A summerful of stories

Tomorrow is my girls’ last day of school this year, and then the summer holiday begin. We’ve a summer full of stories planned and as part of that we’ll be following Storycloud, a free online library of brand new short stories for 5 – 8 year olds and their families, written by some of the [...]

James Mayhew on illustrating to live orchestral accompaniment

When parents ask me what they can do to get their kids excited about reading, I always encourage them to take their children to see an author or illustrator live. Attending a workshop in a library, or an event at a festival requires relatively little effort and yet the impact it can have on a [...]

Celebrating National Non-Fiction Day with a family science book

Today National Non-Fiction Day is being celebrated across the UK, highlighting all that is brilliant about non fiction and showing that it’s not just fiction that can be read and enjoyed for pleasure. My small contribution is a review of a family science book, The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins. In this ambitious book, [...]