Gigantosaurus

I grew up with The Land Before Time. It's the first film I can remember seeing at the cinema and one that I watched over and over on video. I loved those dinos! Such characters! So when Gigantosaurus arrived I was instantly whipped back to the eighties and my adventures with Cera, Ducky and Littlefoot....

The New Kid

I love this book! I love the artwork and how the brush strokes make me want to touch it, to see the original paintings and run my finger over that red red curly hair. I love its vibrancy and its light. And I love the story. Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick has told the story of a new...

The perils of gender marketing

Kira Cochrane wrote a brilliant article for The Guardian today about the pink/blue gender divide in children's toys and the way gender stereotyping limits children's play, learning and development. It is a very well argued and evidenced article. I urge you to read it and take some time to ponder the issues raised. The pink/blue...

The Queen’s Hat

When I spotted Grace Dent's brilliant article 'What could be more British than to be somewhat proud of this country' I was instantly reminded of a gloriously funny book that popped through the letterbox recently. The witty The Queen's Hat by Steve Antony beautifully illustrates Grace Dent's point that we British folk are "somewhat proud...

Eat this, Gove!

At the very start of the Easter holidays I wrote one of my ranty blog posts about how Gove had stolen our local primary school's books. We had found ourselves in Special Measures with more children, more need, and less money. The parents came together and fought for the school and we are still fighting....

I love those Little Rebels

Last year I wrote about the first ever Little Rebels Children's Book Award for radical children's fiction. And now it's back for round two! The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award recognises fiction for ages 0-12 which promotes or celebrates social justice and equality. Right up my street! It is given by the Alliance of Radical...

How Gove stole our books

For the past few months I have been quieter than normal, on the blog and on twitter. I have been fighting hard for education in my own little corner of the world. Now that things have come to a head I feel that it's the right time to lift my head above the parapet and...