Frank Cottrell-Boyce is an absurdly busy man. When he finds time and peace enough to write his excellent children’s books baffles me. He is constantly visiting schools, libraries, playgroups and young offender institutions, supporting charities and individuals in any way he can and researching children’s development, not to mention reading stories to his beloved grandchild.

I am in awe of him but I thought I knew already what he had to say in A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now. Almost fifty per cent of children start school without ever having been read a bedtime story. Twenty-eight per cent arrive at school without knowing how to handle a book. Over the last decade, more than 180 public libraries closed or were handed over to volunteers. Some children try to swipe rather than turn the pages of a book. Some try to expand pictures on a page by pushing them with their fingers. I know this. It’s awful. What do we do?

In fact I didn’t know half of what is in this book. What is precluding parents from reading to their children as part of a bedtime routine? Is it the ubiquitous screens? Sure. But also: beds. Lots of children don’t have beds.

I did not anticipate the scope of the stories he had to tell, nor the combination of hope and rage and the desire to act that would be induced. The chapters track children from infancy to young adulthood, drawing in brilliant initiatives, fascinating research and lessons from some of the greatest children’s books, including The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Just William and The Little Prince.

I want everyone to read A British Childhood and then to press it into the hands of anyone who might be able to make a difference. (This is very easy to do – did you know that actual books come fully loaded, no charging required, and don’t need a QR code or link to share them? Simply pick it up and pass it on.)  

Meanwhile, I hope these books find their way into bedtime reading:

The Blockbusters! is Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s most recent children’s book and a source of as much entertainment as A British Childhood is of anger. A school trip gone awry leads Rafa to find himself on a film set, playing the body double of a Hollywood superstar. Shakespeare, a Kraken, a hot air balloon ride, mistaken identity, fishfinger sandwiches, ten pin bowling, controversy at The Oscars – The Blockbusters has everything. I adored it. And if you see that twist coming… well, you should be working on the film Rafa finds himself in because it is absolutely wild.

Taking over from Frank Cottrell-Boyce as Waterstones Children’s Laureate is Patrice Lawrence. I loved Needle, her novel about a girl who is really into knitting. A calming hobby perhaps until, not unprovoked, she wields her knitting needle as a weapon… Needle is published by Barrington Stoke and so great for readers with dyslexia as well as anyone who likes a good story addressing issues in the care and criminal justice systems and where to find a decent wool shop.

I am very much enjoying Lawrence’s historical fantasy The Elemental Detectives, set in a London whose wealth is guarded by petite dragons, in which giants sleep in the mud of the Thames (or is something disturbing their slumber?), air spirits waft away the smoke billowing from the city’s chimneys (a losing battle?) and shape-shifting water creatures are growing frustrated with the humans polluting their rivers. Who is aware of the hidden Elemental London? And what happens when its fine balance is upset?

Younger fantasy readers will love Diary of an Accidental Witch by Honor and Perdita Cargill. Bea Black has just moved to the village of Little Spellshire. Fortunately she quickly makes friends with her neighbour, Ash, so she will know someone on the first day of her new school. Unfortunately her father has mistakenly enrolled her at the other school in the area. The one in the forest. The one where children wear capes. The one with a lot of Physics on the timetable yet little respect for gravity. Welcome to witch school.

Bea finds herself thrown into chaos, unsure what to feed the frog for which she finds herself caring, struggling with “English” class (Incantations and the Language of Spells), unprepared for “Chemistry” and uncertain of the lunch hall etiquette: who to sit with, why the sausages taste like blue cheese, that sort of thing.

Things are getting out of hand at Sarah’s school too in How to Grow Magic: The Giant Mystery by Rachel Morrisroe. And I mean that in the context of a classroom where mermaids are educated alongside the children and dragon is standard transport. Mr Pottifer, a Venus flytrap, might need to be more careful in his lesson planning: the dandelions’ hairdos are riotous (perhaps they’ve been planted too close to the rockery), the Rich Tree biscuits need to be picked urgently to soak up all the milk the cowslips are producing and the once-sweet peas are revolting. So what could possibly go wrong when he brings in some magic beans?

After all that, film stars, dragons, witches and Venus flytraps alike will need a rest. Unfortunately in What a Night! by Guilherme Karsten, Baby Giraffe has woken up and is very vocal about it. It isn’t long before the whole building is disturbed. You have to see the format of this picture book to appreciate the genius of how to tell a story on many (literal) levels.

On Saturday, we have a chance for young readers to show off their own creativity. We are very excited to have author and illustrator Yasmeen Ismail in the shop at 2pm: she will read from her latest book, The Family Quiz, written by Robert Tregoning and illustrated by her, and lead a crafting activity. We have some spaces for this event, part of the Clifton Children’s Literature Festival, so do let us know if you would like to come.

May your weekend be an absolute blockbuster,
Lizzie