Lantana Publishing is an award-winning children’s book publisher and social enterprise with a mission to publish inclusive books by authors from under-represented groups and from around the world.
Alice Curry founded Lantana when only one per cent of the children’s books published in the UK featured a character of colour as a protagonist. She wanted her biracial niece and nephews, and others like them, to be able to grow up seeing themselves in the books they read.
Each year, Lantana publishes a select list of exceptional titles promoting diversity and inclusion, social and racial justice, gender equality, pride, empathy, mindfulness and wellbeing, with beautifully illustrated stories that help happy little minds to flourish. Visit the Lantana Publishing website to find out more.
See all of the Lantana Publishing books featured on BooksForTopics below.
Anita loves the small, beautiful village in the Dominican Republic where she lives. She spends her days exploring the island, imagining herself as a valiant, brave princessa as she watches the ‘dragons’ (aeroplanes) fly overhead. One day she finds that she must say goodbye to her beloved Abuela and her treasured island and travel with her family to a new home far away. As she walks into the unknown and to new adventures, she needs all the courage she can muster to come face to face with, and ride inside the dragon herself.
This is a story of leaving the place you call home, facing your fears and embarking on new adventures.
This colourful picturebook tells us from Jake’s perspective about his creative, recycling, wheelchair-using Mum, who sees the potential in everything whether from a skip or an antique shop. She upcycles her finds to make new things for their home and garden as well as to beautify their community. Sometimes, his Mum’s constant remaking of things causes Jake to worry, but he is soon reassured by his Mum who will always love him however he changes.
We love the environmental message of this book, showing that so much that is discarded can be used again. This would be an excellent book to encourage thinking about recycling and reusing, or to spark ideas for upcycling projects for students to create themselves. The story also features positive representations of wheelcahir users, whose inclusion in the book is not solely or primarily focused on their disability or wheelchair use.
Jake’s concerns about change wil surely resonate with many children as they grow and change throughout their school years, and this book provides a reassuring message about how change and growth are okay and to be embraced. A large, hardback picturebook, with wonderfully colourful illustrations and large writing, this is ideal as a read-to-the-class book or for younger children to enjoy looking at independently.
A captivating picture book that marries a lyrical and rhythmic story about a mother’s care with striking artwork inspired by Indian folklore. This story features a mummy polar bear with her young cubs. With each new wave of curious anxiety that the cubs raise about the world outside their den deep in the snow, Mama Bear’s response gently explains more about the rhythms of their natural habitat, coupled with her reassurance of “you’re snug with me.” A beautiful book that captures a mother’s natural instinct to protect, reassure and equip her young.
Maisie’s Scrapbook is a beautiful picture book for younger readers, reflecting the deep richness of belonging to a multiracial family. Maisie is exceptionally well-loved by both her mother and her father and they bring different cultural experiences to her life because of their different heritages. Maisie does not just get to eat risotto; she gets to eat jollof rice too. She does not just hear the marimba, but also the violin. She enjoys a childhood richly interspersed with imagination, affection and story-telling
Any young child will enjoy this warm portrayal of family life. For many children in multiracial families, it can be a rarer experience to see their lives reflected in the books available to them. There is an underlying theme of what unites us – mama and dada may have different backgrounds but they both hug, praise, nag and love Maisie. What an important lesson for our children to understand that whatever our background, we are loving, feeling, caring humans and our families are important to us.
This book would be lovely to use in schools at any time, but perhaps especially while working on any unit about families. Children may also enjoy recognising the instruments mentioned if they are working on instruments or sounds (and it would be a lucky school indeed that had access to a marimba and a violin to show them!).
The illustrations are rich, bright, clear and appealing. The drawings which are done as though they are Maisie’s own on the endpapers add a warm and quirky touch.
I would recommend this book for young families and lower primary school classrooms.
Nimesh is walking home from school. Except…there happens to be a shark in the corridor. And a dragon in the library! And why would crossing the road lead to the North Pole? A fun-filled story about a little boy with a BIG imagination, Nimesh the adventurer will surely make even the dullest journey a dazzling adventure.
Haroun, the cat, likes nothing better than to spend his days sleeping in the sunlit courtyards of Damascus. But one thing always ruins his sleep: jasmine! Haroun can’t stand the sweet-scented flowers. Their pollen sends him into fits of sneezes! So one day, Haroun hatches a plan to fix the problem. But little does he know that in doing so he deeply angers the Jasmine Spirit who plans her revenge in her own crafty and hilarious way. A beautifully illustrated and enormously entertaining story by award-winning Syrian author/illustrator, Nadine Kaadan, that sheds a welcome light onto Syria’s long and proud cultural heritage in a period of history marred by war.
We are big fans of Sleep Well, Siba & Saba, an important book for celebrating diversity. This stunningly illustrated picture book offers a snapshot into life for two sisters growing up in Uganda, with a delightful story that rejoices in the precious details of the sisters’ day to day lives as well as with their hopes and dreams for the future. We love the beautiful and detailed illustrations and the uplifting story with its almost lullaby-like style and poetic sibilance, ready to captivate readers as they peep inside a fascinating window into everyday life in another culture.
A gentle and lyrical picturebook exploring what it means to undertake a long journey to find a peaceful place to settle. The story creates a clever mirroring between the tale of a tiny swift’s mighty migration journey to find a safe nesting site with the story of Leila, a young girl who flees her home in Northern Africa and who also must travel thousands of miles in order to find a safe place of refuge.
This is an intriguing and mesmerising picture book set in the Malaysian jungle. Young Kaya is seeking her ‘heart song’ and journeys deep within the vibrant jungle, which is so beautifully portrayed in the illustrations using a dazzling palette of bright reds, oranges, purples and yellows set against the vegetatious backdrop of countless shades of green. When Kaya finds a mysterious carousel, the captivating music it produces leads Kaya to discover her own heart song. This is a truly unique picture book, grounded in the values of mindfulness, and one that will leave young readers wide-eyed with surprise and wonder.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
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Curriculum links (if relevant)
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