Illustrator Tim Hopgood talks about his love of colour, and how WOW! Said The Owl changed his life.
Queen of Comedy
With Book Day approaching prolific author Jeanne Willis is getting her bag ready for in person and online visits. Here Nicola Baird finds out more about her writing life.
Meeting readers where they’re at
A career teaching English often with SEN teenagers inspired Emma Steel’s move to publishing books that empower everyone to fall in love with reading. Interview by Nicola Baird
Webinar: Ken Wilson-Max
Award-winning author and illustrator Ken Wilson-Max explores what true diversity means in children’s publishing – and why inclusion matters in every classroom.
Ways to restock your library
Librarian’s view: To buy 100 new books split evenly between fiction and non-fiction in today’s market could easily cost over £1,000. With the discount specialists like SLS receive from suppliers, the cost for the same number of books could be reduced to around £750. This saving can be used by the school for other spending. But what if you could replenish your library with a gift of second-hand books? Libraries need makeovers and you can’t have tatty books in your collection. But you also want the shelves to feel up-to-date and boasting the sort of titles that reflect your school’s …
Books to stop the million word gap
Librarian’s view: Who might say this? “We know that children who read for pleasure, and who are read to, gain all kinds of benefits.” The answer is as likely to be educators as librarians, but this time it was the current Waterstones’ Children’s Laureate 2024-2026, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. In addition to dreaming up the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony (a collab with Danny Boyle), Cottrell-Boyce has written some fabulous children’s books including Millions (which won the Carnegie Medal); Framed; an Ian Fleming sequel called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again and episodes of Dr Who. So, when Cottrell-Boyce warns that the …