Children's authors from the UK discuss books, writing, reading and more.
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It’s the last lap, the final six weeks of a six-and-a-half year creative writing PhD, which, terrifyingly, has taken up (or, at least, often took over) one-tenth of my lifetime. I’m line-editing and proof-reading at the moment, ten pages a day of an 80K manuscript, cut down from 87K at its longest. It’s mad to try to do both at the same time, but that’s how it’s turned out and by this stage I’m…
Do you remember a time before Google and smart phones? When people had typewriters or word processors to write with, and if you wanted to speak to someone at a distance, you had to call them on a landline? Research was done in libraries, which held so many books, there wasn't even room for a student cafe. People still respected creativity and the arts and no one used AI to write, produce art or…
I’m sure, like me, several children – and a few adults – have asked you, ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ I know some authors have said it’s the question they most expect and least know how to answer. I’d be interested to know if, as I do, you feel that one of several ways we snatch onto possible ideas is by watching out in our daily lives for interesting incidents, events and situations in our…
Cath Howe writes absolutely wonderful middle-grade stories set in our real world and populated by ordinary children and families faced with extraordinary, relatable, challenges. Her sixth book of this kind published by Nosy Crow is Two is a Crowd , served-up in short chapters, with stylish bold illustrations by Miguel Bustos that really show the story's emotions being played out. Hattie tells her…
This post includes a review of a book that I first posted three years ago. I’m partly reposting it because I’m short of time but, mainly, I’m reposting it because of a recent encounter with some young writers, aged 9 and 8 years. They are daughters of our friends, very keen readers, and they love writing. They had both brought a story to read to us as part of their trip. I was put on the spot and…
As I kid I loved to read them as an adult I love to write them - scary stories. Give me ghosts and witches, throw in the odd zombie or vampire and a haunted house - the thrill is always there. I think they build resilience in children. Young readers watch as people their age overcome fear and survive danger in the best possible way. Most kid's horror will also add a strong dose of humour to…
August is a month for holidays and heatwaves and new books. First off, two new books from Jonathan Emmett Thursday 6 August: GREAT DINOSAUR MISTAKES, a factual picture book co-written by palaeontologist Adam Smith, illustrated by Stieven Van der Poorten and published by Fox & Ink Books, explores some of the most extraordinary errors early palaeontologists made, and brings past and present versions…
This week I met Manolito Gafotas for the first time. Manolito is an 8-year-old boy invented by the writer, Elvira Lindo, for a radio show in Spain in the early 1990s. The first book about Manolito, Manolito Gafotas , was published in 1994 and six more followed. The last of these was published in 2002 and then there was a ten year gap before Mejor Manolo arrived in 2012. In those 20 years Manolito…
"So, what are you writing these days?" they ask. "A book for 8 to 12 year-olds about revolutions," I answer. "STILL?!?!?" they reply. Yup, it took a while. But now, after all this time, it's finally here. I was introduced to non-fiction writing for this age group a few years back when I co-wrote two books with Joan Haig: T alking History (150 Years of Speakers and Speeches) pub. 2022, and Great…
By now, my new book, An Ordinary War , should be available on Amazon, and fear not, I'll be writing all about it in a post later this month. It is inspired by my father's experiences as a prisoner of war for five years, after being captured on the way to Dunkirk. But today, I'm writing not about him, but about my mother. We've recently had a room refurbished. It's in the oldest part of the house,…
