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Parents and supporters
Whether you’re a parent, guardian, grandparent, aunt, uncle or just someone who’s stumbled across Lit in Colour, many of us will be curious to know more about what English literature is like in school today.
There is lots you can do, from reading our research to buying or borrowing titles by authors of colour for the young people in your life to supporting and spreading the word about the Lit in Colour campaign online.
Read the report
Read a quick summary of the research, which looked into what is currently being taught in both primary and secondary schools in the UK, what barriers might be preventing more books by writers of colour being included in the curriculum, and what needs to happen to make change.
Refresh your bookshelves
Take a look at your own child’s bookshelves to see how many books you have by Black, Asian or minority ethnic writers. If you have a younger child, how many of their books feature a main character who is not white? Have this front of mind when you next buy books or borrow from your local library.
You can browse our bookshop.org Lit in Colour recommended reading list for young people of different ages below. Bookshop.org is an online bookshop supporting independent, local bookshops across the UK. The list includes books published by Penguin, as well as other publishers.
You can also take a look at The (incomplete) Lit in Colour book lists, which we have created for pre-school, primary and secondary school age children. There are now three book lists each for primary and secondary schools, each with over 100 titles from Penguin and our fellow publishers, and we have also produced an early years list. Although they’re geared towards educators, they’re a great resource if you’re looking to expand the books the children in your life read – there’s plenty of fiction and non-fiction across a variety of topics, and they’re all great, entertaining, informative books.
Pre-school list
Primary lists
Secondary lists
Share on social media
By starting a conversation about the lack of representation in the English curriculum, we hope to raise awareness of the need for change and why having access to a more representative range of stories matters for all students.
We've made a downloadable social asset which you can use below. Feel free to tag us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and use the hashtag #LitInColour.
Further reading
Exam board joins Lit of Colour programme to help diversify English Literature
Pearson has joined Lit in Colour, a programme launched by Penguin and The Runnymede Trust to help schools diversify their English Literature curriculum and increase UK students’ access to books by writers of colour and those from minority ethnic backgrounds.
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