Simon & Schuster Children's adapts picture book for blind and visually impaired children

Simon & Schuster Children’s Books has announced it will fund an adaptation of one of its picture books, specifically for blind and visually impaired children. S&S has partnered with Living Paintings, a charity which provides a free postal library of more than 3,000 accessible picture books to more than 5,000 library members, to create 30 hand-crafted copies of Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet.

Copies of the book will available for families with blind and visually impaired children from across the country, to borrow from the library from this week.

The copies of Supertato have been handmade by volunteers at the Living Paintings’ HQ in Kingsclere, near Newbury. The finished copies feature a number of tactile, hand-painted versions of key illustrations from the book perfect for children to enjoy, including the characters of Supertato, Evil Pea and others. The books also features braille added on clear sheets, to promote learning and independent reading, and come with especially recorded audio guides. The audio description for Supertato is read by Greg James, Radio 1 DJ and voice of Sprouty Claus in the Supertato TV series.

Rachel Denwood, managing sirector at Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, said: "Living Paintings holds a unique and essential place in the children’s books ecosystem, and it’s been such a privilege to learn more about the mission, history and work of this inspirational charity.  We recently had the pleasure of meeting Camilla Oldland and her brilliant team, and saw the Living Paintings edition of Supertato being lovingly and expertly crafted by hand. S&S is honoured to fund the creation of a Supertato book for the Living Paintings library and thrilled that the joy and silliness of Supertato will soon be experienced by blind and partially sighted children across the country."

Living Paintings’ c.e.o. Camilla Oldland said: "Having the support of Simon & Schuster on this project has been incredible. We’ve been doing this unique work for 35 years and, despite good relations and awareness in the publishing industry, never before has a publisher approached us to fund an accessible adaption of one of their titles themselves. We’re proud that S&S have recognised not just our impact, but the vital need for accessibility in children’s publishing as a whole. We just know that the blind and visually impaired children we work with are going to love the caped crusader that is Supertato!" 

Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet said: "We couldn’t be more happy and proud that there will be 30 special editions of Supertato for blind and visually impaired children to enjoy. We are so thankful to the amazing team at Living Paintings for hand crafting these wonderful editions, the very lovely Greg James for proving the audio and our fabulous publisher Simon & Schuster."

Greg James said: "There’s a history of visual impairments in my family so I know how vital and life enhancing projects like Living Paintings can be. Everyone should be able to enjoy stories and it was a pleasure to be involved and to learn all about this brilliant charity and the joy they bring to people."