Posted on: 23/06/2025
For this year’s Pride month, we are thrilled to have come together with, Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people's charity, to curate a booklist that represents the queer community in all its diversity.
Just Like Us makes sure every LGBT+ young person can thrive, working with schools and colleges across the UK to deliver programmes which make schools more inclusive, safer spaces for all. Check out their website to find more free resources for primary schools and some CPD e-learning for staff.
In a time where trans and gender non-conforming people’s rights are being threatened, it is more important than ever that as education practitioners we champion our children in the LGBTQIA+ community and represent LGBTQIA+ families. At Literacy Tree, we want to resist and challenge these new legislations and bills by giving this community a voice. We do this by using books: one of the most powerful armours we have to amplify someone’s voice, to open someone’s eyes to another person’s or community’s experience. As James Baldwin once said, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”
By reading, we connect, we empathise and we understand that we all share a commonality: we are all human, we all deserve to love and be loved and we all deserve to be exactly the person we want to be. We hope you feel inspired to share the books below with the children in your class and beyond. From the Literacy Tree and Just Like Us teams we wish you all a Happy Pride!
Written by Dean Atta and illustrated by Alea Marley
(Orchard Books)
This delightful, colourful book transports us to Arianna’s life and her beautiful family. Alea Marley brings Atta’s words to life through her wonderful illustrations where confetti is the common thread as we go through the picture book. It is the thing in Arianna’s young life she links to every single precious memory. These rectangular pieces of confetti are each coloured with colours from the pride flag; however, she also sees confetti figuratively in other joyous moments of her life, such as fireworks and snow. Going to pride with her Uncle Ari, playing with him, her baby sister being born or Uncle Ari’s marriage to his husband - all these experiences feel like confetti to Arianna.
This celebratory book provides opportunities, particularly in early years settings, to discuss pride and how this links to a celebration of love and life.
Written and illustrated by Sophie Beer
(Caterpillar Books)
A perfect board book with the most vibrant illustrations; Beer illustrates beautifully how we, as families in our own unique makeup, have different ways to show and experience love. She allows us to navigate this through this book by simplistically starting each double page with Love is... and oh it can be so many things! Children enjoy hearing how love can be anything from chasing monsters, baking a special cake, knowing where everything is to finding the biggest puddles. While this can be enjoyed by all ages, it will certainly sit perfectly in an early year’s classroom. The perfect way to introduce children to the beauty of different family makeups and their love in all its forms.
Love Makes a Family is only one of many books in Sophie Beer’s book collection. Explore more of her books, like You’re Fabulous As You Are and Change Starts With Us.
Written and illustrated by Harry Woodgate
(Andersen Press)
Harry Woodgate’s vibrant and colourful book transports us to the life of Milly, a little girl who visits her Grandad’s house by the sea every summer. A place where she is free to roam, enjoy the outdoors and find treasures collected from her Grandad’s travels. Whilst there, her favourite thing to do is to snuggle up to Grandad and enjoy going through Grandad’s and Gramps’s photo albums. We discover alongside Milly how, many years ago, they made wonderful memories by travelling in their pink campervan. Sadly, it is something that Grandad has stopped doing because Gramps is no longer around. Can Milly reignite Grandad’s love for adventure?
A wonderful story about lasting love and love in all its forms; it gently addresses how grief can at times stop us from doing the things we most enjoy, not realising that by doing what we enjoy, is how we keep memories alive. It shows us how seeing things through someone else’s eyes, in this case Milly’s eyes, can change our perspective to life and snap us back into enjoying what we loved the most.
Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Winner Harry Woodgate delights us once again with another of Milly’s adventures, Grandad’s Pride. Milly’s mission is to reignite Grandad’s enjoyment of heading to Pride, by bringing the local community together and having their own Pride right on his doorstep. 
Written by Frank J. Sileo and Kate Lum-Potvin and illustrated by Emmi Smid
(Jessica Kingsley Publishers)
We often forget how wonderfully empathetic and attuned to others and their feelings children can be; how they can often be the ones to see how unjust things are, sometimes before an adult can. This sparkly book shows us Joy’s experiences of what happens when her brother Noah and his boyfriend Miguel come back home to visit.
They are teased and laughed at by other children because of who they are and who they love. Emmi Smid portrays the bullies and the feelings they bring about as grey, dark figures. By doing this, she does not give them power but instead shows the light that comes from Joy who after seeing and hearing this wants to do something about it. She raises money for the local teen centre by having a bake sale creating her own ‘Pride and Joy’ cookies.
This touching book not only gently introduces same gender relationships at its early stages but shows children that allyship can come in many shapes or forms no matter how small the gesture. It will be a book to certainly empower children to become an ally, to be resilient and to stand up for what is right.
Written and illustrated by Jessica Love
(Walker Books)
Jessica Love’s Julian is a Mermaid is a picture book that will captivate you with its wonderful, vibrant illustrations. A book about a boy called Julian who absolutely loves mermaids, and who desperately wants to be one. In the book, we delve into one of Julian’s days where he is with his Nana; on their way home, he spots three women dressed as mermaids. Love echoes the limitless beauty of children’s imagination through her illustrations; you can feel the water swishing and rushing through Julian’s hair as he imagines himself swimming alongside the fish and manta rays in the ocean as a mermaid. With this dream fluttering in his mind, they arrive home and whilst Nana has a bath, Julian uses whatever is around him to turn himself into the most wonderful mermaid. However, Nana comes back from her bath and does not look pleased at all. To Julian’s surprise, Nana gives Julian the final piece he needs to complete his outfit.
This book amplifies what it means to feel accepted, especially by those who are closest to us. It emphasises the importance of allowing ourselves to be who we want to be, to like what we want to like, to wear what we want to wear and to just be unapologetically ourselves.
Julian’s story does not end here! Love has written and illustrated a wonderful, celebratory follow up story, Julian at the Wedding. Julian and his cousin Marisol are part of a wedding, celebrating two beautiful brides. In this story, Julian finds he has to use his imagination to magic a brand-new outfit.
Written by Lizzie Huxley-Jones
(Knights Of)
Lizzie Huxley-Jones brings to life Vivi Conway in her first book of this series, illustrated by the marvellous Harry Woodgate. Vivi, a neurodivergent girl, wakes up on the day that she is moving from Wales to London to find that she is Nimuë’s (the Lady of the Lake) calon in the most traumatic way. Vivi has been brought up by ‘the mums’ as she often calls them, hearing stories about myths, legends, magic and monsters, but never expected that she would be living them. After moving to London, one of her new friends gets taken by a monster to the Unlands and she finds that she must learn and adapt to her new magical powers much sooner than she expected. In trying to do this she, along with Dara (another calon) and Gelert (a ghostly dog who can talk) discovers that bigger things are at stake, and many more are needed to be saved.
A magical book, full of resilience and friendships formed in the most heartwarming way. A story that subtly shows the challenges of forming friendships as a neurodivergent person and how acceptance can be found in the most magical ways with empowering non-binary and disability representation. It is a gripping book where you will fall in love with Vivi, Dara, Chia, Stevie and Gelert, rooting for them as they journey through the Unlands.
Written by Ian Eagleton and illustrated by James Mayhew
(Owlet Press)
This magical book tells the story of Nen, a merman that spends his days exploring and marvelling at the wonders of his home, the ocean. Despite this, he feels incomplete, that something is missing in his life. His curiosity pulls him to the surface above, where every night he sings a sad song. One night, his song drifts to a lonely fisherman called Ernest. Ernest, who also wondered whether there was something more waiting for him, decides to follow the mysterious, but beautiful and tender song. They both find each other and, in this union, bring about a sense of completeness. However, Pelagio (Nen’s father) is unhappy about this and wants Nen to stay away from Ernest. Enraged by his son’s choice, Pelagio sends a storm that causes Ernest’s boat to capsize. It is engulfed by the waves, leaving Nen to rescue the person that makes him feel complete.
A deeply moving, magical and celebratory story about finding and keeping love, shared in a way that children of all ages can engage with.
If you want to read more by Ian Eagleton, we recommend Millie’s Big Decision. A story about a little girl called Millie who experiences grief for the first time. Her dads want to get her a new puppy, but Millie finds it hard to let the puppy in for fear of losing him.
Written by ND Stevenson, Shannon Watters and Grace Ellis and illustrated by Gus A Allen
(BOOM! Box)
The first volume in its series, this amazing graphic novel is fun and full of action. Sandwiched in between the Lumberjanes manual, which portrays a more conventional perspective of what we know about scouts, brownies and the like. In contrast, this graphic novel shows a more daring, spunky and adventurous group of Lumberjanes. We meet five best friends: Jo, Molly, Ripley, Mal and April, who work together through adventures to overcome the mysteries unfolding during their time at summer camp. Overcoming and defeating three-eyed foxes, a monster in a raging river, being trapped in a forgotten cave filled with boobie traps – the story is reminiscent of well-known adventures. These five girls and their humour and boldness keep you hooked on what will come next. The volume ends, leaving you wondering how they will solve the next challenge that we know is coming.
Bright and whimsical, this wonderful graphic novel portrays the early beginnings of same gender relationships and is a beautiful representation of a trans teenage girl who comes out later in the series; how she is supported and seen by her friends.
Written by Benjamin Dean and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat
(Simon & Schuster Children's UK)
Are you ready to keep a secret? If you are, then delve into Archie’s world. Navigating the separation of his parents, Archie searches for answers to discover why this has happened. Learning why comes about by accident. Although his dad had intentions of telling him, he hadn't managed it just yet. Archie finds out himself that his dad has bravely come out as gay. Since then, everything has felt different to Archie, and he believes that things won’t be the same. After finding the mysterious rainbow flyer that had caused much upset between his dad and mum, he is determined to go on a mission to recover the “us” that he believes is gone. Convincing his two best friends, Bell and Seb, to journey to London to find out what Pride is all about, he believes this is where he will discover all the answers on how to get “us” back. Archie discovers without knowing that Pride will provide the rainbow army he needs to save the day and that the “us” he’s been after has been there all along.
A bright and joyous book about friendship, and one that addresses the difficulty of parent separation. More importantly, it acknowledges the space one needs in navigating the journey of a parent coming out. A colourful book that showcases the wonder and the deep significance of Pride. In the words of Archie, he soon discovers that, “Pride is all about family, both the ones you’re given and the ones you make.”
Written by Sarah Hagger-Holt
(Usborne Publishing Ltd)
Jesse recently came out as non-binary. Supported by their loving family and charismatic best friend Simran, they are still navigating discomfort - feeling more perceived at school and figuring out what feels comfortable. Their new history teacher, Ms Grant, is a breath of fresh air, encouraging students to ask whose stories remain untold. An extra-curricular project gets Jesse and Simran’s brains whirring…
When Jesse’s mum learns her cousin Lisa has died, she regrets losing touch. After the funeral, Jesse unearths a box in Lisa’s attic: a jacket with pins, a photograph, and a diary from the 1980s. A potential basis for the history project? Through the diary entries, we dive into a teenage Lisa’s world, learning about section 28 and the campaign against it. Lisa goes on a journey of self-discovery as she falls for her outspoken classmate Nicky and takes her first steps into activism - despite the risks and personal consequences.
In the present day, Jesse and Simran’s research project grows into a local exhibition, uniting families, classmates, and old friends. The dual timelines show how much has changed since the 80s, while highlighting challenges that persist today. A story about community and the power of looking backwards to look forwards — perfect for upper KS2 children moving into secondary school.
We hope you feel inspired to read with pride not just in June, but year round. Just Like Us updates it's full-length reading guide every year. The latest version will be releasing in time for back-to-school, so keep an eye on their website for more inclusive recommendations!
Posted in: Book Lists
