Redhead and Proud - The home of Redheads

RED HERRING - SHOO RAYNER'S BOOKS ARE A RESPONSE TO CHILDHOOD RED-BAITING

Never call a redhead a carrot top again, or risk the wrath of ginger ninja...

They are branded as "fiery" just for the colour of their hair.

But ginger nuts sick of playground taunts and discrimination now have their own champion.

The Ginger Ninja is a superhero who comes to the aid of thousands of youngsters running the gauntlet of playground taunts like "carrot top" and "Duracell".

And redheads across the country have a West children's author to thank for the first ginger-haired hero.

Shoo Rayner

Anyone in Shoo Rayner's Ginger Ninja series who dares to throw insults at the redhead ends up losing out.

Shoo created his children's character after a fever brought back long-forgotten painful, childhood memories of being picked on because of his bright red hair.

But in a series of books the Ginger Ninja constantly gets one over on arch baddie, black-haired Tiddles.

He said: "My hair has gone darker over the years but when I was in school I had bright red hair and I was constantly baited about having a temper.

"People have a funny attitude to red hair: You are marked out straight away.

Within 30 seconds of my son being born the midwife looked at his hair and said 'You're going to have trouble with this one'.

"When I was a boy red heads were an obvious minority and children tend to pick on minorities. Other children keep pushing you further and further until your life is a misery and the red-hot temper becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy."

Part way through the series of six books Shoo realised his schooldays were not as black and white as he first thought.

He realised how he actually started to live up to the redhead's reputation for a quick temper and how many adults excused his hot-tempered actions when he started bullying younger, weaker, children.

Half-way through the series Tiddles, whom he started out hating as all the children who had been cruel to him rolled into one, and the Ginger Ninja work out their differences and become friends.

Forest of Dean-based author Shoo has written and illustrated about 80 books but says the Ginger Ninja books are his favourites because they have acted as a kind of therapy.