Botanical fairytale set in Kew Gardens wins the Waterstones children’s book prize

Greenwild: The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson – about a girl who finds a door to a magical realm while searching for her mother – wins the overall and young readers awards

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

Farming adventures; tales from the set of The Sound of Music; King Arthur reimagined; unrest in near-future London and more

Carnegie medal for children’s books shortlist announced

A reinterpretation of the Minotaur myth, poetry exploring refugee experiences and a picture book looking at the human impact on nature all feature on the shortlist judged solely by librarians

‘Sheer storytelling brilliance’: Kate Saunders’s daring, versatile, beloved work lives on

From crime mysteries to award-winning children’s books, Saunders imbued her novels with her unique personality – and she has gifted us one more, published posthumously, to enjoy

Tears, fancy-dress tyranny and tedious discourse: it can only be World Book Day

The pressure can be overwhelming – so I gave up on green eggs and ham and found a low-effort solution, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new chapter books

Time travel lessons, secret underwater schools and careers in demon hunting feature among this month’s selection

Diversity in kids’ books is not a ‘woke agenda’. And there certainly isn’t too much of it

An Australian bookseller has said there aren’t enough books about white kids – but diverse creators like Alice Pung are fighting for even tiny moments of representation

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

A snail in space, dinosaurs on the beach, a fresh take on Jane Eyre, and a kebab-eating incarnation of Otis Redding

What Enid Blyton and Brambly Hedge don’t tell you about being Black in the British countryside

Growing up in suburban London with Jamaican heritage, novelist Fiona Williams was enchanted by the bucolic visions of our classic children’s literature. But moving to the country as an adult raised complex feelings about belonging

Today’s lesson: The Boy at the Back of the Class now learns from To Kill a Mockingbird

Adapting Onjali Q Raúf’s novel for the stage proved a challenge but her refugee story, which has a new nod to Harper Lee, is both urgent and unforgettable

KM Peyton obituary

Author whose Flambards books drew on her love of horses and captured the changes brought by the first world war

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

A determined rodent’s search for nuts, a guide to Terry Pratchett’s witches and moving stories by adoptee authors

Alison Lester: ‘This is what I want to do. I want to be in charge of the whole thing’

The prolific children’s book author walks along her magic beach and reflects on the moment she had her life’s calling

The best Australian children’s books of 2023: Alice Pung, Davina Bell, Sean Avery and more

From picture books to young adult novels and nonfiction, one teacher-librarian picks her favourite reads

The best children’s and YA books of 2023

From a bear who stockpiles dreams to a sisterhood of knights via a tiger sea captain, our critics pick their favourite titles for children and young adults