In celebration of World Pride Month, Deliveroo is partnering with award winning Irish author Meg Grehan from County Louth, and the top burger restaurant chain Wowburger, to offer free LGBTQ children’s books with selected meals.
The books, The Deepest Breath and The Space Between, are two exceptionally unique and progressive stories with LGBTQ themes aimed at children and young teens published by independent publishing company Little Island Books. Customers placing an order with Wowburger on the Deliveroo app in Dublin and Cork will be able to opt in to add the books to deliveries with selected meal orders.
The current relationship and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum, first published in the late 1990s, is currently being overhauled by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. Many welcomed an announcement by the Government last month that it is prepared to make legislative changes to ensure students get an inclusive sex education programme, especially in light of a recent study conducted by The Irish Second–Level Students’ Union (ISSU) which found that more than 35% of 5th and 6th year students received no RSE so far during their time in senior cycle.*
Deliveroo believes LGBTQ visibility in children’s books is an important part of cultivating the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of LGBTQ people within society.
Arabella Jenkins at Deliveroo, said:
Celebrating love in all its forms is at the core of the Deliveroo brand and we are proud to play our part in PRIDE. It is a privilege to be working with Meg Grehan, who’s books inspire children to be their truest self.
Susan Bell, Head of Wowburger Operations, said:
As a diverse and all inclusive brand, Pride is a campaign that genuinely means something to Wowburger. We are delighted to partner with Deliveroo this World Pride Month for such a positive and meaningful giveaway.
Meg Grehan, author, said:
I can’t thank Deliveroo and Wowburger enough for helping me in my mission to deliver literature which makes room for an identity that is too often neglected. I believe stories like mine can play a part, however small, in starting a conversation about the importance of queer representation in kids’ books and media.
Notes:
Meg Grehan is originally from County Louth and now lives in Donegal with her girlfriend. Her debut book, The Space Between, which is written in verse, is about queer girls slowly falling in love. It won the Eilís Dillon Award at the 28th Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year in 2018.
Her second novel, The Deepest Breath, was published in 2020 and has been described as a tender coming out story. It was celebrated by the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards last year, where it won the KPMG Judges’ Special Award. It was also shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award 2020.
Both of Grehan’s novels are published by Little Island Books, an award-winning independent Irish publishing company.
* https://www.issu.ie/news2/issu-welcomes-announcement-on-rse
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