'Seeing your own community in a story matters'

A new children's book series, set against the backdrop of Wolverhampton's Chapel Ash area, has been launched by a local author.

Satnam Rakhra’s The Kids from Chapel Ash is a series of 11 books about growing up in Wolverhampton.

Rakhra said he rarely saw himself reflected in the books he read as a child in school.

"The characters rarely looked like me, lived where I lived, or came from families like mine," he said, "I wanted today's children to have something different."

He added: "Seeing your own community in a story tells you your life matters.

"Wolverhampton sometimes gets a bad reputation nationally, but that has never matched the city I know... I wanted to put Wolverhampton on stage."

Rakhra, who recently retired as a social worker after 30 years, said the series was deeply influenced by his work with children.

He said: "Children deal with big emotions in small bodies.

"Hope doesn't come from adults rescuing everyone. It comes from children discovering their own strength."

The series follows a group of schoolchildren as they navigate issues such as friendship, bullying and belonging.

Each story explores themes of honesty, kindness, and resilience with each book focusing on a different child in the same Wolverhampton community.

Rakhra said the series was shaped by his Sikh values, though it was not about "preaching religion" but "modelling character".

"In a multicultural society like ours, those values belong to everyone," he added.

The series will consists of 11 books aimed at young readers aged seven to 13.

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