Articles

Piers Torday is a Patron of Reading at St. Silas’s in Toxteth, Liverpool, and  a Trustee of the Ministry of Stories, a charity which works with children in East London

And perhaps most importantly, poetry calls on us to value the space between the black and the white of things: poems tend to whisper not shout, and a good poem offers some space for the reader to find their own meaning. All of these things feel to me like crucial elements in both learning and living.

 Our Castle by the Sea is Lucy’s second novel, following her critically acclaimed and much-loved debut, The Secret of Nightingale Wood. Without giving too much away, can you tell us a bit

Eloise Williams is the author of the atmospheric, thrilling Gaslight. Here she talks about her brand-new book Seaglass, her love of ghost stories and what a day in her life looks

“Lyra Belacqua from Northern Lights showed me that girls can be just as brave as boys, adults and even armoured polar bears. Mildred Hubble from The Worst Witch helped me navigate friendships. Lucy Pevensie from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe taught me to believe in worlds behind wardrobes and once in Narnia, Aslan showed me how to hope, even in the darkest times.”

Jasbinder Bilan is the author of Asha And The Spirit Bird, an evocative, beautiful magical-realist Indian adventure and the winner of the 2017 Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.  Asha And The Spirit

Sophie Anderson is the best-selling and much-loved author of The House with Chicken Legs, which has just been longlisted for the 2019 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. Here she talks

Emer Stamp is the author of the award-winning The Diary of Pig series. Here she talks about winning the Lollies 2018 award for Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8s

Michelle Harrison is the award-winning author of The Thirteen Treasures. Here, she talks about her new book A Pinch of Magic, her favourite childhood books and the joys of reading

Lesléa Newman is the author of 70 books for readers of all ages, including A Letter to Harvey Milk; October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; I Carry My Mother; The

“Reading helps you to develop an explorer’s heart, and the world never looks quite the same once you’ve glimpsed it through someone else’s eyes…” I’m delighted to invite Sinead O’Hart