Inspiring Young Readers

Max and Moritz : a German children’s classic that never quite made the crossover posted on 02 Dec 2016

As a university tutor I have recently been doing some work with two German students who are in the UK on an Erasmus exchange scholarship.

More than just kid’s stuff posted on 19 Nov 2016

A little while ago when the author Alan Gibbons came to talk to students at the university I teach in, I asked him........

Children’s Books : a window on our social history posted on 11 Nov 2016

A recent article on the Little Things website has reminded me of what a rich source of social history..

Wheelchairs in picture books: sometimes you see them and sometimes you don’t posted on 12 Oct 2016

Richard Reiser is a well-known disability rights campaigner ...

Raising a reader: Boden's first three months posted on 01 Oct 2016

I am sometimes told that I need to tone down my passion for children's books ...

An afternoon in Polyphemus’s cave posted on 27 Sep 2016

One advantage of having a brother who was five years older than me was that I could pilfer his comics and magazines

The Strange Case of Arthur Calder-Marshall posted on 20 Sep 2016

If I was ever asked to nominate a candidate for a truly remarkable young adult novel I would almost certainly consider the case for a little know tale..

What ever happened to the prize book? posted on 02 Sep 2016

Rummaging through the shelves of second hand bookshops or the books in charity shops that sit in the ‘old and collectible’ sections that they now all seem

Separated by a common language : children's books I didn't grow up with posted on 06 Aug 2016

I recently picked up a copy of E.B. White's children's story, Stuart Little

Missing the bus posted on 25 Jul 2016

A minor vice of mine is seeking out small collectibles relating to reading.