Julia Lee, author of The Mysterious Misadventures of Clemency Wrigglesworth examines the different types of childhoods experienced by the children in the Victorian setting of her new book The Dangerous Discoveries of Gully Potchard. In my latest book, The Dangerous Discoveries of Gully Potchard , I got to plunge back into the perilous Victorian world of The Mysterious Misadventures of Clemency Wrigglesworth . (I have to take a deep breath even to type those long titles!) It’s a […]
Read morechildren’s books
Greetings, space cadets! Philip Reeve reporting from the Reeve and McIntyre international space station (we built it out of some of Sarahʼs spare hats). Yes, for our new book, Sarah and I decided to launch ourselves into outer space. Weʼve even had some space costumes made so we can be properly dressed when we do […]
Read moreJulia Green, author of Sylvie and Star and Tilly’s Moonlight Fox gives us an insight into the inspiration behind her brand new book for younger readers, Seal Island . I’ve loved islands as long as I can remember: I like the smaller, more intimate scale of an island, the way you can get to know it on foot, the sense of community found […]
Read moreSpace travel! Toilet roll tubes! Moon-walking! Author/illustrator Richard Byrne counts down the journey to publication of his latest new picture book The Great Moon Confusion. Way back in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, during the time of the great space race, just about every child I knew wanted to be an astronaut – and […]
Read moreTatyana Feeney is author and illustrator of a brilliant series of books that tackle everyday toddler troubles. From losing a favourite blanket ( Small Bunny’s Blue Blanket ) to likes and dislikes ( Little Owl’s Orange Scarf ), her simple story and minimalist artwork speaks volumes. Where did the idea for her new book Little Frog’s Tadpole Trouble which deals with a new baby in the family come from? I have quite […]
Read moreGill Lewis, author of the award-winning Sky Hawk and White Dolphin tells us about the inspiration behind her extraordinarily moving new book Scarlet Ibis. What’s the story behind a book? Where does the inspiration come from? For Sky Hawk , White Dolphin and Moon Bear , I have a clear idea where the stories came from and what inspired them. With Scarlet Ibis , I’m […]
Read moreDeborah Ellis shares her experiences of researching her latest book, set in Afghanistan, My Name is Parvana. Late in the l990s, I spent time in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. Millions of Afghans fled there from the Soviet occupation, the civil war and then the atrocities of the Taliban. The stories I heard there […]
Read moreJohn Dougherty, author of the eye-poppingly funny new Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face series (illustrated by David Tazzyman of Mr Gum fame), ruminates on imagination and surrealism in children’s books. You can’t imagine how thrilled I was to have my new book, Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Badness of Badgers , chosen by The Times in early February as its Children’s Book of the Week. […]
Read moreStand-up comedian and author of the brand new The Private Blog of Joe Cowley, Ben Davis shares his top 3 favourite April Fool pranks… Hi everybody! My name is Ben Davis and I’m a writer. My debut novel is called The Private Blog of Joe Cowley . It’s about a fourteen-year-old boy who starts his own secret blog to document his […]
Read moreTo celebrate Mother’s Day, an ode to mums by Mina May, illustrator extraordinaire of the Wendy Quill series Wendy Quill is a Crocodile’s Bottom , Wendy Quill Tries to Grow a Pet and Wendy Quill is Full Up of Wrong (out July 2014), which she creates with her own mum, author Wendy Meddour. This is me when I was ten: the year I became an illustrator with Oxford University Press. I’ve wanted to be an […]
Read more