By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-08-04 12:06:04 | Updated at 2026-08-04 18:07:03
6 hours ago
A leading publisher of children’s books about gender identity has launched removable covers allowing young people to conceal what they are reading.
Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP), an imprint of publishing giant Hachette UK, says its new “safety covers” provide a discreet way to read books about LGBTQIA+ identities, autism and other sensitive subjects without making others "suspicious".
While JKP has not said the covers are specifically intended for children, a blog published to launch the initiative makes references to young people exploring their gender identity or sexuality, including “coming out”.
Assistant editor Sarah Thomson said some readers had told the publisher they wanted to explore these subjects without revealing what they were reading to those around them. She said: “Sometimes this was a young trans person in an unsupportive household, sometimes it was someone who thought they might be autistic but didn’t want to announce it to everyone around them with a book cover.”
The covers could protect readers from “oppressive legal policies, unsafe family members, or strangers in socially restrictive areas”, Thomson said, while also providing privacy for people who were uncertain about their identity.
The removable dust jackets, available on the publisher’s website for £3.99, contain no indication of the subject matter of the book beneath.
One design, featuring a colourful landscape of mountains, trees and water, was created by Vaquero Azul, whom JKP describes as an Otomí, Maya and Taíno “Two-Spirit” illustrator whose work focuses on “trans euphoria” and Indigenous joy.
Designed to fit most JKP titles smaller than 152mm by 229mm - six inches by nine inches - the covers can also be trimmed to fit smaller books.
The covers could protect readers from 'oppressive legal policies, unsafe family members, or strangers in socially restrictive areas'
SUPPLIED
However, child safeguarding campaigners have raised concerns about readers who may be children being encouraged to conceal books about gender identity and sexuality from their parents.
Shelley Charlesworth, co-director Transgender Trend said: "Jessica Kingsley Publishers has a big list of fiction and non-fiction books which tell children they could be born in the wrong body.
"These trans advocacy books promote harmful ideas and introduce small children to activist language such as 'sex assigned at birth' and adult sexual identities such as 'asexuality.' Books like these are developmentally inappropriate and are safeguarding red flags.
"It's really concerning to hear JKP are now undermining parental authority and family bonds by encouraging children to hide what they are reading."
A blog published to launch the initiative makes references to young people exploring their gender identity or sexuality, including 'coming out'
SUPPLIED
JKP is one of the UK’s leading publishers of books about gender identity for children and young people
SUPPLIED
JKP is one of the UK’s leading publishers of books about gender identity for children and young people.
Its catalogue includes Me and My Dysphoria Monster, about a child followed by a monster that grows bigger when she “tries to hide her true gender identity”, and The Trans Pride Colouring Book, which encourages children aged five and over to “stand up for trans rights”.
Last month, Through the Looking Glass, a report by SEEN in Publishing - a network of publishing professionals concerned about sex and gender- raised concerns about trans activism in more than 60 children’s books, including several JKP titles.
Backed by former Children’s Laureate Anne Fine OBE, the report highlighted books from a range of different publishers featuring children described as “born in the wrong body”, women with beards or mastectomy scars, and characters including a “non-binary” guinea pig and a male teddy bear who wants to be a girl.
A forthcoming JKP picture book, Love Looks Like Lola, introduces young children to “aroace”- a term combining aromantic and asexual identities.
The initiative comes amid a wider debate about whether parents should be informed when children are questioning their gender.
Department for Education guidance published last month, states that teachers do not necessarily have to tell parents if a child is questioning their gender identity but has not requested changes to how they are treated.
If a child requests changes such as a new name or pronouns, parents should usually be involved and their views “should carry great weight”. However, schools are also told to consider whether involving them could place the child at risk.
Critics argue that describing a household as merely “unsupportive” can blur the distinction between parents who pose a genuine danger and those taking a cautious approach while exploring the reasons for their child’s distress.
Julia Williams, a spokeswoman for SEEN in Publishing, said: “Publishers should not be encouraging children to conceal what they are reading from their parents.
"Describing a household as ‘unsupportive’ risks conflating genuinely unsafe families with parents who are simply taking a cautious approach to contested ideas about gender identity.
“The independent Cass Review of NHS gender services for children emphasised that parents should be involved as early as possible when a child experiences persistent gender distress. These covers risk normalising secrecy at precisely the time when openness, safeguarding and parental involvement are most important.”
Jessica Kingsley Publishers was contacted for comment.
