See Myself in Books Festival
Our first ever See Myself in Books Festival took place in Manchester from 17 March to 30 March 2025.
The festival introduced children, teachers and parents to diverse authors and the See Myself in Books collections available to schools and in libraries.
Children report on the festival
3,469 Manchester pupils from 43 different schools, along with 716 adults took part in the fortnight-long festival.
15 diverse authors engaged children at 32 inspiring events, including a family fun day at the National Football Museum and a schools event at Stoller Hall involving 350 pupils.
Watch four brilliant young reporters from Birchfield Primary School, who came to Stoller Hall, talk about the campaign and its importance, and interview some of the authors involved.
Teaching resources
Schools can access teaching resources to support the ethnic diversity and neurodiversity collections and the use of these books in the classroom.
The impact on teachers and children
We received some fantastic feedback about the festival and how it has inspired local schools and children.
We came back to school and had a big chat about our favourite authors, and unpicked how diverse (or not!!) they were. We all agreed that diversity and representation in books is really important…We voted for our next class text and chose Onyeka by Tola Okogwu - the 2 Nigerian children in my class were besides themselves! They love teaching us how to pronounce the Nigerian words in the story.
Teacher, Manchester
The authors were very inspiring because they made me want to be myself and stand up for myself.
Pupil from Manchester school at the Stoller Hall event
As the majority of our children come from BAME [black and ethnic minority] backgrounds it was great for them to 'see themselves in books' and the validation that they are worthy of having stories written about them.
Teacher, Manchester
It was great to see Black authors and illustrators. It made me remember I could be whatever I want to be when I grow up.
Pupil from Manchester school at the Stoller Hall event
Festival authors
Thank you to all the authors involved in the festival who entertained and inspired the children and teachers to explore diverse books.
Why is See Myself in Books important?
Reading for enjoyment brings so many benefits, but too many children are missing out on them because they don’t feel represented in the books they read.
