Book guide: When we sleep
What do the adults actually do when the children sleep?
Join a child's fantasies about all the fun adults do after the kids have gone to bed. The book invites you to talk about being similar to each other, being different, about dreams and fantasies.
Questions about sleeping, theater and looking like each other
The child can't sleep, and wonders what mom and Seba will come up with for something fun. Have you ever been unable to sleep? What are you thinking then? How do you fall asleep?
The child imagines that mother and Seba have a theater where they invite all sorts of guests. Have you ever been to the theater? If yes, how was it? If you haven't, that would be exciting, don't you think? Why?
Watch the spread with all the guests. We have a lot of different people there. Is there any person like you? And are there any people who are similar to anyone you know?
Questions about family, stuffed animals and ponies
The child lives with mother, Seba and her younger sibling. Who do you live with? How many of you are at home?
Little sister Mio loves stuffed animals. Do you have stuffed animals at home? What do they represent?
Mio imagines mom and Seba going to the funfair and petting ponies. Have you ever met a pony? If so, how was it?
Mom and Seba get into a boat that takes them to a strange place! Have you ever been on a boat? How was it? If not, would you like to go in a boat? What could be fun about that, do you think?
Norms about skin color
In societies all over the world there are people of different origins and with different skin colors, just like in Sweden. But in the pictures on the children's bookshelf, there is instead a large dominance of people with beige skin who are ethnically Swedish. This means that some children are rarely reflected in children's books and get to read about people who are not
similar to them in appearance, while others receive mirroring almost evenly. This affects both the view of oneself and of others. It makes people with brown and black skin invisible and also causes us to recreate old ideas about who is important and thus should appear in books.
In order to create an inclusive society where everyone feels equal, it is therefore important to reflect children and adults with all different skin colours.
Body standards
A majority of the bodies that children see in books, advertisements and in other images are thin bodies. Women are often slim and voluptuous while men are muscular. It affects our ideals and the idea of how we should look. The images we see are rarely the same as how people actually look, which makes it difficult for us to feel satisfied with our own bodies. By letting books show many different kinds of bodies, the norms are broken up and more role models are given space.
Tip! Remember to make active choices when you choose which pictures of different bodies you show, fill up with pictures of big and round bodies because there is a lack.
