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The Federation of Children’s Book Groups Blog
Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien
We have author Beth O’Brien writing for us today about her book, Wolf Siren and it’s links to a well known fairytale. Beth speaks about her own visual impairment in relation to fairytales. Why does Little Red Riding Hood not immediately realise that her grandmother has been replaced by a wolf? This was something […]
The Old Forest Path by Jamie Catto
Author Jamie Catto describes how lessons learned from nature shaped his lyrical new picture book The Old Forest Path. Lessons from nature: The Old Forest Path As a child I would see vivid faces in the trees outside my bedroom window and had all kinds of encounters in nature that gave me a sure sense […]
Empathy Collection and Reflections from Anne Fine
Today’s blog is from our friends at Empathy Lab and Anne Fine, writing about empathy and the upcoming Empathy Festival. Read on and get involved! Jump into someone else’s story The 2025 Read for Empathy Collection and reflections from Anne Fine The Read for Empathy book collection created by EmpathyLab is an annual event which […]
Wild Magic Legend of the Black Lion by Abiola Bello
Abiola Bello shares some insightful information about Ethiopia, the country which features in the first book in her new series, Wild Magic! My first venture into younger fiction I wanted to write something fun and educational but also magical that had Black children at the centre of it. I wanted a book that showcased animals […]
My Dog by Olivia Wakeford
Olivia Wakeford writes a guest blog for us about the importance of tackling difficult subjects in children’s books. Her book, My Dog published in February. Why It’s Important To Tackle Difficult Subjects In Children’s Books Writing a book about grief is not an easy thing, but one which is so important because, as much as […]
A Sequence of Cosmic Accidents by S.A. Reyhani
Our guest blog today comes from author, S.A. Reyhani about the friendships in their book, A Sequence of Cosmic Accidents! Honestly, who doesn’t love a good middle-grade story? There’s something about that age – when the seeds of defiance and independence grow their first exploratory roots – that lends itself to extraordinary adventures. With […]
Our Love by Fátima Ordinola
We have a beautiful blog from Fatima Ordinola based on her book, Our Love. Fatima recommends some other wonderful titles, perfect for sharing on Mothers Day and across the year. Our love is stronger than any shield. It protects me wherever I go. Our love guides me through long, dark times. It is […]
Oh No, Flo by Catherine Cawthorne
Check out the guest blog today from Catherine Cawthorne about using Oh No, Flo and some other funny picture books with young readers! Can you remember….? Using Oh No, Flo! and other picture books for following and recalling instructions At one point, I had three children under 5 years old. Trying to get them […]
Children’s Book Award Blog Tour Complete Round Up
The Children’s Book Award is the only national award voted for solely by children from start to finish. This year we celebrated the Top Ten Shortlisted titles with a blog tour for each category of book. We invited bloggers to host content from the shortlisted creators in celebration of their title and the award. We […]
Books for Younger Readers Blog Tour Round-Up
The Children’s Book Award blog tour has drawn to a close for 2025 and we are truly grateful to the authors for sharing their words with our fantastic team of bloggers. In case you missed this week’s incredible line up, find the links below to the four pieces for the four shortlisted titles. Grotti, […]
Dadbot by Jack Noel
Check out our guest blog from Jack Noel about Dadbot, his new graphic novel! I love comics! I loved comics when I was a beautiful little boy and I love comics now I am a grisly old dad. I like comics because, well … see how boring these words are? I grew up in the […]
Children’s Book Award Round Up
Welcome to the blog tour round up for the Children’s Book Award 2025. This week we celebrated the titles in the Books for Older Readers Category. We had hoped to have a guest blog from each of our shortlisted authors but unfortunately, Sam Sedgman has been on a book tour and unable to write for […]
Q&A with James Davis, author of Scarlett, Defender of the Universe
Meet Scarlet, Defender of the Universe by James Davis! After reading, we had some interesting questions for the author about this character and the story- check out his answer’s below! Where did the idea for Scarlet and her story come from? It started as an idea about a zoo on a different planet, which […]
Children’s Book Award Round Up- Books for Younger Readers
Every year as part of the Top Ten Announcement for the Children’s Book Award, we ask popular bloggers to host a special blog tour to celebrate the most popular books, as voted on solely by children across the UK. We launched the Top Ten shortlist on 3rd March and have a spectacular line up of […]
Q&A with Steve Tomecek, author of The Greatest Stuff on Earth
We love a Q&A with authors and illustrators- it gives us great insight into where their book began and how it came to be! Check out today’s with Steve Tomecek, author of The Greatest Stuff on Earth. Q&A with Steve Tomecek, author of The Greatest Stuff on Earth The Greatest Stuff on Earth is a […]
Let’s Play Rugby by Paul Howard
Let’s Play Rugby was co-written by Paul Howard and Gordon D’Arcy. In our blog today, Paul shares how co-authoring worked for them. Co-authoring children’s books with Gordon D’Arcy has been one of the happiest twists that my career as a writer has taken. Gordon and I actually knew each other in a previous life, long […]
The Children’s Book Award shortlist for 2025
The Children’s Book Award shortlist for 2025 We’re delighted to announce the Children’s Book Award 2025 shortlist today. Children from the 10 FCBG testing groups read over 600 books submitted by the publishers and registered over 55,000 votes, from which the Top 10 has been selected. The full shortlist is as follows: Books for Younger […]
Kwesi and Nana Ruby Learn to Swim by Kobina Commeh
We have a lovely guest blog today from author Kobina Commeh, about his book, Kwesi and Nana Ruby learn to swim. It tells where the idea for the story came from! Kwesi and Nana Ruby Learn to Swim: From Water to Paper by Kobina Commeh My two heroes plopped into the deep end of […]