Children and young people who read daily are more likely to report high wellbeing, according to new National Literacy Trust research. Its survey of 52,147 eight to 18-year-olds found that 84.9% of daily readers reported high wellbeing, compared with 71.1% of those who rarely or never read.
Reading confidence showed an equally marked association. High wellbeing was reported by 84.3% of confident readers, against 58.2% of children lacking confidence; the survey examined social connection, security, competence and other aspects of wellbeing.
A third Excluded Voices report from Inclusive Books for Children found that only 150 of 2,189 UK books published in 2025 for under-10s featured a main character from a minoritised ethnic, disabled or neurodivergent background. Just 73 of those titles were created by authors and illustrators sharing the characters’ backgrounds.
The figures included 47 books with Black protagonists, 30 with South Asian protagonists and just three with Middle Eastern or North African protagonists. Picture books centring disabled characters fell by 60% to two titles, neither by a disabled creator, while those featuring neurodivergent protagonists rose from three to 13. Children’s author Serena Patel and Carnegie awards executive Jake Hope called for better representation.
The separate Reflecting Disability study, facilitated by Alexandra Strick and Beth Cox, examined 4,009 UK books published in 2024 for children aged three to 11. Only 398 featured disabled people, and 167 of these confined them to background roles. Researchers also identified reading accessibility barriers in 67% of books reviewed.
The study, funded by Arts Council England and analysed by The Reading Agency, found particularly limited portrayals of social or behavioural conditions, learning difficulties and mental health conditions. A practical toolkit for publishers is being prepared.
The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education will publish its next Reflecting Realities report in November. Its previous survey recorded an increase in books featuring racially minoritised characters from 17% in 2023 to 24% in 2024.
Book ownership and reading habits remain uneven across Ireland. A Children’s Books Ireland survey of 666 parents covering 1,197 children found that half owned no more than 15 books, with the average standing at 23. Northern Ireland was included for the first time.
Just 23% of children read for pleasure daily, while 19% of teenagers seldom or never did so. Parents identified screens (54%), difficulty finding suitable reading (50%) and book costs (43%) as barriers; 42% of teenagers were still read to at least occasionally.
The 2027 UKLA Book Awards longlists have been published, placing 80 books before 89 teacher judges. Twenty titles appear in each of four categories covering ages three to six, seven to ten, 11 to 14 and information books for ages three to 14. Shortlists of six per category will be decided in March.
Selections include Emily Gravett’s Bear’s Nap, Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury’s Oh Dear, Look What I Got, Katya Balen’s Letters From the Upside and Manjeet Mann’s Roar. The information list includes Christopher Edge and Paul Daviz’s Quantum!, Nicola Davies and Britta Teckentrup’s Whale Song and Catherine Brereton’s The Week Junior Guide to Politics.
Jack Mackay’s debut Gloam won both Breakthrough and Audiobook at the 2026 Week Junior Book Awards, with Indira Varma narrating the audio edition. The 14-category ceremony at BFI Southbank also recognised Farhana Islam’s The Misadventures of Mina Mahmood: School Trip for younger fiction and Helen Rutter’s The Boy with Big Decisions for older fiction.
Other winners included Neil Sharpson and illustrator Dan Santat for Don’t Trust Fish!, Cathy Reay for How To Be Disabled and Proud, and Tor Freeman for Boss of the Underworld: Shirley vs the Green Menace. Readers chose Jamie Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business, while Paola Escobar’s artwork for Zohra Nabi’s Deep Dark won the cover award.
Poetry honours went to This Is Not a Small Voice, selected by Traci N. Todd and illustrated by Jade Orlando. Other category winners were A. J. Wood and Jo Rioux for STEM, Paterson Joseph and Rumbidzai Savanhu for factual books, Rob and Tom Sears for animals and nature, and Abigail Wheatley and Chaaya Prabhat for hobbies and interests.
The Diverse Book Awards shortlists feature a new children’s non-fiction category after more than 200 submissions across children’s and adult books. The winners, including the Malorie Blackman Impact Award recipient, will be announced at Waterstones Piccadilly on 22 October.
Picture book contenders include Selina Brown and Maxwell A. Oginni’s My Rice is Best and Candy Gourlay and Jamie Bauza’s Little Rhino Lost. Children’s fiction nominees include Jamila Gavin’s My Soul, A Shining Tree and Chanté Timothy’s Supa Nova; YA titles include Amara Sage’s Girl, Ultra-Processed and Ravena Guron’s Mondays Are Murder. The new non-fiction selection features David Roberts’ We Are Your Children.
Thousands joined the 12-hour online reading record attempt on 8 October, organised by the National Literacy Trust and British Council. Part of the National Year of Reading 2026 and Take 10 to Read campaign, the event is awaiting Guinness World Records verification.
School Reading List has launched free, personalised reading-for-pleasure support for UK schools. Available to primary, secondary, special and alternative provision settings, the email-based service offers a 30, 60 and 90-day action plan, at least 30 targeted book recommendations for pupils and staff, and practical suggestions on libraries, inclusion and reading culture.
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler launched Gruffalo Granny, the third book in their series, with a British Library event streamed to 6,000 schools and a Waterstones Piccadilly pop-up running until Christmas. Macmillan Children’s Books commissioned 1.5 million copies in its initial print run and is gifting 75,000 to children in disadvantaged communities.
Alongside the print and audiobook editions, the publisher released Braille, British Sign Language and audio-tactile versions through Living Paintings. The new story follows the Gruffalo and its child as they prepare for Granny’s arrival, more than 20 years after The Gruffalo’s Child.
Families in Selby are to receive a free book every month from birth until their children’s fifth birthday through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The project is one of two pilots supported by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Cradle to Career £400,000 programme; the other is a baby box initiative in Scarborough.
Jersey schools and community groups will receive picture books about dementia through a partnership between Every Child Our Future and Dementia Jersey. The selection, funded by a Lions Club of Jersey Swimarathon donation, includes Rebecca Oxtoby’s Why Does Grandad Forget? and David McKee’s Elmer and The Gift.
Milton Keynes author Emilya Costouva has published Spikey the Hedgehog: The Magic of Learning, inspired by supporting her son with ADHD. Written during the Covid lockdowns, the woodland adventure addresses learning challenges, friendships, perseverance and confidence.
The Norfolk Children’s Book Centre is marking 40 years with a move from founder Marilyn Brocklehurst’s former garden premises in Alby to Wroxham Barns. Manager Annie Rhodes hopes the larger shop will bring more school visits, children’s events and opportunities to explore books for younger families. The anniversary programme includes Nick Butterworth and Jamie Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey characters.
Grace Walker’s debut The Merge won the 2026 New Adult Book Prize at Cheltenham Literature Festival. Published by Magpie, the novel follows a daughter and her mother, who has Alzheimer’s, as they enrol in an experimental process to combine their consciousnesses. Walker also works as an English teacher.
Europe’s publishing trade faces falling readership and declining inflation-adjusted revenue, according to figures presented by the Federation of European Publishers at Frankfurt Book Fair. The organisation estimated 2025 publisher turnover at €24.6bn, worth around €15.2bn in real terms, and reported that print sales had fallen 6% since 2020 to 2.4 billion copies.
Deputy director Enrico Turrin also reported audiobook market share rising from 2.5% in 2021 to 5.2% in 2025, while warning that fewer people were reading books. Nearly half of Europeans surveyed in 2022, 47.2%, said they were not book readers.
