Many schools will be marking Black History Month this October and here at Coram Beanstalk we know how important it is for all children to be able to see themselves, and their lives, reflected in the books they read.

We've put together a great selection of books for you to share in your sessions which feature Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic main characters. These books can be shared with any reader, helping everyone to deepen their understanding of others’ lives and experience things from a different perspective.

Rudine Sims Bishop, professor emerita at Ohio State University, known for her ground breaking research into multicultural children’s literature says:

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”

Click here to watch Rudine Sims Bishop talking about the importance of books as windows, mirrors and sliding doors

About the book

Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer by Jeffrey Boakye

Kofi had an idea... one big lightning bolt of an idea that hit him like electricity. And all it needed was Kelvin's incredible memory for words.

Kofi is used to stuff going wrong, he's usually in detention or about to be. But when he finds out his best friend Kelvin has a photographic memory, he comes up with a genius money-making scheme. The whole school is obsessed with music, no one can ever make out the words, so the boys hit the jackpot selling a new fanzine full of song lyrics: PAPER JAM. It's not long before one of the teacher's tells Kofi: 'You could be a real leader at this school, you know that?' and . . . suddenly it's turning out to be the best summer ever!

Equally beanstalk brilliant books with diverse protagonists

Buy any of these titles here and Coram Beanstalk will receive a 10% donation