The triumph of Paddington Inc
How Paddington Bear became one of Britain’s most distinctive international brands.
ByChildren's books
The best children’s books for Christmas 2024
Find thrilling adventures and unlikely characters in the best books for young readers.
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Why was Jamie Oliver’s children’s book taken off shelves?
I tracked down and read the offending work, Billy and the Epic Escape, so you don’t have to.
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The haunted wood of children’s literature
Britain’s beloved childhood books are realms of conflict and pain as much as nostalgia and delight.
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Why I feel like a literary Gareth Southgate
Also this week: My part in the great IT outage, and trying to impress Keir Starmer.
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The best children’s books for summer 2024
Find dreams of better worlds in new books for young readers.
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The best children’s books for spring 2024
Find cinematic joy and heroes seeking comradeship in new books for young readers.
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The best children’s books for Christmas 2023
There’s fantasy, folklore and friendship in the best new books for young readers.
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Writing for children is hard, and they need good books more than ever
Children are ravenously hungry for ideas. We writers have a duty to provide them.
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The dismal world of David Walliams
Lazy prose, stale humour, zero imagination: his bestselling children’s books belong to the Boaty McBoatface school of fiction.
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The best children’s books for summer 2023
Essential holiday reading, from vivid picture books to gripping wartime adventures.
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Julia Donaldson Q&A: “I have wonderful memories of busking in Siena”
The author of The Gruffalo on Schubert, her love of botany, and the importance of never being caught short.
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The best children’s books for spring 2023
Find animal magic and globe-trotting thrills in new books for young readers.
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I Want My Hat Back is a bleak masterpiece that explains the human condition
Jon Klassen’s picture book about a bear, a rabbit and a hat contains moments of profound revelation.
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Changes to Roald Dahl reveal our hypocritical attitudes towards children and media
Kids are expected to shrug off a daily barrage of sexual and violent imagery – but are seen as too…
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The best children’s books of 2022
From magical picture books to thrilling young adult novels, courage and joy are in abundance.
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The best children’s books for summer 2022
Magic and nature help children confront their fears in the best new books for young readers.
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Our favourite children’s books
From The Jungle Book to Z for Zachariah, New Statesman writers remember the children's books that shaped us
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