The Federation of Children’s Book Groups Blog
The Origins of The Royal Rabbits Series
By author Santa Montefiore Having written twenty-one adult novels, it might come across as a total change in direction to have embarked on a series of children’s books about rabbits. However, I have always written for myself and at a very early age I was writing about hedgehogs and rabbits after school and in the […]
Impervious
By author AJ Hartley As an undergraduate I read William Golding’s 1956 novel Pincher Martin, about a man trying to survive in the Atlantic after the ship he commanded was sunk by a Nazi torpedo. Martin, the protagonist, begins by kicking off his sea boots, then swims through the freezing ocean to a rock on which […]
The Inkberg Enigma Blog Tour – Top Five Graphic Novels for Kids
by Jonathan King, author of The Inkberg Enigma Graphic novels (comics, in book form) for kids have never been more popular — with authors such as Raina Telgemeier topping the New York Times bestseller list, and Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants, launching his new book with an initial print run in the millions. Some […]
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker
Q&A with author Lauren James What can readers expect from The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, and how is it similar or different to your other novels? It’s very different from my other books – it’s a horror, which I’ve written a bit of in The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, but not fully explored. […]
Ride the Wind
by Nicola Davies, I was a geeky shy kid and when I went to secondary school I didn’t fit in. I concentrated on keeping my head down to keep the teasing to a minimum. But sometime in that first term, everyone had to do a talk in front of the class. My chosen subject was […]
Never Show a T-Rex a Book
by author Rashmi Sirdeshpande Never Show a T-Rex a Book is about a T-Rex who discovers reading, falls in love with books and learning and finds that the world is her oyster. Does anyone know what expression actually means?! So bizarre! But it’s the basis of the whole story: books as a gateway into absolutely […]
Dangerous Remedy
by Kat Dunn The first time I came out, I turned to a friend and said ‘I think I’m kinda gay.’This is an exact quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Willow realises her feelings for fellow witch Tara. It was the only language I had for saying this thing. This unsure, fledgeling thing I […]
Eight Pieces of Silva – Blog Tour
Patrice Lawrence is known for her incredibly popular, brilliantly written YA titles such as her debut Orangeboy, Indigo donut, Rose Interrupted, and publishing on 6th August is Eight Pieces of Silva. Winning both the Waterstones Book Prize for Older Readers and the YA Book Prize (2017) for Orangeboy, Patrice has continued to win recognition for […]
Umbrella Mouse to the Rescue Blog Tour – Q&A with Author Anna Fargher
It is incredibly exciting to be able to interview Anna Fargher, author of Umbrella Mouse to the Rescue, for the FCBG’s stop on the blog tour. This stop on the book blog tour sees me ask Anna a series of questions that benefit those that have either yet to familiarise themselves with the book as […]
The Lost Soul Atlas
Zana Fraillon’s The Lost Soul Atlas is a magnificent tale of Twig and his quest to find his father in the Afterlife. A harrowing journey of memories, a life in tatters and a mysterious atlas guiding him. Full of rich language and vivid imagery. Twig becomes homeless and is adopted by a group of children […]
The Boy Who Loved Everyone
by Jane Porter When I wrote ‘The Boy Who Loved Everyone’, I couldn’t possibly have imagined that it would end up in hot demand from schools welcoming children back to a strange new post-Covid socially-distanced reality. It’s sad to think that the exuberant piles of children in Maisie Paradise Shearring’s wonderful illustrations are now a […]
A Numbers of Numbers
By Allan Sanders A Number of Numbers is the second book I’ve worked on with Amanda Wood and Mike Jolley. Previously we worked together on The Alphabets of Alphabets – a collection of 26 illustrated alphabets which featured an alphabet of Birds, an alphabet of Creepy Crawlies, alphabets of Dinosaurs, Inventions, the Museum, People, Vehicles, […]
Stranger than fiction – Publishing The Rules, a book about preparing for disaster, in the middle of a pandemic – Tracy Darnton (Blog Tour)
The Rules has just been published by Stripes. It’s a YA thriller about Amber who’s on the run from her dad, a prepper. Her whole childhood has been spent preparing for disaster and having to live by her dad’s rules which he scrawls on the walls. When I was writing The Rules in 2019, I […]
Adventures in Fiction – Sky Pirates
by Alex English As a child I always longed for adventure, but growing up in suburban Hampshire meant that excitement wasn’t always around the corner. In fact, not much happened at all. Instead, I looked to books to provide me with escape and I think that’s where my love for adventurous fiction started. The sort […]
The Wild Way Home – Author Q & A
Written by Erin Hamilton The Wild Way Home by Sophie Kirtley is a stunning middle grade book set in the Stone Age. There is so much positivity surrounding this debut author and her wonderful book. I had the honour of putting together some questions for Sophie to answer- ones that I was curious about as […]
Tales of a Toothbrush
by M G Leonard In 2010 I read an article about how the ocean as we imagine it doesn’t exist any longer because of the amount of rubbish we’ve thrown into it. It upset me, and I have been noodling with story ideas on the subject for years. In that time the problem has grown […]
Jack’s Secret Summer – Author Q&A
by Erin Hamilton Jack’s Secret Summer is all about an incredible mystery surrounding an empty house, a young girl searching for her father and a group of boys forging new friendships. Jack hasn’t many friends until neighbours Bruno and Rocco invite him to hang out with them. Their daring escapades lead them to the empty […]
Roxy and Jones – Author Q&A
by Erin Hamilton Roxy and Jones, The Great Fairytale Cover-Up by Angela Woolfe is a fun new twist on fairytales and favourite characters. Cinderalla Jones, a rebel with a cause meets Roxy Humperdinck, sister to Gretal. On the hunt for lost relics, they make an unusual pair. I adore twisted tales, and re-imaginings of traditional […]
