November 14th, 2025 

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2025  – Summary of This Year’s Findings

Today, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) releases the 8th annual Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature, bringing some welcome news after last year’s disappointing drop.

The newly published report can be viewed here.

The report, which covers books published in 2024, shows a modest but important increase in representation, with the CLPE urging the publishing industry to maintain this progress consistently as they approach a decade of insight.

Latest Findings  –  A Steady Rise in Representation

The overall percentage of reviewed children’s books published in 2024 featuring a racially minoritised character has risen from 17% in 2023 to 24% in 2024.

Crucially, the number of racially minoritised main characters has reached the highest reported figure to date: 24% in 2024. This is a significant jump from the dramatic low of 7% reported in 2023.

While this demonstrates a steady increase, it is noted that the overall figure of 24% has not yet returned to the high of 30% reported in 2022.

Representation Across Text Types

The survey looks at fiction, non-fiction and picture books aimed at readers aged 3-11, showing positive movement in the minoritised presence over two areas:

• Fiction saw a positive rise in minoritised presence, increasing from 11% in 2023 to 18% in 2024.
• Non-Fiction also increased year on year, moving from 22% in 2023 to 27% in 2024.

However, it is worth noting again that neither of these gains matches or exceeds the 2022 figures (24% for fiction, 30% for non-fiction).

By contrast, Picture Books have seen an unprecedented drop in minoritised presence this year, falling from 55% in 2023 to 38% in 2024. Despite this drop, picture books continue to have the highest proportion of minoritised presence across the three text types.

The Importance of Maintaining Momentum

Farrah Serroukh, Executive Director of Research and Development at CLPE, expressed relief at the positive figures s while also stressing that work must now be done to implement mechanisms to ensure that an “inclusive lens is applied at every stage” of the publishing process.

Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust (CLPE became a subsidiary earlier this year), reinforced the link between representation and literacy:

“Children and young people who see themselves in books are more likely to enjoy reading, read more often and have greater confidence… The National Year of Reading in 2026 provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the important progress we’re seeing in representation across children’s publishing to take root and flourish.”

The figures reported this year make it clear that the work of ensuring all readers can access quality, inclusive and representative literature is far from done, but the increase in minoritised main characters is a very welcome step forward

Recommendations From the Report

The 8th Reflecting Realities report 2025 calls on the publishing industry to remain steadfast in its commitment to consistently producing high-quality quality inclusive, and representative literature as standard practice, especially as we head into 2026 – the National Year of Reading.

In previous years, the published report has offered numerous recommendations or lists of texts. In this year’s report, 38 exemplified texts are named. Many of the texts will be familiar to BooksForTopics users from our Year Group booklists and Diverse and Inclusive booklists – including picture books like My Name is a Gift, Lulu Meets the Bees and Papa’s Butter Chicken, alongside KS2 chapter books like Nush and the Stolen Emerald, Paper Dragons and Bobby Bains Plays a Blinder.

However, the list is absolutely not exhaustive and simply a signpost to exemplary texts, with the principles behind the publishing process and book selection being the important point. In particular, this year the report ends with a call for the industry to double down on its efforts to make the principle of inclusion integral to every stage of the publishing process.

Click here to see the newest Reflecting Realities booklist.

How BooksForTopics Supports Diverse Classrooms

Teachers and librarians are crucial in ensuring the books on our shelves and in our lessons meet the need for high-quality, authentic representation.

BooksForTopics is here to help you bridge the gap between published output and classroom resources. Many of the exemplified texts already appear on our Year Group booklists, and we also have a further host of resources to support schools in diversifying their book collections.

We curate booklists, including our popular Cultural Diversity Booklist, Minority Ethnic Characters Booklist and age-specific Diverse and Inclusive children’s book lists, filtering the best titles by theme, age and curriculum links. This allows you to easily find and select books that feature a breadth of diverse characters and experiences, supporting every child’s engagement with reading.

Beyond Reflecting Realities, we’ve taken a broad view of diversity to include neurodiversity, disability and family structures as well as cultural and ethnic diversity within our lists. Among our Diverse and Inclusive booklists, you’ll also find books that represent hearing loss, neurodiversity, limb difference and all different families. We also host booklists for the Diverse Book Awards (for which our director Alison is a judge) and Inclusive Books for Children.

We have also curated all of the Reflecting Realities exemplified texts into one handy Reflecting Realities booklist for you.

If you want to expand your stock of diverse books for children, browse our diversity hub featuring booklists covering the primary age range or browse through the list of last year’s Reflecting Realities books.

> Browse our Topic Booklists

> Visit the Reflecting Realities Booklist

> Go to our Diversity Booklists

> View our Printable Year Group Booklists.

> See our Books of the Month.

Click here to see the newest Reflecting Realities booklist.

Newly announced – New Children’s Booker Prize 

Breaking News: The Children’s Booker Prize is Established

Today is a landmark day for children’s books and school literacy: the major announcement has been made that a prestigious new award, The Children’s Booker Prize, is being established. This prize is dedicated to celebrating outstanding books written specifically for young readers.

The establishment of this prize instantly elevates the profile of children’s publishing and provides a powerful new tool for teachers and school librarians seeking high quality children’s books for their collections.

Key Details of the New Prize

The Children’s Booker Prize, backed by the Booker Prize Foundation, will focus on contemporary fiction for readers aged 8 to 12. The first award shortlist will be launched in November 2026, with the first winner announced in February 2027. The winning author will receive a major prize of £50,000, matching the award money of the adult prize, ensuring equal recognition for children’s fiction. Shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500.

The judging process will be a unique aspect of the new prize. The inaugural chair of judges will be the UK’s current Children’s Laureate, celebrated author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce. Crucially, the prize will be decided by a combined panel of adult and child judges. Three adult judges will select a shortlist of eight titles, after which specially selected child judges will join the panel to choose the final winner. The aim is to place the ultimate decision in the hands of the children themselves.

The foundation also announced a major gifting initiative: at least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be donated to ensure high-quality fiction reaches children who might not otherwise have access to them.

What This Means for Your School

For educators, the arrival of this prize is excellent news. The Booker name carries immense literary prestige, assuring a rigorous selection process. This gives schools Trusted Quality Control, allowing staff to confidently direct valuable budget money towards pre-vetted, superior literary works for their libraries.

Joining the range of children’s book awards that we already know and love, each with its own nuance – from the Laugh Out Loud book awards to the Diverse Book Awards – this one will signify literary quality, born from the renown of the adult Booker Prize, which looks to award the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language.

Tracking the New Prize

Here at BooksForTopics, we are committed to providing easily accessible, curated information on children’s books. We are here to help teachers and librarians in tracking all developments for the Children’s Booker Prize. We will integrate the shortlists and winners into our Children’s Book Awards Hub and our popular printable children’s book award calendar.

To help you manage this essential information efficiently, we maintain a comprehensive, single resource for all major UK book awards for children. You can visit our dedicated hub to follow the progress of the Children’s Booker Prize and every other major literary award throughout the school year:

Find the essential Children’s Book Award Calendar and Hub here

We look forward to sharing all the announcements as this exciting new prize unfolds. You can also sign up for our newsletter to hear the latest news.

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To find out more information about the Children’s Booker Prize, visit https://thebookerprizes.com/the-childrens-booker-prize.

Where next?

• Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
• Browse our Topic Booklists
• View our printable year group booklists.
• See our Books of the Month.

BooksForTopics Launches School Book Subscription

13th October 2025

A Boost for Reading in Schools

Each month, BooksForTopics selects top new books, reviewed by our expert panel. Now your school can subscribe to receive regular Books of the Month deliveries.

Today, BooksForTopics and Peters are pleased to launch a brand new book subscription service for schools, enabling schools to receive regular packages of new and recommended books.

Ahead of the National Year of Reading and in alignment with the BooksForTopics range of reading-boosting resources, including our popular Year Group reading lists and printable resources, this book subscription service for schools will further empower schools to ensure that new, quality-approved books are available to pupils – a great boost for reading pleasure.

Click here to subscribe to the new Books of the Month Subscription.

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• Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
• Browse our Topic Booklists
• View our printable year group booklists.
• See our Books of the Month.

Celebrate 20 years of Lauren St John’s Wildlife Series!

Lauren St John is the bestselling author behind The White Giraffe series. The latest instalment in these heartwarming animal adventures is The Lion Cub’s Secret.

This week, we are partnering with Hachette Children’s Books to give you the chance to WIN a full set of all six books! Read on to find out how to enter.

Lauren St John’s White Giraffe series has become internationally beloved. This is the perfect time to discover – or rediscover – this bestselling series, ahead of its 20th anniversary this year, and with a new title out this week called The Lion Cub’s Secret.

Lauren St John’s books will be familiar to BooksForTopics users from their appearances on numerous of our children’s booklists, including Best Animal Books for Children, Books for fans of Michael Morpurgo and children’s books set in Africa, among others.

A lesson pack to accompany The White Giraffe is also available to download.  

We’re delighted that Lauren visited our blog this week to answer questions about the series.

Q&A with Lauren St John

The White Giraffe was published almost 20 years ago. Congratulations! What made you want to write a new story in this series?

Firstly, I can’t believe that it’s almost 20 years since I wrote The White Giraffe, dreaming that it might someday be published. It changed my life in the loveliest way. Each book in the series is an adventure about an extraordinary wild creature, but it occurred to me recently that I’d never written a book about lions, which I adore. The idea for The Lion Cub’s Secret came to me really quickly. I couldn’t wait to sit down and write the story.

Can you tell us about The Lion Cub’s Secret?

After Martine rescues an orphaned lion cub from a market, she dreams of keeping it forever. But it turns out that Tau, the cub, has been snatched from one of South Africa’s most famous wildlife reserves.

When Martine and her best friend Ben are invited to the reserve to help settle Tau in, they leap at the chance. But the wild, beautiful landscape is riddled with mysteries and secrets, and the lion cub’s secret is the biggest of all.  Once Martine and Ben start asking questions, they quickly discover that there are those who’ll stop at nothing to get to Tau. Will the lonely lion ever be truly free?

Have you ever been involved in a real-life animal rescue?

Growing up on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe, my family were always rescuing injured and orphaned animals – cats, dogs, lambs and calves, as well as warthogs, birds and antelope. After I wrote The White Giraffe, I became an ambassador for the Born Free Foundation. Helping them rescue three leopards from a zoo in Cyprus and set captive dolphins free in the sea in Turkey were among the most special experiences of my life. Closer to home, I had two incredible rescue cats – Felix, who my mum saved as a day-old kitten from the streets of Mozambique, and Max, a Bengal I rescued from the RSPCA in Kent – for 17 years.

What kind of discussions would you like The White Giraffe series to prompt in schools?

I think a lot of young people feel overwhelmed by the deluge of bad news on climate change and the natural world, but I hope my books inspire children and show that anyone of any age can make a difference. Kindness costs nothing. Caring is free. You might not be able to save every bee, bird or hedgehog, but if you plant insect-friendly flowers and put fresh water and food out for small creatures on hot days or freezing days, you can make a huge difference in your own school, garden or neighbourhood. You can also appeal to your family, school or local MP to use less plastic and plant more trees and meadows.

What’s your top writing tip for budding authors?

If you want to be an author, my advice is to read as much and as widely as you can. It doesn’t matter whether you like funny books, graphic novels, mysteries, sci-fi, or all of them, just read!

Can you recommend other books for animal lovers?

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson, The Last Wild trilogy by Piers Torday, Paddock Grove: A Pony to Own by JP Rose, or anything by Nicola Davies or Gill Lewis.

What is the best thing about writing for children?

I love the writing part, because every day I get to live these amazing adventures on the pages of my books, and I enjoy meeting young readers because they’re so open-hearted. They care so deeply about nature and books and about making the world a better place. That gives me hope.

Win a Book Set!

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series, we’ve got a full set of all six books to give away.

ENTER HERE

This giveaway is open to anyone who follows @booksfortopics on Instagram. One entry per Instagram handle.

To enter, simply make sure you’re following our IG account and fill in the form by 11.59pm on Thursday 16th October 2025. The giveaway is open to UK entrants only, and full T&Cs can be found here.

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Where next?

• Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
• Browse our Topic Booklists
• View our printable year group booklists.
• See our Books of the Month.