Down The Rabbit Hole

Pack your marmalade sandwiches, because this week we're going on a bear hunt - and we're NOT scared. Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear , and Sophy Henn, writer and illustrator of Where Bear? join Sam on a quest through the rabbit hole's bookshelves to find the best bears in children's fiction. Along the way, we discover why bears are especially good animals to draw in picture bo...

This week we're joined by two brilliant writers to discuss the role feminism has played in Young Adult novels. Laura Bates , creator of Everyday Sexism and the author of Men Who Hate Women now brings us Sisters of Sword and Shadow , an epic YA fantasy reimagining Arthurian legend with a fearless sisterhood of knights. And Holly Bourne , bestselling author of Am I Normal Yet? and The Places I&#...

Down the Rabbit Hole is back for a new season! And we begin with wild and untamed adventures, courtesy of two incredible authors and friends of the podcast: Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Katherine Rundell, who join us to talk about their brand new fantasy trilogies being released this autumn: In the Shadow of the Wolf Queen and Impossible Creatures . We ask - why is three the magic number? Which are...

Charlie Morris and Caroline Carpenter are getting to the bottom of what makes a Killer Read in YA mysteries and thrillers. Joining us on the case are Maureen Johnson author of a brand new Stevie Bell mystery, Nina Liars, and debut YA author Ravena Guron, author of This Book Kills .From a reluctant detective in British Indian scholarship student Jess Choudhary to the crime-solving aficionado with a...

Grab your A to Z, mind the gap, and watch out for dragons guarding the city gates. On today's episode of Down the Rabbit Hole we're taking a trip to the edge of reality, and exploring stories that reimagine London by blending fantasy and history together. And in this sprawling city of myth and legend, who's to say where the boundary is? Helping Sam swim through the long-buried rivers underneath th...

Caroline, Charlie, Hannah and Sam gather round the tree for our annual Christmas spectacular! An extra-special bumper episode packed with holiday treats and book recommendations, as well as three very special authors and illustrators who've popped down the chimney to share some particularly festive tales. Plus, we chat about some of our favourite books from 2022. Follow Mel Taylor-Bessent at @MelT...

Hi listeners! There's no new episode this week as we're taking a bit of a mid-season break. But stay tuned - in two weeks we'll be back with plenty more brilliant children's book chat to get you geared up for the festive season. -- Our music is Hustle by Kevin MacLeod from incompetech.com , licensed by Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Grab your capes and start practising your evil cackles, because this week we're celebrating all things wicked with an episode about supervillains! Caroline is joined by Louie Stowell, author of the Loki series, and Maz Evans, author of the Vi Spy series, as we discuss our favourite baddies in children's literature and explore what makes them so terribly fun to read and write about. Plus, discover...

This week, we're getting our claws into a trend that's oh so hot right now - dragons! Join Caroline and Sam, along with special author guests Caryl Lewis and David Owen, on a flight through some of our favourite stories featuring these roar-some creatures as well as a deep dive into the mythology surrounding them, all while firing out more puns than you can shake a scaly tail at. Plus, discover wh...

Grab your chunky knitwear and wellington boots, everyone! This week we're getting cozy and jumping into a big pile of leaves to celebrate the best of autumnal children's books. Joining us around the bonfire are Katya Balen , winner of the 2022 Carnegie Medal for October, October and M. G. Leonard , bestselling author of the prize-winning The Twitchers series. Listen as we explore why autumn provid...

Kicking off the new season, Hannah and Sam are joined by Frances Hardinge and Martin Brown to talk all things spooky. Get ready for a deep dive into curses and ghosts, and prepare yourself to hear the answers to questions such as 'which gentle children's classic terrified one of our guests?' 'why can adding colour to an illustration make it more scary?' and 'Just how many types of scary ARE there...

To celebrate Independent Bookshop Week in the UK we're bringing you a special extra episode recorded live at Round Table Books in Brixton,  featuring the brilliant YA author Namina Forna in conversation with guest host Stacey Thomas - book reviewer at Bad Form Review and judge on The Diverse Book Awards longlist. Join Namina as she discusses her latest YA book The Merciless Ones published by...

Hark, listenerfolk! Gather round the campfire, or the wireless, and listen carefully to Ye Olde Podcaste, which this week brings you exciting tales of stories set in other times. Sam and Hannah are joined on this 100% historically accurate quest by magnificent authors Emma Carroll and Michelle Paver , who have plenty to share with us about the thrills and fascinations of writing and reading histor...

Put on your best frocks and party hats because you’re invited to Down the Rabbit Hole’s 100th birthday! To mark this special occasion, hosts Caroline and Charlie are joined by guests of honour, author Katherine Webber and Down the Rabbit Hole alumna, Imogen Russell-Williams, for an episode all about parties in children’s and YA stories. From The Magic Faraway Tree’s Land of Birthdays to Wonderland...

The world of children’s literature is brimming with creatures great and small...and magic. This week Charlie and Sam are joined by March's Waterstones Children's Book of the Month author of The Last Firefox, Lee Newbery, to chat all about the animal companions that bring their powers to enrich (or sometimes upset) the lives of children in books. From Narnia to Animorphs, we dissect what makes an a...

If you had to take on the world, what characters from children’s literature would you want by your side? A magician? A talking animal? A detective? A tech genius? This week, Hannah and Caroline are joined by Piers Torday and Daisy May Johnson to assemble their own teams of characters from children’s books! But who has the most well-rounded squad? If you think you could draft a better band of chara...

Avast, me hearties! Climb aboard ship as we set sail for adventure on this week's show with an episode all about timeless stories of pirates and smugglers. Captain Charlie Morris is pouring out the grog and First Mate Hannah Love is swabbing the poop deck to welcome about two very special guests: Alex Wheatle , author of Kemosha of the Caribbean , and Annabelle Sami , author of the Agent Zaiba Inv...

Grab your ration kits and your longbows, listeners - there's danger out there! Today we are delving into the perilous world of Young Adult dystopias, as Caroline and Charlie consider which warped futures and apocalyptic presents they would have most luck surviving. (Spoilers - not many!) Joining them on their hazardous fight for survival are bestselling Young Adult author Melinda Salisbury , and d...

Scour the cupboards, stock the fridge, and get your marmalade sandwiches ready as we talk all about the mouthwatering delights of FOOD in children's literature! What do we remember eating in books when we were younger? Are midnight feasts all they're cracked up to be? And why doesn't real life have as many picnics in as we want it to? Joining Sam and Caroline around the dinner table with lashings...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We kick off our brand new season of weekly episodes with a dreamy chat about our favourite book crushes. Who did we fancy in books growing up? How do we feel about those crushes now, as adults? Is it okay to fancy Aslan? Why is The Secret Garden so sexy? And how do today's children's books broach the subjects of love and yearning differently to the classics? Two bri...

Prick up your bunny ears, listeners - your favourite podcast about children's books is back! From Tuesday 15th of February we're launching a new season - you'll be able to hear a brand new episode of Down the Rabbit Hole every week! Stay tuned to this feed for fun conversations with special guests about the best food in kids' books, surviving Young Adult dystopias, crushing on book characters, and...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Your Down the Rabbit Hole presenters have huddled around Hannah's Christmas tree to share a sleigh full of our favourite festive reads with you. So grab some mulled wine and mince pies, and join us! We talk about our most nostalgic reads we remember from our own childhoods, and why Christmas is the perfect time to reconnect with who we were as a child. We...

This month Caroline and Charlie are joined by authors Jason Reynolds and Tom Vaughan to talk about children's books featuring separated parents, single parents and blended families. Tom Vaughan's Bin Boy was published earlier this year and Jason Reynolds' Stuntboy, in the Meantime came out this month. Both feature characters with complex families, and they're here to share their thoughts and inspi...

Invite us into your ears this Halloween to hear us sink our teeth into one of the spookiest characters in children's books - vampires! The fangs come out as Hannah and Sam talk with special guests Amy McCaw and Harriet Muncaster about their favourite bloodsucking heroes and villains, what makes a good vampire, and why we seem to be seeing more vampires in books for young readers than ever before....

In honour of the start of Black History Month in the UK, Charlie passes the mic to guest host Aimée Felone, Managing Director of independent children's publisher Knights Of, who is joined by Clare Weze, E. L. Norry, Chanté Timothy and Camilla Ru, four of the contributors to children's anthology Happy Here , a book which champions joy and celebrates the work of Black British authors and illustrator...