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The Federation of Children’s Book Groups Blog
My Inspiration for Circus Maximus by Annelise Gray
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeThese books are being read and enjoyed by so many readers, both young and older, who rave about Dido’s story. We can imagine they are all as keen to learn more about the inspiration as we are!! Growing up, I loved reading adventures stories about horses. I borrowed them from libraries, mostly, although I had […]
Q&A with Maz Evans
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeVi Spy is back for a second adventure and we recently had the chance to ask Maz Evans some questions about this series! The characters in Vi Spy are unique, funny and offer so much scope for accents. When you are writing, can you picture their accents and style of speech? How do you picture […]
Q&A with Gabriela Houston
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeWe always love the opportunity to ask authors questions about their books, writing and inspirations. We are thrilled with the answers Gabriela wrote for us!! Where did the inspiration for this story come from? I wanted to explore the relationship that Mara had to her dual nature, and the journey that a child like her […]
Love your Library Month Recommendations
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeIt is time to celebrate Love your Library Month and we have a brilliant list of books featuring books from librarian Olivia Edmonds! – Lulu Loves the Library by Anna McQuinn – Otto the Book Bear by Kate Cleminson – Books Always Everywhere by Jane Blatt – The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas […]
Favourite Superhero Sidekicks by Alex Falase-Koya
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeWho are your favourite superhero sidekicks? We all have ones we like more than others! Check out the blog post below from author Alex Falase-Koya for his list of faves! Hi! I’m Alex, the Author of Marv and the Mega Robot and here’s a list of my favourite superhero sidekicks. Robin (Dick Grayson) Let’s start […]
Finding the Funny in the everyday…especially in Children’s Fiction
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeHarper Drew is fabulously funny! It is great to read Kathy’s blog post below about where Harper Drew came from! Creating the world of Harper Drew has been hilarious and a total joy to write. One of the things I have always loved to do is to see the funny side to ordinary situations. Things […]
Create your Own Series by Becky Goddard-Hill
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeMental health and well-being are much discussed in the world today, especially about children. This series is ideal for opening up conversations and getting children focusing on their own mental health and self-esteem. Read on for a brilliant post from author Becky Goddard-Hill. Hi, I’m Becky Goddard-Hill and I am a children’s psychotherapist and the […]
Rounding out Research with Reality
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeWe are so pleased to share with you a brilliant blog post from author, Alison Weatherby, about the research she undertook for her book, The Secrets Act. When I started writing THE SECRETS ACT, my YA historical mystery set in WW2-era Bletchley Park, I knew I had an immense amount of research in my future. […]
Q&A with Miranda McKearney
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeEmpathy Lab goes from strength to strength in highlighting the importance of empathy in our young readers. Empathy can be learned and books can be a vital tool in learning and developing empathy. We are thrilled to present a Q&A with Miranda, founder of Empathy Lab. With great thanks to Fritha Lindqvist for the brilliant […]
Colour and Me by Michaela Dias-Hayes
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeMichaela Dias-Hayes is the illustrator of Kate Greenaway Medal-nominated Sunflower Sisters, (Owlet Press, July 2021), for which she took inspiration from her part-Jamaican heritage and her former long term partner’s Indian family. Michaela’s first book as both author and illustrator, Colour and Me takes inspiration from conversations with her son. Here she talks about her new series. I absolutely […]
The healing power of Nature
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeA powerful blog post from Sarah Ann Juckes about her book, The Hunt for the Nightingale, “a love letter to the natural world”. Beautifully written! Thank you Sarah for this piece! The natural world holds beautiful, wondrous things that can teach us all about kindness, love and joy. It can also help us come to […]
FCBG Asks Tom Palmer
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeOur FCBG Asks feature is a great way for us to catch up with an author or illustrator from the world of children’s books. This month we were lucky enough to catch up with Tom Palmer. Tom will be attending our Annual Conference later this year and we are looking forward to seeing him there! When do […]
On Writing a Portal Fantasy for Early Readers
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeCandy Gourlay’s new book Mike Falls Up takes the beginning reader through a portal to the other side of the world. We were fascinated by Candy’s post about writing for such a young audience. It is an excellent read! Candy Gourlay’s new book Mike Falls Up takes the beginning reader through a portal to the […]
Making Poetry Fun by Roger Stevens
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeA brilliant blog post from poet Roger Stevens about developing a love of poetry and maintaining that love into adulthood! Children love poetry, why don’t adults? A truly interesting read! There were three questions relating to poetry on Pointless last night. Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman spent a couple of minutes discussing how their generation […]
The Spots and The Dots by Helen Baugh
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeWe are so pleased to share this fantastic blog post sharing some insight into the amazing book, The Spots and the Dots by author Helen Baugh! I haven’t written many books, but The Spots and the Dots means the most to me by far. The book is unusual, in that it has two covers and tells the […]
Q&A with Katherine Webber
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeThe Revelry published on the 6th of January with much fanfare and anticipation. We are so excited to share a Q&A with Katherine Webber. It begs the question, How do you “friend”? Thank you to Katherine and Walker Books for this interview! The Revelry has an incredibly powerful message about friendship. Were you inspired by […]
Q&A with Jack Noel
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeComic Classics is an excellent, accessible way to bring the Classics to a younger audience. Jack Noel kindly took the time to answer our questions and we think his replies, as well as his books, are brilliant! How did you get your start in children’s books and publishing? At the very start of my career […]
Worlds within Worlds by Amy Sparkes
/0 Comments/by Jane EtheridgeThe Tower at the End of Time is the sequel to The House at the Edge of Magic, and from Amy’s blog post, you can truly sense her enthusiasm for writing. This is a delightful post to read. One of my favourite things about The House at The Edge Of Magic series is creating the storyworld. New corners are discovered. […]