In the Reading Corner

Terry Fan,  Eric Fan and Devin Fan are American-born Canadian children's book writers and illustrators, known collectively as the Fan Brothers. Terry and Eric made their picturebook debut with The Night Gardener, which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book. Other books include where the Ocena Meets the sky, The Barnabus Project and most recently, It Fell From the Sky. Terry, Eric and...

David Olusoga is a historian and broadcaster specialising in Black British History. In this episode he talks with Nikki Gamble about writing the empire back into history, escaping from biographical approaches and plans to produce material to support educators. About Black and British An Illustrated History This beautiful hardback gift book is a stunning visual journey through Black British history...

Alexis Caught is an award-winning podcaster, writer, speaker, rugby player and LGBTQ activist with particular expertise in mental health and wellness. He draws on his extensive knowledge and experience in a new book for teenagers, Queer Up: An Uplifting Guide to LGBTQ+, Love, Life and Mental Health. I caught up with Alexis to find out more about his books and to explore some of the issues of inter...

Louie Stowell has a long-established career in publishing having worked for Usborne books as an editor and in-house writer and for Ladybird Books. She is now a full-time writer with an expanding list of titles. In this interview, she talks to Nikki Gamble about Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good and her fascination with Norse mythology About Loki A wry, witty and very funny diary-style sto...

Serena Patel is the author of a hilarious new series of stories about family and friends featuring a family with South Asian heritage. The main character, Anisha, is a clever inquisitive girl, who shuns the limelight but finds herself drawn into mystery adventures. Nikki Gamble caught up with Serena to find out more. About Anisha Accidental Detective HELP! My super-dramatic Aunty Bindi is getting...

Simon James Green is a writer of children's and YA fiction. He was listed for the Branford Boase Award for his debut novel, Noah Can't Even His novel Alex in Wonderland (nominated for the Carnegie Medal and selected was one of the top 20 LGBTQ+ books of 2019 His first middle grade novel Life of Riley: Beginner’s Luck was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Award. In this episode, Simon talks...

Diana Mayo is an established  British illustrator, Her most recent picturebook is The Snow Ghost, written by Tony Mitton and published by Bloomsbury. In this episode, she talks with Nikki Gamble about the creative choices made when illustrating the book as well as some of the challenges it presented. About The Snow Ghost Snow Ghost came whispering out of the air, "Oh, for a home to be happy -...

Author and illustrator Jen Carney wrote the B.U.G. series to celebrate diverse - and perhaps slightly bonkers - families. In this episode, she talks with Nikki Gamble about the importance of adopted and fostered children being visible in books for children and introduces us to the world of B.U.G. About B.U.G series Meet Billie Upton Green and her VERY accidental diary - and don't you DARE cal...

It's an unbelievable 10 years since the publication of the first Tom Gates book.  Undoubtedly popular with young readers, the virtue of funny books written in diary format is sometimes unappreciated by adults. In this podcast, Liz talks to Nikki Gamble about how the books encourage reading by stealth and celebrate children's creativity. View books in th e Tom Gates series Support the sho...

Pádraig Kenny is an Irish writer. He started his career writing radio drama. As an arts journalist, he has contributed work to the Irish Times, the Sunday Tribune , the Sunday Independent, the Irish Examiner, and several other publications. His debut novel Tin was published by Chicken House in 2018 and was Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month. It has been nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal...

When Shadows Fall is a novel about what happens when tragedy strikes and the effect grief has on a teenage boy when the safety net that should be there to catch him is taken away. It's also about the power of friendship that can help overcome the impact when the cards are stacked against you. It is a profoundly moving story. Sita Brahmachari, Natalie Sirett, Mattie Whitehead and Charlie Moyle...

Michael Mann is a primary school teacher by day, and mostly writes when he should be sleeping at night. He was a winner of SCBWI’s Undiscovered Voices 2020, and the 2019 London Writer’s Award (Spread the Word). He is passionate about diversity in children’s literature as a person of British and Indian heritage.  In this episode, he talks about his debut novel Ghostcloud, how teaching has inspired...

Storyteller Margaret Bateson-Hill and illustrator, Karin Littlewood, bring their combined talents together in this beautiful retelling of the nativity story. In this episode, I talked with Margaret and Karin about the continued relevance of the Christmas story in a pluralistic society and specifically what they wanted to achieve with their retelling. Leah's Star Bethlehem has never been so bu...

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros is a picture book author and illustrator. Originally from Bradford and studied illustration and graphic design at Bradford College of Art. In 2000 he moved to France where, amongst other things, he was an English teacher before working in newspaper layout and design. When his children were small he realised he loved the picture books he read to them, sometimes even more th...

Richard Lambert was born in London. He has had many different jobs including teaching medieval history. For the last ten years, he has lived in Norfolk where he works for the NHS and writes stories and poems. One of his stories was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award and another won the Fish Short Story Prize, and his poems have been in the Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator,...

Joanna Nadin author and senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Bristol. She has been nominated twice for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, while the TV adaptation of her novel Joe All Alone is now a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC drama. In this episode, Jo talks to Nikki Gamble about her novel No Man's Land set in the not too distant fu...

Flora Delargy is an author and illustrator from Belfast. She has a master's degree in Children's Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art. In 2019, she was selected for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Rescuing Titanic is her debut book for children. In this episode, Flora introduces her work and discusses her creative process. About Rescuing Ti...

Kieran Larwood is the author of Freaks and was the winner of the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2011. He is best known for his popular animal fantasy series set in The Five Realms. Kieran trained as a teacher and worked as one of only two male reception teachers on the Isle of Wight. In this episode, he talks to Nikki Gamble about animal fantasy and the creation of The Five Rea...

Nick Lake is an editorial director at HarperCollins Children's Books and an acclaimed author of YA novels. He is the winner of the Michael L Printz Award for In Darkness (Bloomsbury). Locked Out Lily is his first middle-grade novel. Emily Gravett is an award-winning illustrator and picturebook creator. As well as writing and illustrating her own books, she has illustrated novels for A F Harro...

Yaba Badoe is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and writer. Yaba was born in Ghana but now lives in England with her husband. She has been nominated for the Distinguished Woman of African Cinema award. Her debut children's novel A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars and two further novels Wolf Light and Lionheart Gir l are published by Zephyr. Yaba joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk...

Lisa Fuller is a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, and is also descended from Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka peoples. She won a 2019 black&write! Writing Fellowship, the 2017 David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer, the 2018 Varuna Eleanor Dark Flagship Fellowship, and was a joint winner of the 2018 Copyright Agency Fellowships for First Nations Writers. Lisa is...

Michael Rosen's battle with Covid was followed with concern by fans and well-wishers. Hoe has spoken about the impact of the virus on his health and the road to recovery. Now he has written a memoir for younger readers which tells the story of his recovery and pays tribute to the people who helped him. Michael joined Nikki Gamble to explain his reasons for writing the book and how he hopes it...

Olivia Lomenech Gill is a fine artist, printmaker and children's book illustrator. She is the illustrator of J K Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She has also illustrated two books for Michael Morpurgo, the poetry collection, Where My Wellies Take me and a story about Elizabeth Frink, Much and Magic. Now Olivia has illustrated a superb new feminist retelling of the Medu...

Alexandra Page and Stef Murphy introduce their new book, The Fire Fox. Based on Sami myth about the origins of the Northern lights. It's a beautiful story about loss and recovery, sadness and happiness. Nature, space and time all contribute to Freya's recovery. Alex and Steff joined me to explore a little deeper. About The Fire Fox An uplifting, magical book perfect for sharing at bedtim...

Sophie Kirtley is a prize-winning poet and children's. She grew up in Northern Ireland where she enjoyed a childhood closely connected to nature. It is these early memories that in part inspired her children's stories, The Wild Way Home and The Way to Impossible Island. Sophie joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk about her timeslip adventures. About The Way to Impossible Isl...