Projects beyond Pearson

We have created an exclusive page to showcase the incredible work done by organisations outside of Pearson to promote diversity in literature.

The Story Makers Press

The Story Makers Press is a university-based children’s press focused on encouraging children’s voices and creativity. Their aim is to publish underrepresented narratives and issues, making sure that every child can see themselves in the books they read. They use drama and storytelling with children in order to get them to explore different narratives, which they then aim to transform into engaging fiction books. Their goal is to help children become engaged and compassionate readers, who read for pleasure and are equipped to interact imaginatively with the world around them.

In our new blog Lisa Stephenson, Director and Co-founder of The Story Makers Company, along with Ben Horslen, Publisher for Penguin Random House Children’s, share their perspectives on their role in supporting a diverse and inclusive English curriculum.

Read the blog

National Literacy Trust

The National Literacy Trust is a charity dedicated to improving the literacy skills of those who need it most, giving them the best possible chance of success in school, work and life. In response to COVID-19, the charity transformed its support to mitigate the significant impact of the crisis on the literacy and life chances of the nation’s most disadvantaged children and young people by getting vital books, literacy resources and digital support into families’ homes.

Learn more about their work

The charity launched Family Zone to bring together some of the UK’s most exciting literacy activities, free digital books and exclusive author and illustrator videos to support the learning of children aged 0-12 at home. The charity launched Zone In to help students aged 13 and over build new skills and improve their literacy from home, including a free audiobook club celebrating writers that put women at the heart of their stories.

The National Literacy Trust also curated a range of book lists to promote diversity in literature, including Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ and wellbeing book lists. In addition to essential digital support, the charity galvanised national partnerships, local networks and frontline services, such as food banks, to provide families in some of the UK’s most vulnerable communities with 300,000 brand new books as well as physical literacy resources.

For many children, these were the first books they had ever owned. In these communities, the charity also brought together local teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators and community champions to create exciting, engaging and hyperlocal literacy activities for families.

Find out more about the National Literacy Trust.

LoveReading4Kids

Our earliest perceptions of the world and its cultures are shaped by the books we read and it is essential that children see a true reflection of our society in the literature recommended and available to them. An absence of an inclusive range of role models or characters in our books risks detering children from minority backgrounds from the joy and enrichment that a love of reading can bring. LoveReading4Kids has always championed diversity and recently curated an exciting and diverse list of books to help build understanding, empathy and tolerance of our different backgrounds and that also entertain and celebrate our rich, shared cultural heritage. The books are suitable for all age ranges.

Read the LoveReading4Kids curated selection of children's books

Read Julia Eccleshare's blog on the importance of diversity in children's books

Heady Mix

Heady Mix is a book subscription service committed to sharing stories written by, or about, underrepresented groups. For each quarterly book box, themes focus on changing the narrative of Western assumption about particular experiences, people or places to help members step into new perspectives; not just reading differently but thinking differently too. From migration to D/deafness, from Afrofuturism to LGBTQI+ rights, Heady Mix endeavours to showcase a myriad of stories from across the globe, giving a platform to those who have for too long not been able to relate their own story to anything in popular fiction.

Having so far only focused on adult reading, Heady Mix launches its first children's book box in the autumn, hoping to bring younger readers closer to understanding and celebrating the vast diversity of human experience.

The roles and responsibilities of #DiversityinLit – the publishers’ perspective

In our recent Plotting Ahead roundtable series, we recognised a need for change. The figures, trends and patterns that have emerged with regards to diversity and inclusion in English (and indeed, education as a whole) have culminated in a collective desire from schools, but also a vast community of allies, to drive forward improvements.

In our blog Ben Horslen, Publisher for Penguin Random House Children’s, Lisa Stephenson, Director and Co-founder of The Story Makers Company, and Ana Sanches de Arede, Press Publisher at The Story Makers Company, share their perspectives on their role in supporting a diverse and inclusive English curriculum.