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The (incomplete) Lit in Colour book lists

We have created The (incomplete) Lit in Colour book lists in response to one of the key findings in the research commissioned with our partner The Runnymede Trust, which found that teachers often struggle finding books by writers of colour.

We’re calling our book lists incomplete, because we know they will never manage to be exhaustive or definitive, and we plan to update them annually bringing even more new and classic titles to the list.

There are now three book lists each for primary and secondary schools, each with over 100 titles from Penguin and our fellow publishers. The first list was created in 2021, and we have followed up each year since with new lists.

The lists also contain handy indexes grouping books together, for educators who want to assign or recommend a number of books on a particular topic, or for pupils who want to read further in a particular area, subject matter or genre.

Primary lists

Secondary lists

Explore by year group

The lists are designed primarily to support school teachers who want to bring exciting texts into their classrooms, but also offer support to their pupils with great book ideas and suggestions for independent reading.

We have listed suitable titles offered by year group, and have done our best to have a variety of books to support different reading abilities. By drawing together a range of books on different genres and subject matters, we hope to show some of the scope of what is currently available.