Read with Pride 2026 reading guide
At Children’s Books Ireland we champion diverse and inclusive books that best reflect the world, with characters of all genders and sexualities and families of all kinds. We believe that everyone deserves to see their story within the pages of an excellent book.
The Read with Pride reading guide 2026 contains 100 LGBTQ+ inclusive stories for young readers aged 0–18 with 100 recommended ‘read also’ titles for further reading.
‘Now, more than ever, it is critical that we continue to review and recommend books that foster a spirit of inclusion and empathy, including those with LGBTQ+ themes and by LGBTQ+ authors – not just for LGBTQ+ children and young people, but for everyone.'
- Elaina Ryan, CEO Children's Books Ireland
This is a curated list of titles our expert reviewers recommend under the assigned theme. It is by no means an exhaustive list and we have tried, where possible, to include a spread across age ranges and genres under the theme. Our policy is to include titles dating from five years to date in English and ten years to date in the Irish language. Any titles by an Irish author, illustrator, publisher or in the Irish language will be denoted with a shamrock.
Each review in this guide comes with a suggested age range. These are based on the information provided by the publisher as well as our own judgement of the level for which the language and content is most suitable. In some cases you may see two or more age ranges e.g. 12–14, 15+. In these cases, we feel that the book is suitable for a wider age span.
These age ranges are a guide only – it is impossible to accurately predict the correct level for every child. If in doubt, parents/carers and teachers are advised to read the book themselves before deciding whether it is suitable for the child or young person.
We wish to acknowledge the work and contribution of our Inis magazine and reading guide reviewers.
