Is Penelope Lively? – 28 November 2025

I am writing this shortly before the Heron Books annual party. All being well I shall press send shortly after the Heron Books annual party.

Chances that I am still dressed as a character from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland? High. Chances that all labels ordering, ‘Drink me’ were obeyed? I’d risk a monkey on it. Chances that the Queen of Hearts got carried away, shouted ‘Off with their heads’ at anyone not suitably dressed up, tried to start a game of croquet (with herons rather than flamingos), lost the caucus race and fell through the looking-glass into another Lansdown in which the party comprised a sensible and sober all night discussion of the ways in which a raven is like a writing desk? Odds subject to change as they fall right through the earth.

On Alice and its author Lewis Carroll, WH Auden once wrote, ‘There are good books which are only for adults, because their comprehension presupposes adult experiences, but there are no good books which are only for children.’

There are excellent children’s books which I believe we should all be reading. Among them are those by Penelope Lively, the only author to win both the Booker Prize (for the fantastic Moon Tiger) and the Carnegie medal for Children’s Books for The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, a story about a boy and his family moving into a cottage in an Oxfordshire village and in so doing disturbing the ghost of a sorcerer/apothecary who lived there in the seventeenth century.

The book brings history to life: there is so much to be discovered by digging through a garden, rooting through the archives of a school and wandering through a graveyard. James does all this whilst inventing games, arguing with his sister and searching for an exorcist. It is the absolute best of writing for children, with an understanding of where they will find joy and intrigue and so where readers of any age will too.

Lively quoted Auden in her speech a couple of weeks ago to launch the establishment of The Children’s Booker Prize. (Watch it here but worth reading her longer essay here). This is much-needed Actual Good News. She spoke brilliantly about what good children’s books can do and their appeal to all ages. So, here are some more:

In The Notwitches by Gary Panton, Melanda lives with three horrible aunts. Aunt Claggy won’t let Melanda write stories – all stationery is for eating, whether paper, pencils or printer cartridges. Aunt Rear Admiral Barbara expects Melanda’s regular help with her skin condition, involving some very textured barnacles. Aunt Thumb insists that Melanda should be cleaning at all times while she herself is very busy being lazy. When Mitch shows up at her door and suggests that she join the witches (currently a club of one), Melanda, despite her name, wonders if this might be the support she needs.

Without giving anything away, there is a sequel, The Notwitches: Prison Break, and it is just as good. Harry’s sage advice is not to drink coffee whilst reading these because it will come out of your (witch’s) nose when you laugh.

Perhaps even sillier – but the kind of silliness that only works because it is very clever – is Boss of the Underworld by Tor Freeman. When Shirley drops her pound coin down a manhole, naturally she must jump in after it. At the bottom she finds a cockroach named George who insists that she is the chosen one sent to vanquish their cruel boss. It’s Alice in Wonderland in the sewers with bugs and with Tor Freeman’s illustrations rivalling those of John Tenniel. Again, don’t drink coffee whilst reading.

While joining the witches or the creatures of the underworld is something of a riot, Eddie needs a more soothing presence in Robin by Sarah Ann Juckes. He is staying with his uncle while his parents take care of his sister who needs surgery and, while he is worried about her, he has other concerns too, like not quite feeling real. In the woods, he finds solace in an ancient oak tree, then in a robin emerging from it, and then in something quite different to which (or to whom?) the robin leads him.

Murder at Christmas by Fleur Hitchcock too is a story with kindness at its heart, but also organised crime, kidnapping, an epic chase, doppelgängers and a lizard. While I admit that I have been somewhat traumatised in the past by this Hitchcock and another, Murder at Christmas is spot on – that is, my heart was beating a little too fast but I didn’t actually have to sleep with the lights on. It’s set in and around Bath and, while I feel for the children whose father is uncontactable and whose mother has gone missing and whose hotel room has a bowl of all the worst flavours of truffle (as well as a body outside), somehow the story also has a cosy, pour-me-another-hot-chocolate feeling.

If no precocious children are available to solve the latest crimes, who better to turn to than Miss Marple and/or Monsieur Poirot? In the collaboration you didn’t know you needed between Agatha Christie’s great creations and Roger Hargreaves’s rowdy pals, Little Miss Marple is needed to solve a Muddle at the Vicarage involving hats and Mr. Poirot must interrupt his relaxing cruise to deal with some Mischief on the Nile. Frankly, I’ve never trusted Mr Tickle and Little Miss Neat is unnervingly spotless. What is she hiding?

Finally, you know our commitment to finding the pinnacle of picture books and making everyone read them. We are even offering a picture book subscription this Christmas, a brilliant gift for those aged zero and upwards. Current favourites include How to Find a Yeti by Matt Hunt (I am now much clearer on the subject), I Am Wishing Every Minute for Christmas by Lauren Child (like Lola, I have learnt about patience and added a toadstool ‘to sit on like elves do’ to my Christmas list) and Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present by John Burningham (a masterpiece, a satire of transport problems at this time of year).

Of course eternal magic is provided by Shirley Hughes. Snow in the Garden: A First Book of Christmas contains Christmas stories, poems, guidance on creating robin decorations and recipes for seasonal tarts. Which brings this Queen of Hearts nicely back to Wonderland. I hope the Knave of Hearts hasn’t been up to his old tricks.

May your weekend be Lively,
Lizzie