BAME: The children's bookshop selling diversity

A new bookshop is trying to give children a chance to read books featuring black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) protagonists.

When it opened, the owners said they were met with tearful responses by parents and their children who, for the first time, saw themselves starring in fairytales and comic books.

The original aim of Round Table Books in Brixton, London was to expand access and attention to books by BAME writers. But it has now expanded its range of books to include disabled, neurodiverse, and LGBT characters.

A report from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education in 2017 said that out of its 9,115 children's books published that year, only 1% had a BAME main character.