Chapel Allerton children visit The Little Bookshop as part of campaign to get diverse books in schools

Community group CA Spaces is working with The Little Bookshop in Harrogate Road to send "vibrant and diverse" books into school libraries.

As part of Black History Month, pupils from Chapel Allerton Primary School were invited to the children's bookshop last week for a diversity-themed storytime.

The children also got the chance to pick out the books they want to see in their school.

Only four per cent of children's books published in 2018 had a main character of an ethnic minority, a Centre for Literacy in Primary Education study found, despite the fact that around 33 per cent of UK school children are of Black, Asian or minority ethnic origins.

The chairwoman of CA Spaces, Sarah Priestley, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "Listening to the children made me realise how much of a difference it makes.

“A lot of children don’t have access to books outside of schools, so it’s really important that the books that are in schools and nurseries reflect diversity - not just the diversity of the school, but the diversity of our society.

“One of the girls gasped when saw a book on the shelf and said, ‘that girl looks just like me!’

“That was amazing and shows exactly why it does make a difference. It’s about building an understanding of others, but also about seeing ourselves reflected in books.”

So far, £460 of a £1,000 target has been raised towards the campaign.

Children from Chapeltown Community Nursery will visit The Little Bookshop over the next few weeks and Sarah hopes to work with more schools around the LS7 area.

She added: “If the children see an astronaut that looks like them, they might think, ‘maybe I can be an astronaut.

"That’s got huge potential to give children the futures that they want for themselves, giving them that spectrum of opportunities - rather than thinking their life choices are limited.

“It also felt really important to support The Little Bookshop. Their range is mostly diverse books and they’ve been doing so much work around this.”

You can donate to the fundraiser here.

Support the YEP and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news and the latest on Leeds United, With a digital subscription, you see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.