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The Federation of Children’s Book Groups Blog
The Wild Before by Piers Torday
We have a blog from Piers Torday all about his interest in wildlife throughout his life. Another perfect link to our National Share A Story Month theme! I grew up in the valleys and moors of rural Northumberland, and my own curiosity about the natural world was fostered by the classic children’s books I enjoyed […]
Maybe you Might by Imogen Foxell
Maybe You Might: an interview with Imogen Foxell Maybe You Might, written by Imogen Foxell, illustrated by Anna Cunha and published by Lantana, is a lyrical and hopeful environmental fable that struck a chord with us as we were thinking about this year’s National Share a Story Month theme: Changing the World, One Book at […]
SuperQuesters Mission: River Crest Rescue by Paul Ian Cross
SuperQuesters Mission: River Crest Rescue by Paul Ian Cross SuperQuesters Mission: River Crest Rescue is a science-packed adventure chapter book featuring puzzles and experiments to try yourself. It is perfect for this year’s National Share-a-Story Month theme, Saving the World, One Book at a Time, as it includes environmental issues and how STEM can help […]
I don’t do Mountains by Barbara Henderson
Barbara Henderson shares her thoughts on how books can change the world, a perfect link to National Share A Story Month. Changing the world, one book at a time. Reading is a form of activism. I make no apologies for this fairly sweeping statement – I believe it to be absolutely true. By turning the […]
Bird Boy by Catherine Bruton
In today’s blog, Catherine Bruton shares her inspiration for Bird Boy. This books reflects the theme of National Share A Story month brilliantly. “Tell children stories and let them tell their stories. Through stories children can start to heal.” My name is Catherine Bruton and when I’m not writing books for children, I’m also a […]
Watch me Bloom by Krina Patel-Sage
The theme of National Share a Story Month 2025 is about changing the world through nurturing a love of the environment whether close to home or further away. Watch Me Bloom by Krina Patel-Sage (from Lantana Publishing), seemed to sum that up; we loved the way that it illustrates how connection to the natural world […]
The Bird Thief by Rachel Keating
Author Rachel Keating shares a very personal blog with us today about her Grandad and the inspiration for The Bird Thief. ‘My favourite eldest Granddaughter.’ Didn’t matter if I was aged 6 or 36, if it was written on the back of a newspaper cutting about British songbirds sent in the post or spoken softly […]
Mission Manta Ray by Philip Kavvadias
Mission Manta Ray is one of three book in Philip Kavvadias’s series and he shares insight into these books in his guest blog below. In my day job I help hundreds of companies set carbon reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement, in other words I help them make their contribution to keeping the […]
Land of the Last Wildcat by Lui Sit
Author Lui Sit shares her experiences and how they impacted her writing of Land of the Last Wildcat. If you told me, thirty odd years ago, when dressed as a koala doing acrobatics under the baking Australian sun, that the experience would culminate in my writing a children’s middle-grade book with underlying themes of conservation […]
Stories for Change Competition Winners
This year’s National Share–a–Story Month theme, “Changing the World, One Book at a Time”, celebrates the power of storytelling to inspire environmental awareness, hope, and action. In February, Guppy Books and the Federation of Children’s Book Groups launched Stories for Change – a short story writing competition for children aged 7-12, inspired by the themes […]
Imagine If….by Tamsin Rosewell
We have an enchanting blog post today from Tamsin Rosewell about being the illustrator for The Seamaiden’s Odyssey. Imagine if… Imagination is one of the most powerful forces on earth. As William Blake put it: ‘What is now known was once only imagined’. The human imagination is the driving force of huge things: it the […]
Q&A with Emily Gravett
Emily Gravett’s captivating books about Pete the Badger and his woodland friends introduce children to the importance of environmental issues in a gentle, hopeful, entertaining way. Tidy shows the need for wild spaces. Too Much Stuff looks at over-consumption. The latest in the series, Bothered By Bugs, explores the importance of insects to the ecosystems […]
Blue’s Planet Competition with Sweet Cherry Publishing
The Federation of Children’s Book Groups is excited to be partnering with Sweet Cherry Publishing to launch a special competition inspired by the environmental theme of National Share-a-Story Month 2025. Blue’s Planet by Lucy McRobert has been selected for our booklist partly because it’s a rollickingly good story with appealing illustrations. We also liked the […]
National Share-a-Story Month: ahead of its time by Louisa Farrow
National Share-a-Story Month: ahead of its time Great stories are the greater for sharing! Humans have known this since the birth of language although it’s easy to forget that in our global but fragmented world. The start of National Share-a-Story month Almost 50 years ago the Federation of Children’s Book Groups launched National Tell-A-Story week: […]
Dreamslinger by Graci Kim
Author, Graci Kim, writes a fascinating blog for us today about the power of dreams and her book, Dreamslinger! When I was a kid, I had this recurring dream where a ghost would fly through the glass wall of our house and take something from my gut. It didn’t hurt, but in the dream, my […]
We Are Family by Oliver Sykes, CLiPPA Shortlisted Poet
The CLiPPA Shortlist was recently announced and we are thrilled to welcome one of the shortlisted poets to the blog to share information about his experience with poetry! Poetry has been part of my life since I was very young. Shortly after our mum left, when I was eight, our dad became our primary […]
Higher Ground by Tull Suwannakit
We were recently given the opportunity to read Tull Suwannakit’s beautiful book, Higher Ground. We had a few questions to ask Tull, please see the answers below. How long did the book take you to create? The entire book has taken me around 7 years to create, the longest I have ever undertaken on any […]
Our World: England by Sumana Seeboruth
Board books are the first ones shared with our youngest readers and we have a blog today about the challenges and wonder of writing board books from author, Sumana Seeboruth. As a girl, I could sit for hours writing stories, imagining adventures for my characters to pursue. Back then, my protagonists were often older than […]