“Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, there was a place where no one cared if you were straight or gay”, so begins the narrative of the children’s fairy tale book “Promised Land”, written by Chaz Harris and Adam Reynolds, featuring a different story: in it, a prince falls in love with a farmer. It's a sweet, illustrated animation that represents the importance of LGBT literature for children. In celebration of World Book Day in the United Kingdom, the entire story – including the illustrations – was made available on YouTube by the authors, as a way of popularizing the book. “We know there are a lot of people in our community who don’t know our book exists,” Harris told GSN. “Releasing the story on YouTube was a way of making the book have a greater reach and enabling children to have access to inclusive literature”, he added. Now, everyone can be moved by the love story between Leo and Jack. The video features 32 original illustrations made by Christine Luiten and Bo Moore, and is narrated by Geraldine Brophy. The tracklist was developed by Tane Upjohn-Beatson. The kind of book kids need “We wrote the kind of book we needed to read when we were growing up, because love is love and everyone deserves to live happily ever after,” Reynolds said. For the writer, “Promised Land” is also a source of happiness, comfort and hope in these difficult times. “With the wave of violence and intolerance that the LGBTQ community has faced in many countries in recent years, we feel it is important to share the message of our stories of love and acceptance for everyone to see,” added Harris. For the authors, representation is important “because if we don’t recognize ourselves in stories, we don’t see ourselves in the world”. The authors' next work, which will feature female protagonists, will be available from June. Watch:
