Simon & Schuster Children’s Books have become the first publisher to fund an adaptation of one of their picture books specifically for blind and visually impaired children.

As a result of the funding, Living Paintings, a charity who provide a free postal library of over 3000 accessible picture books to over 5000 library members, have created 30 hand-crafted copies of Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. Copies of the book will available for families with blind and visually impaired children from across the country, to borrow from the library from this week.

Like the other 200 picture book titles in the charity’s collection, the copies of Supertato have been lovingly handmade by an army of volunteers at the Living Paintings’ HQ in Kingsclere, near Newbury. The finished copies feature a number of tactile, hand-painted versions of key illustrations from the book perfect for little hands to explore these include the characters of Supertato, Evil Pea and many of their veggie friends. The books also feature braille added on clear sheets, to promote learning and independent reading, and come with especially recorded audio guides.

The audio description for Supertato is read by Greg James, Radio 1 DJ and voice of Sprouty Claus in the Supertato TV series, who guides little fingers over the tactile images to help readers build a picture in their mind and ‘see’ through touch.

The addition of Supertato to the Living Paintings library coincides with the 10th Anniversary of the original publication of the book. Since then the Supertato series has sold over 1.6 million copies through TCM.

Rachel Denwood, Managing Director at Simon & Schuster Children’s Books said: ‘Living Paintings holds a unique and essential place in the children's books ecosystem, and it's been such a privilege to learn more about the mission, history and work of this inspirational charity. We recently had the pleasure of meeting Camilla Oldland and her brilliant team, and saw the Living Paintings edition of Supertato being lovingly and expertly crafted by hand. S&S is honoured to fund the creation of a Supertato book for the Living Paintings library and thrilled that the joy and silliness of Supertato will soon be experienced by blind and partially sighted children across the country.’

Living Paintings’ CEO Camilla Oldland said: ‘Having the support of Simon & Schuster on this project has been incredible. We’ve been doing this unique work for 35 years and, despite good relations and awareness in the publishing industry, never before has a publisher approached us to fund an accessible adaption of one of their titles themselves. We’re proud that S&S have recognised not just our impact, but the vital need for accessibility in children’s publishing as a whole. We just know that the blind and visually impaired children we work with are going to love the caped crusader that is Supertato!’

Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet said: ‘We couldn’t be more happy and proud that there will be 30 special editions of Supertato for blind and visually impaired children to enjoy. We are so thankful to the amazing team at Living Paintings for hand crafting these wonderful editions, the very lovely Greg James for proving the audio and our fabulous publisher Simon & Schuster.’

Greg James said: ‘There’s a history of visual impairments in my family so I know how vital and life enhancing projects like Living Paintings can be. Everyone should be able to enjoy stories and it was a pleasure to be involved and to learn all about this brilliant charity and the joy they bring to people.’

LoveReading4Kids got a chance to put some questions to Jess Dean, Head of Publicity at Simon & Schuster Children’s Books and Nick Ford of Living Paintings, and here's what they had to say.

We were delighted to read about the release of Supertato – especially adapted for blind and visually impaired children. How did this come about?

Jess: S&S were approached by Living Paintings to fund the creation of these special editions and we were thrilled to partner with them on these lovingly handcrafted books. The creators of the series Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet were also excited that visually impaired and blind children were going to be able to enjoy the adventures of Supertato and all his veggie friends. It is wonderful that the copies are now part of the library and being enjoyed across the country.

We have loved Supertato since he burst onto our bookshelves 10 years ago this year. The potato with a very big difference is always there for you when the chips are down. Out of all of the books that you publish and all of the characters, why did you choose him?

Nick: For us, picture books are so much more than just stories. They bring families and friends together. Some carry strong messages that help kids deal with feelings, some are education and others are just uninhibited fun, bringing so much joy and entertainment. That’s exactly what we have in Supertato. The Supertato books are packed full of fun, laughs and adventure for all the family and the little spud has been on our wish list to adapt for a long time! We know how much Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet’s books are loved – and why should blind children miss out on that joy? By adapting this into a version that blind kids can experience through touch and sound, they can experience it just like everybody else, but in a way that works for them.

So this wonderful character joins over 200 other accessible picture books in Living Paintings’ collection for blind and visually impaired children to explore through touch and sound. Could you talk us through the process for this please, we’d love to understand more.

Nick: All of our books are hand-made by an army of volunteers at our production studios in Newbury. We take key illustrations from the original book and these are then carved into 3D versions in wooden blocks. The care and attention that goes into these is incredible, making sure every stroke, line, bump can be felt by little fingers. These are then pressed into plastic sheets using a machine called a thermopress before being meticulously hand painted. What we are left with is a tactile version that closely matches the original.

The true magic comes when the tactile pictures are used alongside our audio descriptions. Each book comes with a track that’s available on a USB or to stream online, and it guides little fingers over the raised pictures to help children build up a picture in their mind – helping them ‘see’ through touch. They also describe the action throughout the book.

Our tactile illustrations are added into the original book and each page has braille added on clear sheeting. We think this is a really important step – as our books can be used for independent reading or as teaching aids when young children are learning this key skill. Our books are then available to borrow for free from our postal library. We simply send the books out and when the children are done with them, they get sent back and become available for other children to read.

And for an extra special touch we understand that Simon & Schuster have gifted use of the original audio book and a special ‘read along’ feature. Bravo! Did Greg aka Sprouty Claus have to do anything extra for this?

Nick: We had such incredible support from Greg James on this project. He joined us in the studio to record the special audio guide for blind and visually impaired children. It’s such an engaging track – and it’s so special as it’s just for them. It was so kind of him to volunteer his time, and he’s gone on to give the project lots of support on social media which has really helped to raise our profile.

Can we expect more titles for blind and visually impaired children in the future?

Nick: We have so many books hitting our shelves! We’ve got three new Christmas titles joining our library – The Night Before the Night Before Christmas, Mog’s Christmas and The Polar Express! We’ve just added our fourteenth Julia Donaldson adaption – The Smartest Giant in Town – and will be releasing The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk and Oscar and the Bird early in 2025.

Our work has never been more in demand. Last year we doubled the number of children and young people using our service – so we are always working on new books to make sure we can meet demand and keep our library members in new material.

@LivingPaintings @livingpaintingscharity @simonkids_UK

For more accessible books, check out our collection Books for Visually Impaired Children for World Braille Day and Every Day