contexts The well-crafted story, with Carolineīinch’s wonderfully naturalistic illustrations, explores themes that could not

Picture book, originally published in 1991, is the first in a series by Mary Undeterred, and with theĮncouragement of her Nana, Grace is determined to prove her classmates wrong! Grace wants to be Peter Pan in the school play, her friends try to dissuade her.Īfter all she’s a girl, and Pan is not Black.

Whittington to Hiawatha, Anansi spider to Mowgli, she’s played hundreds of partsįrom TV, books or her Nana’s memory, and she especially loves pantomime! In the end, Grace is voted to play for Peter Pan and proves herself to be ‘amazing Grace’ in that Christmas play.Is a natural-born performer who loves to act out famous roles. Why do you think this boosted Grace’s confidence levels so effectively? When Grace finds herself discouraged by her classmate’s claims that she couldn’t play Peter Pan, her Nana motivates her by showing her a black ballerina’s performance.

What do you think Grace and her challenges represent in the journey of success? How has minority rights and status developed over the twenty-nine years since Hoffman’s book was first published? Was the change for the better or worse? This is also what the inspiring journey of British writer Marry Hoffman’s story, Amazing Grace begins with. “You can be anything when you want when you put your mind to it.” This is what Grace’s Nana tells her when her classmates denied her of the role she yearns to try for in the school play, on the grounds of her gender and race.

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman