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.

Here are the Virtual Author Workshops for 2025/26 – get ahead and register for all the live events now. All events are free of charge. 

• Abiola Bello on 26 November 2025 – suitable for Years 3 and 4
• Maisie Chan on 28 January 2026 – suitable for Years 5–7
• Chanté Timothy on 18 March 2026 – suitable for Years 3 and 4
• Iqbal Hussain on 6 May 2026 – suitable for Years 5–7
• Eric Huang on 24 June 2026 – suitable for Years 3 and 4

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.