Children and teens roundup – the best new chapter books
A classic Yeti romp with 28 possible endings, a Blade Runner-style thriller and more adventures on the Thames with Jessie Burton
Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
Sleepy monsters; a wacky broken robot; a search for magical treasures and more
Bestselling Australian Bad Guys author Aaron Blabey signs eight-figure deal for seven new books
First title of series for tweens titled Game of Pets will be fantasy story to debut in 2026
Pig Heart Boy review – lively staging of Malorie Blackman’s stimulating novel
Winsome Pinnock adapts the story of a teenager whose heart transplant causes controversy but the comedy drowns out the issues
The Guardian view on Christmas shows: they are fairy tales for our times
From Ballet Shoes to Wicked, stories of female empowerment and friendship are triumphing on stage and screen
Australian Christmas kids’ gift guide 2024: 60 great ideas for babies, toddlers, kids and tweens
Our discerning writers and editors have searched high and low for the best (and budget-conscious) children’s Christmas presents for this holiday season
There is a moral in Jamie Oliver’s story of stereotypical folk, just not one he intended
In offending Australia’s First Nations people, the chef is at least offering a cautionary tale for other celebrity authors
Celebrities need to stop writing children’s books: they’re woefully underqualified
As Jamie Oliver has found out to his cost, write what you know or you could end up with a flop and an international PR disaster, says Arwa Mahdawi
We all have life stories, we just need to learn how to tell them
I’ve spent two months teaching memoir writing to students in years 3 to 6. They just wade right in
Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller look back: ‘We were really cross with each other, slamming the door and saying: That’s it’
The comedy double act on playing it cool, bombing at Edinburgh, and how their friendship endured after they branched out on their own
Geri Halliwell-Horner reveals writing advice she was given by top authors
Ex-Spice Girl tells Hay festival about tips from William Boyd and Jacqueline Wilson for children’s book
Children’s and teens roundup – the best new chapter books
Lauren Child brings a light touch to big issues, Elle McNicoll explores autism – and a secret society is at work in Paris’s sewers
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
‘I wanted to be No 1. But a certain JK Rowling came along’: Jacqueline Wilson on rivalry, censorship – and love
Raised by a ‘scary’ father and a ‘terrible snob’ of a mother, the Tracy Beaker author has always understood the loneliness that marks so many young lives. But at 77, she’s never been happier
‘Mozart didn’t have explosions’: Simon Mayo on how his book Itch became an opera
With an aria to the periodic table and a hero dying of radiation sickness, the broadcaster’s YA novel has been transformed into an exposive operatic thriller