I had intended to send out another planned post - organised, thought out. Instead, today I choose to send my very warmest, most book-ish good wishes for the holidays wishing a peaceful New Year to you and yours, with a small dose of book-thoughts and news. I love the community we have around us; people joining in each other's celebrations, sharing traditions and welcoming friends and neighbours into whatever their family delights in.

Yes, I know this blog is all about books for children, but for today’s post (and this mini-series – however long it ends up being) it’s about literature for children, and we’re expanding out to consider the theatre. I love the theatre. Almost any theatre. Big shows, small shows, fancy productions, school productions, serious, funny, tragic, modern, ancient, I love it.

Set against the shifting landscapes of colonial Asia, Crossings is told through the eyes of children. The novel captures the courage, uncertainty, and quiet determination of those who crossed borders ...

I suppose many of us had a ‘lockdown project’. I know we were very fortunate in being able to work from home, relatively safe, and at least together as an immediate family, even as we were separated from our wider family. Those days, before the vaccines, before we really knew how Covid spread, are strange to look back on; both still relatively recent, their impact reverberating for many, and yet fast-fading as the world roars on and the children grow.

The ‘book date’ or 'reading date' has become a feature of our family life and really just gives a name to the simplest of things – sitting and reading together. This is not reading aloud, although book daters sometimes like to ask a question, or share a passage, or check a word. It’s the act of sitting together in companionable silence, each person reading their own book.

About a year ago, I decided the younger child was just old enough, and the older child still young enough, that I would read some classic children’s books to them both. It’s settled into a reasonably relaxing pre-bedtime ritual. Once the younger is ready in pyjamas, the three of us gather in her room. The kids often sketch or doodle as I read, and I don’t mind as long as they’re quietly engaged and have most of their attention available for the story.

Caffè Nero announces the Category shortlists for the 2025 Nero [...]

Over the summer we were fortunate enough to attend some events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. There are always good reasons to visit Edinburgh…

I last posted on this blog nearly 3 years ago, which is a long time by most considerations. Many things combined to make me stop, or prevent me from restarting in the last 3 years, but I’ve kept this blog at the back of my mind and wanted to come back to it. It was never intended to be a place to go for the latest releases in children’s literature.

a parent's-eye view of children's literature