Children's books

My daughter, like me, is of mixed heritage. She has wildly curly hair, as have I. When she was born four years ago I was given five copies of the same kids' picture book by well-meaning friends and relatives. It was called Guess How Much I Love You. This book, whose lead characters are rabbits, was a bestseller in the 1990s. Back then it flew off the shelves.  Read more

Guardian research shows that the top 100 illustrated children's books last year showed growing marginalisation of female and minority ethnic characters

Netflix, Spotify, iPads, YouTube and Instagram are just a few things that didn't exist when the Children's Laureate was set up 20 years ago.

In 1999, the main obstacle in getting children interested in reading was their own attention spans.  Read more

Bringing African Authors to a Worldwide Audience

As conversations about children's and young adult books are underway at the Bologna Children's Book FairThe Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world. this week, a cross-continental publishing duo has launched a cooperation to mentor African children's book authors and publish their books in the US, UK and across the African continent.

There are picture books that engage, transport, amuse, intrigue, enchant, comfort, or even haunt adults, but that don't connect with the children who are their purported audience. This would be absolutely fine-picture books are a unique and endlessly variable art form-but it can be hard to overcome customers' resistance to buying them for themselves.  Read more