In the Reading Corner

Owen Davey's bold graphic style is widely recognised, and his animal series published by Flying Eye is hugely popular.  From Monkeys to Octopuses, Frogs to Crocodiles and Cats to Beetles, we can't get enough of these informative, beautifully produced books. In this episode, Owen talks to Nikki Gamble about the most recent addition to the series, Curious About Crocodiles. Who knew there w...

Andrea Beaty and David Roberts are the creative duo behind the Questioneers series featuring the young children in Miss Greer's class. Iggy Peck, Ada Twist, Rosie Revere and Sofia Valdez. Now they are joined by Aaron Slater, Illustrator. In this episode, Andrea and David talk about how they spark off each other's ideas and tell us more about the background to Aaron Slater. About Aaron Sl...

Cornelia Funke is a fantasy writer whose work has garnered international recognition and has been adapted for cinema.  Her first book to be translated into English was The Thief Lord, followed by Dragon Rider, which was hugely successful, remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for 78 weeks and achieving the number one slot on the children's list. A second book in the series, The Grif...

Philip Womack is a journalist and writer, whose work is infused with myth, legend and wild magic, in the tradition of Alan Garner and Susan Cooper. His fantasy trilogy, The Darkening Path, is inspired by Childe Roland's quest, as was Alan Garner's Elidor. In this episode, Philip takes us into the faerie realm and discusses his latest novel Wildlord, published by Little Island. About Wild...

With a background in bookselling, Jen Campbell is the author of Franklin's Flying Bookshop and the Sunday Times bestseller, Weird Things People Say in Bookshops . She has a passionate interest in fairy tales and runs a YouTube channel dedicated to discussing the history of different tales. In this episode, she talks about her own folk tale collection, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers and other...

Television presenter Yvette Fielding is well-known for her time on Blue Peter and as the co-creator and presenter of Most Haunted. In this episode, she talks to Nikki Gamble about her horror book for children, The House in the Woods. This is definitely not one for the faint-hearted. About The House in the Woods When Clovis, Eve and Tom decide to play with a ouija board in an old abandoned house on...

Oliver Jeffers is a visual artist and author working in painting, bookmaking, illustration, collage, performance, and sculpture. He best is one of the foremost illustrators of children's books working today. Oliver talked with Nikki Gamble about There's a Ghost in This House , remarkable for its playfulness and seriousness, as well as the experimental design pushing the affordances of th...

Phil Hickes was born in the UK where he lived next door to a graveyard - a perfect breeding ground for a future writer of children's horror stories. He now lives with his wife in Portland, Oregon, where he works as an advertising copywriter. Phil has a passion for horror, ghosts, and all things that go bump in the night. His short stories have been published in adult horror anthologies, but P...

Frances Durkin believes in making history both accessible and fun. The Histornauts series is a well-conceived project from Small publishing in which a group of children from the present-day go back in time to explore life in different historical periods through their encounters with ordinary people. Frances joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk about the series and her approach to hist...

The third book in William Grill's series with publisher Flying Eye, Bandoola: the great elephant rescue , tells the story of war veteran James Howard Williams and his encounter with elephant trainer Po Toke in Burma (now Myanmar) between the wars. Drawing on Po Toke's experience of raising elephants with kindness rather than punishment, they introduce a new training regime. When war brea...

Nick Crumpton is a zoologist and children's author. He has worked as a science communicator at the Natural History Museum and as a journalist and researcher for the BBC, He specialises in studying extinct mammals. In this episode, Nick talks to Nikki Gamble about his book Everything You Know About Dinosaurs is wrong. Listen to learn about recent discoveries and the latest in scientific thinki...

 Rob and Tom’s creative partnership began in the 1980s when Tom (the younger brother) was born. Now, Rob is a bestselling writer and Tom is an illustrator. They’ve created everything from zoo exhibitions and ice cream van designs to books, sitcoms, newspaper cartoons and movie scripts. The Biggest Footprint was created as an experiment to try to understand the species that they are a part of. In t...

Alastair Chisholm has developed a reputation for writing exciting middle-grade science fiction. Orion Lost, a futuristic story about a the crew of a spaceship abandoned in deep space received widespread positive reviews. He is also the creator of picture books and puzzles. In this episode, Alastair chatted to Nikki Gamble about his second thrilling science fiction adventure Adam-2. About Adam 2 Wi...

M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman are the co-authors of Adventures on Trains, a gripping, page turning mystery series that takes in train journeys across different continents.  The partnership has produced a clutch of very successful books, but I wanted to know more about the process of working together. Can friendship survive when there may be competing ideas and deadlines to be met. If you are curious...

Chella Quint coined the term ‘period positive’ in 2006 while touring her free Adventures in Menstruating comedy show and workshops in school holidays while teaching drama and PSHE. She kept meeting audiences who wanted her to speak at their school or university and share the concepts she was developing around period positivity more widely. Finally, she went back to university, completed an MA in e...

Flavia Drago is an illustrator with a broad portfolio covering branding, packaging, character development and children's books. She is a recent graduate of the MA in Children's Book Illustration from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Flavia was born and raised in Mexico and the influence of the traditions on the patterns, colours and artefacts can be seen in her debut children's...

Sudanese-Australian writer and media presenter, Yasmin Abdel-Magied is something of a superstar. Following an early career as a mechanical engineer and formula 1 commentator, she is now a published writer for children.  Yasmin was named Young Queenslander of the year in 2010 and Queensland Australian of the Year in 2015 for her engagement in community work. In this episode, Yasmin talks about her...

Sara Pennypacker's Pax was a huge hit with children and adults alike. Many readers wanted to know what happened to Peter and his pet Fox after the story ended and now Sara Pennypacker has written a sequel. In this episode, she talks to Nikki Gamble about why she felt compelled to write a sequel and the things that are important to her in the stories. About Pax: Journey Home It's been a y...

Rob Biddulph is well-known for his picture books and the phenomenally successful Draw with Rob YouTube channel. Now he has turned his talent to writing longer fiction and his first book Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City is an absolute triumph. In this episode, Rob introduces the world of Peanut Jones and also describes his process of creating longer illustrated fiction. About Peanut Jones and...

Chris Thorogood is Deputy Director & Head of Science, University of Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum, His recently published book When Plants Took Over the Planet has plenty to  interest children from around 9 all the way to adult In this episode he talks to Nikki Gamble about  the evolution of plants and igniting children's interest in plant life. When Plants Took Over the Planet Di...

Samuel Langley-Swain has a background in fine art but following the arrival of his two children, he decided that needed to write his own story. After self-publishing and marketing his own book he realised there was more to be done and set up his own publishing house Owlet Press. Monika Singh Gangotra's Sunflower Sisters exposes the impact of colourism and breaking the cycle. It's an upli...

Kiran Millwood and Tom de Freston are creative partners as well as being married to each other. Their recently published novella, Julia and the Shark is a profound exploration of mental illness and its impact on children and families. The text is poetic and the illustrations enigmatic, giving this story a mythic quality that gives it universal significance. It is both a physical and psychological...

Pam Smy talks to Nikki Gamble about her highly anticipated second novel, The Hideaway. Pam describes the different threads that are woven together to create the dual narrative story, the techniques used for verbal and visual storytelling and the image creation. About the Hideaway The wonderful long-awaited second novel from Pam Smy celebrated author and illustrator of Thornhill. The Hideaway tells...

Victoria Hislop read English at Oxford and worked in publishing, PR and as a journalist before becoming a novelist.  Her first novel, The Island , held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback charts for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria acted as script consultant on the 26-part adaptation of The Island in Greece, which achieved record rating...

Peter Frankopan is Professor of Global History at Oxford University, where he is Senior Research Fellow and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research  He is Associate Director of the Programme for Silk Roads Studies at King,s College, Cambridge. In this episode, he talks about The Silk Roads: A New History of the World - illustrated edition. About The Silk Ro...