The number of children’s books featuring Black main characters fell by almost 8% last year, according to research into diversity in UK publishing.
uncertain
number → feature → publishing
Just 47 – or 2.1% – of the 2,189 books published for under-10s in 2025 featured a Black main character, a 7.8% fall from the previous year, according to Inclusive Books for Children.
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47 → publish → Children
Black children make up about 8.5% of that age bracket in England and Wales.
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children → make → England
Representation of south Asian main characters fell by 14.3 percentage points to 1.4%, despite children of south Asian heritage making up about 12.4% of the population of under-10s.
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children → fall → under-10s
Just three books featured main characters of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) heritage, down 50% from the previous year.
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books → feature → heritage
This represented 0.1% of surveyed books, compared with the group’s 2.2% share of the population.
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This → represent → population
The research by the literacy charity found that only 150 books – 6.9% of those surveyed – featured main characters from minority ethnic, disabled or neurodivergent backgrounds.
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books → find → backgrounds
Of these, 37.3% were written or illustrated by creators who did not share the background of their characters.
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who → write → characters
The author Sheena Patel said: “At an age when children are figuring out the world around them and where they fit in, it’s vital they have access to funny, inspiring, adventurous books that reflect both the lives they live and the ones they don’t.
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they → say → lives
We must do better.”
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We → do → ?
The report surveyed baby and toddler books, picture books and fiction for children aged up to nine.
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report → survey → children
It found that representation of disabled characters in picture books fell sharply: the number with disabled main characters dropped by 60% in 2025, to just two titles.
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number → find → titles
The survey also highlighted what it described as a lack of “incidental representation”: stories in which a main character’s identity does not explicitly drive the plot of the story.
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identity → highlight → story
Dr Stella Louis, an early years consultant, trainer and author, pointed to this “continued reliance” on books where identity itself was the story.
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identity → point → books
“Why can’t a child simply be south Asian, disabled, neurodivergent or bilingual and also be the hero of an ordinary story about friendship, adventure, loss or joy?” she said.
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she → say → friendship
The report found that all three books published in 2025 with MENA main characters were refugee narratives.
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books → find → characters
The study authors said children of MENA heritage needed stories covering a broader range of themes and experiences.
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children → say → themes
“As an Arab author, it is painful to see the number of children’s fiction books representing our region decline from six to only three in 2025,” said Nadine Kaadan.
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Kaadan → see → 2025
She said the fact that all three books published were focused on refugee experiences risked reinforcing a “single story” about the region, defining it through “war and displacement rather than our rich cultures and heritage”.
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books → say → war
Neurodivergent representation increased in picture books, from three titles in 2024 to 13 last year.
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representation → increase → 13
In the baby and toddler category, the number of books with marginalised main characters rose by 29.4%.
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number → rise → %
Jack Hope, a children’s book consultant, said: “When children’s enjoyment of reading is at a significant low, it’s more important than ever that the stories children encounter reflect their lives, identities, experiences and emotions.
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children → say → lives
“These figures need to be more than mere statistics and a call to action for continued change and improvements.”
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figures → need → change
The Aporia
