In the Reading Corner

M G Leonard is the author of the internationally bestselling Beetle Boy series, a thrilling and sometimes dark adventures series that helped many readers discover an appreciation for the beetle world. In her latest novel, Twitch , she does for birds, what she did for beetles.  In this episode, she talks to Nikki Gamble about the new series and her new ornithological interest. Support the show Than...

Brian Conaghan was born and raised in the Scottish town of Coatbridge but now lives in Dublin. He has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. For many years Brian worked as a teacher and taught in Scotland, Italy and Ireland. His first YA novel for Bloomsbury, When Mr Dog Bites , was shortlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal, and his second, The Bombs That Brought Us...

Jodie Lancet-Grant and Lydia Corry popped into The Reading Corner to talk about their book, The Pirate Mums.  Jodie explained that as a gay mum with twin daughters she was aware of how few picturebooks are available showing same-sex parents as normal and so she set out to write her own. There's more than a little pirate mum in both writer and illustrator in their approach to bringing up proud...

Wildlife writer Martin Jenkins writes books about the natural world for young children that are both informative and engaging. After graduating from Cambridge University, Martin worked for ten years for World Conservation Monitoring Centre, writing about a range of conservation issues. He continues to work freelance for organisations such as WWF and a number of UN bodies concerned with conservatio...

Born and raised in Alaska and a longtime journalist for Alaska Public Radio, Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock spent ten years fishing commercially and raised her children on a boat in Southeast Alaska - bringing a rare authenticity to her writing about America's last frontier. She lived briefly in Colorado and then returned to Fairbanks, Alaska, Her first novel, T he Smell of Other People's Houses w...

Tim Hopgood is a graduate of Kingston University and worked for 20 years as a graphic design and freelance illustration.   His first book, Our Big Blue Sofa , was published in 2006. Other titles include Here Comes Frankie , Upoppable and the hugely popular Wow Said the Owl. In 2008 he was the winner of the Best Emerging Illustrator Award at the Book Trust Early Years Awards. In this episode, he ta...

Sam Thompson was shortlisted for the 2012  Man Booker Prize for his debut novel Communion Town. He has published short stories and has contributed articles to the Times Literary Supplement and The London Review of Books. His debut children's book, Wolfstongue is an animal fable that draws on the tradition of La Fontaine's fables. sam joined me in the reading corner to tell me more. About...

Ben Garrod is an evolutionary biologist, primatologist, broadcaster and writer.  He is currently Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. He has worked extensively in the field working on projects such as great ape conservation. He spent several years in western Uganda working on the development and management of a leading field site for c...

Jason Cockcroft is an acclaimed illustrator, winner of the inaugural Blue Peter Children's Book Award for his interpretation of Pilgrim's Progress. In this interview, Jason talks about his debut novel, a powerful and poignant read with stunning illustrations. About We Were Wolves Boy lives in a caravan on his own in the woods. His dad, John, is in prison and promises to get out soon. All...

Chatting with David Litchfield about the illustration for Pip and Egg by Alex Latimer. David talks about his approach to composition, light and the way in which his illustrations work with the text. It's a delightful book that takes a fresh approach to lifecycles and friendship. About Pip and Egg One bright afternoon, Pip met Egg. Pip is a seed from a glorious tree, and Egg is a bird's e...

Swapna Haddow is the author of the prize-winning Dave Pigeon series illustrated by Sheena Dempsey and writing as Swapna Reddy, The Ballet Bunnies series for fledgeling readers. Dapo Adeola is an illustrator with a background in character development. His partnership with writer Nathan Bryon brought us the lovable science crazy character, Rocket who made her first appearance in the book Look Up! an...

Patience Agbabi's second novel in the Leap Cycle is published this month. The Time Thief picks up the story from the previous novel The Infinite and it's another highly inventive, page-turning story with plenty to provoke thought. Great for children who love mystery and solving codes and puzzles. Patience joined me In The Reading Corner to talk about some of the ideas behind the story. A...

In this episode, Jo Bowers and Simon Fisher talk about children's literature with a Welsh context, the Tir na -n-Og Award and the English language shortlist for 2021. About the Awards The Tir na n-Og Awards are the oldest and most popular awards for children’s literature in Wales. Established in 1976, the awards recognise, honour and promote excellence in books for children and young people....

Dr Jess Wade is a British research physicist who works at Imperial College., where she specialises in Raman spectroscopy. Melissa Castrillon graduated from the Cambridge School of Art, MA in Children's Book illustration. Her picturebooks include The Mighty Min and a wordless book The Balcony .  She has also designed book jackets including jackets for Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials....

Scottish writer Damien Love has worked as a journalist for many years, writing about movies, music, TV, and other things for a variety of publications.   Monstrous Devices was his first novel, followed by its sequel, The Shadow Arts . About Monstrous Devices When twelve-year-old Alex receives an old tin robot in the post, the note from his grandfather simply reads: 'This one is special'....

Graham Carter is an artist and illustrator who works with a range of media including printmaking, animation and 3D word sculpture.  In this episode, he talks to Nikki about his three picturebooks for children, Alphamals, Otto Blotter, Bird Spotter and The Story Thief. The discussion touches on developing technique through discovery,  story-making, and the extraordinary luminescent quality that cha...

  Jon Klassen is a Canadian animator and creator of picturebooks now living in the US. He has illustrated books for other writers and has a long-standing creative partnership with Mac Barnett.  Jon’s self-authored picturebook, I Want My Hat Back ( 2011) won both the Caldecott Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal, the first time a book has won both awards,  This was followed by two further books in w...

Chris Haughton is an Irish illustrator, author and designer now living in London. He was a long-standing interest in fair trade and was listed in Time magazine's 'DESIGN 100' for the work he has been doing for the ethical clothing company People Tree. In 2010 he moved to Nepal for eight months to work with local craftspeople designing and making rugs and with his friend Akshay Sthap...

 Ben Mantle began his illustration career early, picking up his first award in a local library colouring-in competition aged seven. He went on to study Animation at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design before working as an animator. Ben has illustrated a number of children’s books including the well-received fairy tale series with Lucy Rowland,  published by Macmillan, Little Red Reading Hood...

Nicola Skinner is a writer of originality and wit. Her latest book is inspired by Brunel's great ship the SS Great Britain,  the biggest tourist attraction in Bristol, the city where Nicola now lives. In this episode, I talked to Nicola about what the historic ship means to her, her cast of colourful characters and some of the themes that underpin the story. Support the show Thank you for lis...

David Almond is a British writer born in Newcastle on the north side of the Tyne and raised in Gateshead on the south of the river. His writing is infused with the culture and language of the northeast. David's latest book Bone Music is an extraordinary prose poem that distils and amplifies many of the themes from his earlier work. It's the only novel that I have read cover to cover and...

When Elle McNicoll researched the representation of neurodivergent characters in books for children and young adults, she drew a blank. She decided that the only way to redress the problem was to find a job in publishing. But Elle went one better than that by writing  A Kind of Spark, which was published in 2020 to critical acclaim, being chosen as Blackwell's Book of the Year 2020. In this p...

Jonathan Stroud's latest book The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne is a post-catastrophe story set in a future England. In this England, you either live in the Cities or you are an outlaw - or perhaps worse, one of the tainted. The animals have evolved too. It's an exciting adventure driven by mystery - some of which are revealed in this book and others that will take us forward to the next b...

Raymond Antrobus was born in Hackney was diagnosed as deaf during childhood,  He is a writer and educator and has achieved many accolades for his poetry, including the Ted Hughes  Award,  and Poetry Book of the Year for both The Guardian and The Sunday Times. His picturebook, Can Bears Ski? illustrated by Polly Dunbar and published by Walker Books in February 2021, is the story of a young deaf bea...

From the silliness of Sing a Song of Bottoms to the sharp wit of Tadpole's Promise and the gently reflective Bog Baby, Jeanne Willis is a prolific and much-loved writer of many moods and tones. In this interview, she chats with Nikki Gamble about her latest book Hom   and some of her classic stories which remain popular with her young readers. Support the show Thank you for listening.  If you...