Emily Joof is a Stockholm based author, education advisor, and mum of two. 3 years ago, she started writing children’s stories in response to some of the micro-aggressions and prejudice her children were facing. Emily is currently doing her doctoral research on how children’s books can promote inclusion in preschools. 

She is a firm believer that “reading books and telling stories is a powerful art form that builds inclusion, challenges stereotypes and affirms children’s self-esteem.” 

Living in Sweden, Emily realised there was an incredible gap in the children’s book landscape. The narratives and illustrations too often showed a distinct lack of representation of voices. “Picture books, in particular, should represent all children regardless of their ethnicity, ability, gender, social status.” – says Emily.

In response to this situation, Emily created her own publishing company Mbife Books and started writing stories of her own. She published her first book, Mangoes & Monkeybread, in 2018. This was quickly followed in 2019 by a second book, Our Favourite Things. 

This summer, Mbife Books releases a new picture book, Ballet with Heart, written in partnership with the acclaimed International Ballet School in Stockholm. The school is run by the highly-praised Director, Gina Tse, former Principal Dancer from the Royal Swedish Ballet Company. 

Together they hope to celebrate ballet as a multi-disciplinary art form that nurtures inner strength and physical prowess. The book will also challenge gender and racial stereotypes around classical dance.

Mbife Books believes in the arts, in inclusion, and in powering dreams. They trust that Ballet with Heart will represent those ideals and more. The book will be illustrated by Sawyer Cloud, a self-taught Madagascan illustrator, who has worked on many books with larger publishing houses, and independent authors alike. Sawyer and Emily worked together on Our Favourite Things, a book that celebrates multicultural families.

Emily shared with us the moment the story behind Ballet with Heart was born.

“One night, my son with his dark skin and his afro locks looked into my eyes as we were reading yet another book about ballet in bed, and he asked me, “Mummy, where is me? 

“My son inherited his love for dance from his sister. Together, they attend classes and immerse themselves in ballet books and shows. It is uncommon to see brown ballerinas represented in books, toys, and media. Still, that trend is changing for the better. However, it is still infrequent to see boys represented in dance… or even differently-abled children. This is one of the things my books will challenge,” – says Emily Joof. 

Taking inspiration from her children: their anxieties, strengths, the school environment, and Ms. Gina herself, the story will focus on the different ways children challenge themselves. How they find the fortitude to follow their dreams and the importance of friendship.

In conversation with Emily, we wondered: Art empowers people to seize their destinies through controlling the images. What impetus do you hope people take away from this book to shape their (and their kids’) lives?

“I find that often people do things as they have always done until a light is cast on a particular behaviour, that causes pause, reflection, and redirection.

Dance is the most natural expression of human emotion. It is therapeutic, exhilarating, and devoid of boundaries. I genuinely hope my picture book will incite others to take a leap.  
Because ballet is one of the art forms that appears so choreographed and prescriptive.  
To do ballet, you can’t be short, or too muscular, or improvise much or even be a black boy…

That isn’t the ballet we subscribe to. We want to inspire dance for everyone, dancing for joy! dancing with your soul, hence Ballet with Heart.”