| Tamarind Books | |
| Parent: | Random House |
| Founder: | Verna Wilkins |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters: | London |
| Publications: | Children's books |
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,[1] and in 2007 became an imprint of Random House Children's Books UK.
Tamarind Books was founded by Grenada-born[2] 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.[3] [4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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 (2001),[7] and Dave and The Tooth Fairy (1993), featuring a computer-literate black tooth fairy.[8] [9] Tamarind also specialises in biographies of black role models, in the Black Stars series, which includes biographies of Malorie Blackman, Benjamin Zephaniah, Rudolph Walker, Baroness Scotland, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, David Grant and Samantha Tross.[10]
In 2007, Tamarind Books was acquired by Random House Group Ltd and became an imprint of Random House Children's Books (UK).[11]
In 2008, Tamarind Books was awarded the Decibel Cultural Diversity Award in the British Book Awards (Nibbies).[12]
In October 2009, Wilkins retired from publishing,[13] 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, Benjamin Zephaniah, Jamila Gavin and Meera Syal.[14] [15]
The titles that were historically published under the Tamarind Books imprint are now part of the Puffin and Ladybird lists.[16]