Entries by FCBG blog

CBA Books for Younger Children Round Up

Welcome to our first round up for this year’s Children’s Book Award! These give us a chance to celebrate the titles in the categories as well as offer a huge thank you to the authors, illustrators, publishers and bloggers for creating and hosting content for us! We have four books in this category with content […]

Lie or Die by A.J. Clack

A.J. Clack offers some insight into our relationship with reality TV and how it inspired her novel, Lie or Die. Is it time to face reality? Reality television is the tv genre that many love to hate. Ask most people and they will screw up their face and shake their heads, vehemently denying committing any […]

Pirate Academy by Justin Somper

We are delighted to welcome Justin Somper to the blog today!  He has kindly taken the time to answer our questions around his new series, Pirate Academy. Can you tell us a bit about Pirate Academy. It’s the year 2507. Ocean levels have risen and there’s a new golden age of piracy. The oceans are […]

Children’s Book Award Announcement!

We are delighted to announce The Children’s Book Award 2024 shortlist! Children from nine FCBG testing groups read almost 700 books submitted by publishers and registered over 47,000 votes, from which the Top Ten has been selected. The full shortlist is as follows:   Books for Younger Children Gigantic – written and illustrated by Rob […]

The Globe Defenders by Jonny Daymond

  The Globe Defenders Rainforest Rescue by Jonny Daymond As a child I soaked up adventure stories. Many of them old books like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and H. Rider Haggard’s King Soloman’s Mines. Of course, some of these stories hark back to a dark imperial age. But the adventure within them […]

Congratulations to Libby Allman, Plymouth Group Member

We wanted to end 2023 on a celebratory note with the wonderful news that one of our longest standing members and tireless supporter and promoter of books and reading has been honoured by Plymouth Marjon University. The Federation of Children’s Book Groups would like to congratulate Libby Allman on her award of an honorary Master’s […]

Raise a Reader Report from Oxford University Press

We all know the importance of reading and this report published by Oxford University Press impresses on this point even further.  Their research and partnership with key organisations will help families and schools to address the on-going need to promote reading for pleasure. 4 in 10 Pupils Have Fallen Behind in Vocabulary Development, According to […]

Educating for Empathy by Miranda McKearney

EmpathyLab are hosting their first ever conference and it is sure to be brilliant.  Check out the details below and use the links to book your space! Educating for Empathy – a landmark online conference With the concerning rise in children’s mental health and behavioral problems after Covid, and society becoming increasingly polarised, many are […]

CLPE’s Reflecting Realities Report

There will be many people involved in the world of children’s literature avidly reading the latest CLPE Reflecting Realities report.  Published today, it highlights the upward trend in inclusive and representative books for children.  Check out the full press release below and the link to the full report. Annual CLPE Reflecting Realities survey shows sustained […]

Setting up an FCBG Local Children’s Book Group

Ever wondered more about our local children’s book groups? Keen to set up one in your local community to promote a love of reading? Check out today’s blog written by committee member, Sara Sumner about her experiences! I was a complete novice to the Children’s Book world when I happened upon the FCBG when discussing […]