Sixth Reflecting Realities Report Shows Sustained Upward Trend
The CLPE Reflecting Realities survey for books published in 2022 (focused on diversity and inclusion in children's books) shows sustained upward trend in the volume of inclusive and representative literature published for children in the UK. You can download the report below.
The annual CLPE survey, which is funded by Arts Council England, launched in 2017 with the key focus of determining the extent and quality of ethnic minority characters featured within Picturebooks, Fiction and Non-Fiction for ages 3–11 published in the UK. It has been recognised as a key driver in the positive and significant changes in children’s book publishing in the last six years and there are many more books reflecting the characteristics of children in our world than there were in 2017.
The publication of this year's survey (2023) was also supported through a kind donation from Inclusive Books for Children.
The report shows a sustained upward trend in the volume of inclusive and representative literature published for children in the UK.
Key findings include:
• 30% of the children’s titles published in 2022 featured racially minoritised characters, up from 4% in the first report in 2017.
• For the first year in its history the report shows a decrease in the presence of racially minoritised characters in picturebooks and non-fiction.
• This report welcomes and highlights the breadth of genres representing racially minoritised characters.
The increase in representative fiction was welcomed by CLPE as much needed and goes some way towards closing the marked gap between the text types. That said, it will be important to continue to carefully monitor the gap to ensure that the gains made in recent years are not undermined through a regression of presence.
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View all CLPE Reflecting Realities Reports
Illustrations © Chanté Timothy and reproduced with her kind permission.
Booklet design: Ben Cotterill