Sufiya Ahmed reimagines Enid Blyton’s Famous Five for the ages

As a child who was born in India but moved to the UK as a baby, Sufiya Ahmed, had read all of Enid Blyton’s books in the local library. “I could have looked at my history books and thought somebody looks like me, a person with brown skin, with Indian heritage, and who contributed hugely to a significant movement in British history.” She eventually found out that 1.3 million Indian soldiers fought for Britain in World War I and another 2.5 million in World War II. Ahmed’s histories for young readers are published by Scholastic, her books My Story: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh brings to light the contributions of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a suffragette, and My Story: Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan tells the story of Noor Inayat Khan, a spy in World War II. The latter’s subject also inspired her Rosie Raja books about an 11-year-old mixed race child with an English father and an Indian mother, who goes on spying adventures amidst World War II. "When people say that Britain is free, that we won World War II, …well Indians contributed to that, and children should know that,” says Ahmed, who won the Redbridge Children’s Book Award and Brit Writers Award for her debut book The Secrets of the Henna Girl.