Championing differences through reading

Dean Newfield has always enjoyed the creative outlet of writing. In his younger years, he used to write poetry, but he told The AJN that he had always loved the idea of writing a children’s book.

The author and assistant teacher is currently working at a special needs school, “surrounded by children who have lots of differences and all unique character traits”. He said the children made him realise that he could create something that can make a difference.

Newfield explained that while there are a lot of books about being different, he hadn’t seen any books like what he has written – I Don’t Like Loud Noises.

“There was a book I read the other day that was really interesting about ‘boys can be anything’,” he recalled. “It’s a story of how boys can be tall, short, they can wear dresses. It was really unique. But I haven’t seen any that are specifically related to things such as autism. I don’t know if it’s a topic that authors don’t really want to address because it needs to be done in a certain way.”

For Newfield, his aim is to show children to be proud of their differences, that it’s ok to be different and that we need to accept each other just the way we are. The author also wants to encourage a love of reading.

“Reading is really important for young people and I think through children’s books, there are so many opportunities to address different topics and enable kids to explore and be curious,” Newfield said. “And in terms of the perspective of the book, which is sensory sensitivity, enabling young children to realise that it’s ok if you have differences, it’s ok if you identify with some of the elements of the book. I think it’s important that through storytelling, they are able to identify with certain things, especially things that are hard to explain.”

I Don’t Like Loud Noises was written and illustrated by Newfield, and self-published. When asked what advice he would give to fellow authors looking to publish their own book, he said, that if you enjoy writing and find it interesting, go ahead and do it.

“Just enjoy the process, it’s a lot of fun, and there’s a lot of scope out there for writing,” he said.

I Don’t Like Loud Noises is available on Amazon.