BookTrust Represents

BookTrust Represents has reached almost 100,000 children across England with free books and school author events. We’ve created memorable learning moments for children by working with some of the UK’s leading authors and illustrators of colour in children’s literature and bringing them into the classroom virtually and in person.

We regularly run free Virtual Author Workshops for schools. Here are the upcoming events; you can register for them all using the link below. 

• Love Ssega, 7 October 2026 – suitable for Years 3–4
• Kengo Kurimoto, 25 November 2026 – suitable for Years 5–7
• Lui Sit, 20 January 2027 – suitable for Years 3–4
• Isaac Hamilton-McKenzie, 17 March 2027 – suitable for Years 5–7
• Rashmi Sirdeshpande, 19 May 2027 – suitable for Years 3–4
• Luan Goldie, 23 June 2027 – suitable for Years 5–7

Books play an important role as mirrors for children: these stories and characters will affect how they see themselves and the world around them, their motivation to read, and their aspirations to become authors and illustrators of the future.

Children’s books can shape how young readers from minority backgrounds see themselves as well as how readers from the more dominant culture see and understand diversity. 

The absence of an inclusive range of characters or creative role models in children’s literature has the potential to deter children from minority backgrounds from reading and experiencing the associated benefits.