Tamarind Books was a small independent British publisher specialising in picture books, fiction and non-fiction featuring black and Asian children and children with disabilities. It was founded by Verna Wilkins in 1987 with the mission of redressing the balance of diversity in children's publishing, and in 2007 became an imprint of

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

Children's Books UK.

History

Tamarind Books was founded by

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

-born Verna Wilkins in 1987 after her five-year-old son came home from school with a "This is Me" booklet in which he had coloured himself pink. When she offered him a brown crayon to use instead, he refused, saying that the image he had drawn of himself had to have pink skin because it was for a book. When she researched the matter further, she arrived at the conclusion that her child and other children from the ethnic minorities were so under-represented in children's books that they were being denied an important stage in their learning, so she decided to start publishing books to meet that need. For twenty years, Wilkins ran Tamarind Books from her home, writing many of the books herself, working with the support of her family and a small group of friends and freelancers. New books were published only when there was enough money in the company bank account. In the early years, she sold the books herself. Later, Tamarind books were distributed by commercial distributors. Two of the imprint's best-known titles, both written by Wilkins, are ''The Life of

Stephen Lawrence Stephen Adrian Lawrence (13September 1974 – 22April 1993) was an 18-year-old black British citizen from Plumstead, southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road, Eltham, on the ...

'' (2001), and ''Dave and The Tooth Fairy'' (1993), featuring a computer-literate black

tooth fairy The tooth fairy is a folkloric figure of early childhood in Western and Western-influenced cultures. The folklore states that when children lose one of their baby teeth, they should place it underneath their pillow or on their bedside table ...

. Tamarind also specialises in biographies of black role models, in the Black Stars series, which includes biographies of

Malorie Blackman Oneta Malorie Blackman (born 8 February 1962) is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction ...

Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. Over his lifetime, he was awarded 20 honorary doctorates in recognition of his c ...

Rudolph Walker Rudolph Malcolm Walker CBE (born 28 September 1939) is a Trinidadian-British actor, best known for his roles as Bill Reynolds in ''Love Thy Neighbour'' (1972–1976) and Constable Frank Gladstone in '' The Thin Blue Line'' (1995–1996), as wel ...

Baroness Scotland Patricia Janet Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, (born 19 August 1955), is a Dominican-British barrister and politician who served as the sixth secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2016 to 2025. She was the first woman to ...

Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy Chinwe Ifeoma Chukwuogo-Roy MBE (2 May 1952 − 17 December 2012) was a visual artist who was born in Awka (Oka), Anambra State, Nigeria, but spent much of her young life in Ikom on the Cameroon border, before moving back to the family home ...

, David Grant and Samantha Tross.

Acquisition by Random House

In 2007, Tamarind Books was acquired by Random House Group Ltd and became an imprint of

Random House Children's Books Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the followi ...

(UK). In 2008, Tamarind Books was awarded the Decibel Cultural Diversity Award in the

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

(Nibbies). In October 2009, Wilkins retired from publishing, and a successor, Patsy Isles, was announced. In January 2011, a new team comprising editors from Random House (Ruth Knowles, Parul Bavishi, Joe Marriott and Sue Buswell) were brought in to run Tamarind, with Verna Wilkins acting as a consultant, with the patrons of Tamarind, alongside Wilkins, being

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths ...

Jamila Gavin Jamila Gavin (born 9 August 1941) is a British writer who is known mainly for children's books, including several with Indian contexts. Life Gavin was born on 9 August 1941 in Mussoorie in the United Provinces of India, in the present-day ...

and

Meera Syal Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is an English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and by portraying Sanjeev's grandmoth ...

. The titles that were historically published under the Tamarind Books imprint are now part of the

Puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

and

Ladybird Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to mother Mary. Entomologists use the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles ...

lists.

Awards

* 2007: Tamarind Books Highly Commended at the

Independent Publishers Guild The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG), founded in 1962, is an association set up to support the needs of independent firms in the publishing industry in the United Kingdom, with a current membership of more than 600 companies. The IPG is a not-fo ...

(IPG) Awards in category "IPG Diversity Award" * 2008: Tamarind Books wins Cultural Diversity Award at the

Nibbies The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

"Verna Wilkins , The reluctant publisher – 20 years on"
The Galley Club, 2008–2009.

References

External links

Tamarind Books
at Penguin.
Verna Wilkins, "The Right To Be Seen", Patrick Hardy Lecture, 29 October 2008.

"Verna Wilkins on Tamarind Books Part 1"
Random House Children's Publishers UK, 27 August 2013. {{Authority control Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Book publishing company imprints Children's book publishers Publishing companies based in London Publishing companies established in 1987 Random House