Welcome to this week’s look at what has been happening in the world of children’s books. More important award announcements took place, there are some helpful articles on the subject of reading for pleasure, plus review round ups. Lots here to tempt you!

What I’m reading…

Jenny Pearson is an author who has developed a justified reputation for balancing laugh out loud hilarity with a thoughtful look at life and her latest book, The Boy Who Made Monsters explores the subject of childhood bereavement with tenderness and understanding. I think it is an utterly lovely book in which smiles and tears combine to create a story of hopeful optimism. Stories for children, especially when they are exploring difficult themes, need to have if not a happy ending at least a hopeful one. In Jenny Pearson’s capable hands the heartache of grief is balanced with humour and a huge amount of hope.

Several new information books have been published in recent months and this week I reviewed just a small selection of some of my favourites for children from about four to early secondary age. Titles include a colourful guide to the human body described for young children, an excellent book by disability activist Ashley Harris Whaley enabling adults to explain what disability is and why it should be celebrated, everything curious children could possibly want to know about sharks, a look at how plants may help us with challenges such as climate change and producing enough food for everyone and a readable guide to friendship issues.

News, articles and resources…

Dads Make Stories Magic – Dads Make Stories Magic is a campaign to get the nation reading together this summer from children’s reading charity BookTrust and children’s book publishers Farshore and HarperCollins Children’s Books. The campaign has been launched as new research found that only 29% of children are read to every day or nearly every day by their dads, despite this being one of the most effective ways of encouraging children’s enjoyment of reading and proven to have a positive impact on their life chances. The website includes features of dads reading with their children, advice and tips plus links to research.

Children’s and teens roundup: the best new picture books and novels – Dreams of Bollywood; awkward questions about the British Empire; a haunted school trip; and a riotous YA horror-comedy are included in Imogen Russell Williams’ latest selection for all ages.

Developing a Culture of Reading for Pleasure 4: Reading Communities – “We cannot make a child read for pleasure. However, we can create an environment in which reading is presented as enticing and engaging.” Open University Reading for Pleasure lecturer Debbie Thomas explores the power of Reading Communities in the last of her series of four blogs on the Literacy Hive website.

Book Trust Virtual Event: Candy Gourlay talk and Q&A – Join Candy on Friday 7 July at 11am in a fun discussion of how to design characters, how a story can grow out of a character, and how the best characters always leave you yearning to spend more time with them. Suitable for year groups 5, 6 & 7. More information and how to register via the link above.

What to read after… The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Some books end up etched in the memories of not just families and classes but entire generations. Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea is one of those classics. Assistant headteacher Dean Boddington, creator of the No Shelf Control newsletter has come up with some great suggestions of what to read after this much loved classic.

Yoto Carnegie Winners 2023 Announced – For the first time in the awards almost 90-year history, the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded to a book in translation – The Blue Book of Nebo written and translated by Manon Steffan Ros. Jeet Zdung has won the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration for Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear. This is the second consecutive year that a graphic novel has clinched the prize. Children and young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process, debate and choose their own winners and have voted for I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys for the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing, and The Comet by Joe Todd-Stanton for the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration. Many congratulations to all the winners.

Interview with Yoto Carnegie 2023 winner for illustration Jeet Zdung – Tanja Jennings, one of the judges on this year’s Yoto Carnegies panel, interviewed Jeet for Books for Keeps. You can also read Tanya’s interesting interview with Manon Steffan Ros winner of the prize for writing here.

CLPE’s May New Books Round-Up – Each month CLPE’s Librarian, Phoebe Demeger, reveals some of her favourite books she has recently added to their Literacy Library. Suitable for Early Years right up to Lower Secondary age.

A Place Called “Home” – A Windrush Biography by G M Linton – this week marked the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks in the UK and celebrating the Windrush generation and their joyful and important legacy children’s author G M Linton writes about her parents in this lovely article. You can read my review of her excellent new novel My Name Is Sunshine Simpson here.

Indie Book Awards Winners – the winners in each four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s Fiction and Picture Book were announced yesterday. Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman win the children’s fiction category and The Boy with Flowers in His Hair by Jarvis was the winner of the picturebook section. Congratulations to all the winning authors.

UKLA Award Winners Announced – Katya Balen becomes first ever to achieve back-to-back wins with The Light in Everything winning the 7-11 category this year following her previous win with October, October. Costa-winning The Crossing scoops Manjeet Mann her second UKLA award in the 11- 14+ age group. The 3-6+ category has been won by a stunning debut. Flooded by Mariajo Ilustrajo. Musical Truth –A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs written by Jeffrey Boakye with illustrations by Ngadi Smart won the Information Books 3-14+ category.

How to Spark! a Love of Reading in Your School – this guest blog by Sian Hardy, Literacy Hive is the last in a series on the Spark Awards website. Both these and the previous ones are well worth reading. The website provides information about these awards, the involvement of local schools and the judging process.

Finally, some book reviews that caught my eye this week…

Pea Pod Lullaby by Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King – this picture book is particularly relevant this week as we marked Refugee Week. Veronica Price’s excellent review will tempt teachers and school librarians to make sure they have a copy. Veronica also shares a double page spread illustration that is extremely well done.

Peril on the Atlantic by A.M. Howell – I’m lucky enough to have received a proof copy of this book from Usborne and having read Ben Harris’s thoughtful review I’m going to shuffle it up my reading list. Anne Marie Howell writes the sort of story that I loved as a child and which, more importantly, Ben says children in his class love too. “What she does so well – and what all children love and appreciate – is to tell a magnificent story, and hers are ones that are full of mystery and twists and turns, the ones that keep you guessing and the ones that children year after year have told me they have enjoyed particularly.”

That’s all for this week. I hope you have a lovely weekend and some time to read too. Next Saturday I will be revealing the cover of Tom Palmer’s new book in the Rocky of the Rovers series due to be published in September so watch this space!