by Kate Poels, CBA Co-ordinator Since we announced the Top 10 titles in this year’s FCBG Children’s Book Award in February, four amazing children’s book bloggers have helped us to celebrate the four picture books on our shortlist. Here is a roundup of some of the things we’ve been treated to. We kicked the tour […]

by Dan Smith ‘We love it! It feels like a new direction for you.’ That was the reaction from my publisher when they saw the first, rough draft of my latest book, SHE WOLF. The thing is though, for me it didn’t feel like a new direction. I researched and wrote a story the way […]

When I talk to children about my books, the question I get asked more than any other is, ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ Specifically, I often get asked how I got the idea to write about Emily Windsnap. I usually answer that I love the ocean and everything to do with it, and I […]

A guest blog from Andersen Press How has it been 30 years already, you might cry? But in 2019 Andersen press will celebrate everyone’s favourite patchwork elephant, Elmer, created by beloved illustrator David McKee. In the 30 years since Andersen has published that very first book, there have been a further 26 picture books (with […]

by Kate Poels (CBA Co-organiser) It is our absolute pleasure to be able to share this year’s FCBG Children’s Book Award Top 10 titles. At the CBA we pride ourselves on being the only national children’s book award voted for entirely by the people the books were written for – the children! Over the course […]

By Chris Routh (Chair) If you are one of those people who feels compelled to go to all the sessions at conferences, it may be worth trying a slightly different approach at FCBG’s annual conference this year – just to ensure you get the full benefit of what’s on offer. Identify one or two sessions […]

Calling young budding writers! Enter Wicked Young Writer Awards! Closing date 18 March 2019. Wicked, the award-winning West End musical that tells the untold story of the witches of Oz, together with the National Literacy Trust, celebrates its ninth year of the prestigious Wicked Young Writer Awards. As in previous years, entrants can enter one […]

by Chris Routh (Chair, FCBG) The FCBG annual conference provides a great opportunity to find out about upcoming publishing and discover new authors and illustrators. On Friday afternoon, exhibiting publishers will be racing against the clock with just three minutes each to tell us about the highlights of their year ahead. New names in publishing […]

by Jane Elson Every February the charity Nacoa run a Children of Alcoholics Week to shine a light on the hidden problem of parental drinking – 2.6 million children are growing up in the UK with a parent who drinks too much. Nell Hobs, my eleven-year-old heroine in Will You Catch Me? has a mother […]

It’s not often you read a novel told from the point of view of a bird. But that’s exactly what Cory Leonardo decided to do with her debut children’s novel, Call Me Alastair, which is part-narrated by an African grey parrot. With a bird’s-eye view of love, and a message about what it means to […]