The Federation of Children’s Book Groups Blog
Children’s Book Award Younger Children Blog Tour Round-up
Since we announced the Top 12 titles for this year’s FCBG Children’s Book Award in February, three amazing children’s book bloggers have helped us to celebrate the picture books on our shortlist. Here is a roundup of some of the things we’ve been treated to. We kicked the tour off with a post from Fiona […]
The Good Hawk
Guest Post by Joseph Elliott I was fifteen when I first trekked across Scotland, as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. I walked all the way from the west coast to the east – a similar journey to that made by the characters in my book. The thing I remember most about the trek […]
Demelza and the Spectre Detectors
Guest Q&A featuring Holly Rivers. In October last year it was revealed that publishers Chicken House had signed a three book deal with Holly Rivers for a middle-grade mystery series with the first publishing this February. I pitched questions to 1, Describe your book in 5 words. When science meets the supernatural. 2. In the […]
Children’s Book Award 2020
This time of year is always really exciting for us at the FCBG as we find out which books our child voters have chosen for inclusion in the Top 50 Picks of the Year and which ones make it into the Top 12. If you are an old friend of the FCBG Children’s Book Awards […]
Grow : Secrets of our DNA
Guest Post by Nicola Davies My new book Grow: Secrets Of Our DNA, illustrated so beautifully by Emily Sutton, aims to open the world of genes to young readers and their grown-ups. But what do you think of when you hear the word ‘gene’? Maybe you think of GM ‘genetically modified’ crops; or of gene therapy for […]
WINNERS OF THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED
London – 5.30pm, Thursday, 6th February 2020. The winners of the Laugh Out Loud Awards (“The Lollies”), a set of awards created by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, to celebrate the funniest children’s books, have been announced today. The award is now in its fourth successful year, reaching over 6.5m children, […]
Sofa Surfer. How my story of the hidden homeless came to life.
Guest Post by Malcolm Duffy Having written my debut novel Me Mam. Me Dad. Me. I was confronted by the difficult question faced by all writers- now what? In the music industry it’s commonly called the tricky second album. Having thrown the kitchen sink and a few other appliances at your work, is there anything […]
Fearless
Guest Q&A with Author of Fearless Liam Hackett. Welcome to the FCBG blog! Fearless! is your debut book for young people – can you tell us about the book and what it means to you? The best way to describe the book is as the ultimate self-help bible to guide people along their own personal journey of […]
An invitation to join us for an Evening of Poetry and Music
by Chris Routh, FCBG Chair Our next conference, Sailing Forth: Inspiring Choices, hosted by Plymouth CBG, is taking place at Exeter University from 17 – 19 April 2020. For the second year running, there will be a celebration of poetry and music on the Friday evening, featuring some of the best children’s poets around, including: […]
Gregory Goose is on the Loose!
Guest Post by Hilary Robinson A new series of board books for young children. Author Hilary Robinson. Illustrator Mandy Stanley Publisher: Catch A Star Gregory Goose is on the Loose is a new, entertaining, ‘hide and seek’ adventure series for young children which aims to absorb and transport them to realms beyond that which they […]
Levi Penfold Visiting UK
LEVI PINFOLD VISITS UK TO TALK ABOUT HIS WORK ON HARRY POTTER Kate Greenaway Medal winning artist Levi Pinfold is coming to the UK for a very special visit. Levi will be in the UK for the first week of February as part of Harry Potter Book Night. Levi will be doing three exclusive events […]
The Kid who came from Space
Q&A with Ross Welford. Following the publication earlier this month of Ross Welford’s latest book by HarperCollins I was fortunate enough to put questions to Ross to get details from behind the story The Kid who came from Space and to find out more about the author himself. In his latest book Ross takes readers […]
The Girl Who Stole an Elephant
Guest Post by Nizrana Farook What do you do when it’s the middle of winter and you’re writing while yearning for some sunshine and warmth? In my case, you write The Girl Who Stole an Elephant! It was December 2016/17 and I was writing a piece for my MA. I immediately set it somewhere […]
FCBG Annual Conference 2020
Post written by Chris Routh, FCBG Chair. At this year’s Federation of Children’s Book Groups’ conference we will be marking the anniversaries of three different publishers. Chicken House will be celebrating twenty years of focusing on publishing exciting new fiction. It was founded by Barry Cunningham who famously signed up J K Rowling while working […]
The International Yeti Collective – Behind the Story
Guest Post with Paul Mason and Katy Riddell. In October last year a fantastic new book published by Stripes Publishing, The International Yeti Collective written by Paul Mason, and beautifully illustrated by Katy Riddell – daughter to children’s laureate Chris Riddell. We got to hear from this brilliant duo about the inspiration for the story, […]
An Evening with Onjali Rauf – Ipswich Children’s Book Group Event
Guest Post by Erin Hamilton, Committee Member of ICBG. I had the pleasure of meeting Onjali Q Rauf at a school event in October last year. She was there to chat about The Boy at the Back of the Class and to introduce her latest book, The Star Outside my Window. The children and adults […]
