Texts & Authors

Authors in the Spotlight

Authors stop by to share their thoughts and free classroom posters convey these.

Atinuke

Atinuke was born in Nigeria and spent her childhood in both Africa and the UK. She is the author of the bestselling Anna Hibiscus and No. 1 Car Spotter series, as well as Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country.

Wendy Meddour

Wendy Meddour has published over 25 internationally successful children’s books and is best known for writing award-wining picture books that tackle challenging topics in uplifting ways.

Eloise Williams

Eloise’s middle grade novels have won the Wales Arts Review Young People’s Book of the Year, the Wolverhampton Children’s Book Award, the YBB Book Award, and have been shortlisted for the Tir na nOg, the NE Book Awards and Wales Book of the Year.

Natasha Farrant

Natasha Farrant is the author of the Costa Award winning novel, Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, bestselling middle-grade novels, The Children of Castle Rock and The Rescue of Ravenwood.

Kieran Larwood

Kieran’s books have won several awards, including the Blue Peter Best Story and the Prix Sorcières. He is inspired by a life-long love of fantasy stories.

Tanya Landman

Carnegie Medal winning Tanya Landman is the author of more than forty books for children and young adults.

Anna James

Anna James is a writer and journalist. Before turning her hand to writing children’s books Anna was a secondary school librarian for 5 years, Book News Editor at The Bookseller magazine and Literary Editor of Elle UK.

Manjeet Mann

Manjeet Mann is an actress, playwright, screenwriter, and director. She is founder of Run the World and author of two award winning YA novels – Run, Rebel and The Crossing.

Beverley Naidoo

Beverley Naidoo is the Carnegie Medal-winning author of many novels for children and young adults. Much of Beverley’s writing is influenced by her upbringing during the apartheid years in South Africa.

Chris Bradford

Author of over 35 award-winning titles, he also writes dyslexic-friendly books – Gamer, Ninja and SPEAR – and the highly popular DFE-validated Little Wandle phonics series Jake and Jen.

Ken Wilson-Max

Ken Wilson-Max was born in Zimbabwe. His first book was published in 1993 and since then there have been over 70, with a string of national and international awards.

Ross Montgomery

Ross Montgomery is the author of the picture book Space Tortoise, His debut novel, Alex, the Dog and the Unopenable Door was selected as one of The Sunday Times’ “Top 100 Modern Children’s Classics”.

Vivian French

Vivian French is a much-loved author who has written more than 300 books for children. In 2016, she received an MBE for services to literature, literacy, illustration and the arts.

Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick has written over 50 books, including books for adults, young adults, and younger children, and of all types, from picture books to non-fiction, comics to graphic novels. He has won many awards for his work over the last quarter of a century.

Petr Horácek

Petr Horácek graduated as a Master of Fine Art in 1994. Petr has written and illustrated many books for children and won awards for his books in Britain, USA and Holland. His new book, The Perfect Present was published on 25th August 2022.

Nicola Skinner

Nicola Skinner worked as a copywriter and journalist for the likes of the Guardian and the Pool before being inspired to write for young readers.

Jackie Morris

Jackie Morris is the bestselling author and illustrator, photographer and painter who created the international bestseller, The Lost Words, winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal in 2019, with Robert Macfarlane.

Lissa Evans

Following a medical degree, Lissa Evans changed careers to become a comedy producer for radio and TV. Her children’s novels have been shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award, Carnegie Medal, and Branford Boase Award.

Chrissie Sains

Chrissie Sains is the author of The Alien in the Jam Factory and The Treasure Under the Jam Factory. Chrissie has a background in marketing and events but now writes full time and is a graduate of the Golden Egg Academy and a member of SCBWI.

Neill Cameron

Neill Cameron is an award-winning author and cartoonist. He is the creator of several comic books, including the Mega Robo Bros series and How to Make Awesome Comics.

Helen Cooper

Helen Cooper is an author and illustrator whose books have won lots of awards including the Kate Greenaway Medal – twice. She also writes and illustrates Chapter Books and sometimes writes Picture Books in collaboration with other illustrators.

Larraine Harrison

Larraine Harrison writes books for both teachers and children. She likes to involve children in the writing process by asking them to review her drafts and has managed to persuade her grandchildren to be the models on her book covers.

Shereen Malherbe

Shereen Malherbe is a British Palestinian author of novels and children’s books. After travelling throughout the Middle East, Shereen now resides in the UK with her husband and four children.

Laura Mucha

Laura Mucha is an award-winning poet and author whose work has been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in
hospitals, hospices, prisons, magazines and books around the world.

Lucy Strange

Lucy Strange is a bestselling children’s author. Her novels for booklovers aged 9+ include The Secret of Nightingale Wood, Our Castle by the Sea and The Ghost of Gosswater.

Marcia Williams

Marcia Williams is famous for her retellings of classic stories. Marcia’s humorous comic-strip illustrations are hugely popular all over the world.

Rob Biddulph

Rob Biddulph is a bestselling and multi award-winning author/illustrator whose picture books include Blown Away, Odd Dog Out, Kevin and Show and Tell.

Lucy Courtenay

Lucy Courtenay has written over 100 books, both as herself and as a team writer on series such as Beast Quest.

Sue Cheung

Sue Cheung is an award-winning British-Chinese author/illustrator of books for children and young adults.

Jenny McLachlan

Jenny McLachlan writes funny, accessible books that children love. She’s currently writing the third book in the popular Land of Roar series.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Frank Cottrell Boyce is an award-winning author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children’s novel, won the CILIP Carnegie Medal.

Hilary McKay

Hilary McKay is the award winner author of The Skylarks War, The Exiles and the Smarties among many other critically acclaimed titles.

Chris Callaghan

Chris Callaghan is the author of the award winning story ‘The Great Chocoplot’ and his brand new series of books ‘Shinoy and the Chaos Crew’.

Photo: Piers Torday

Piers Torday

Piers Torday is the author of the award-winning trilogy The Last Wild and many other children’s books.

Vashti Hardy

Vashti Hardy is a writer of children’s books. Vashti has a special interest in children’s writing, especially free-writing.

Elen Caldecott

Elen Caldecott is a children’s author and was highly commended in the PFD Prize for Most Promising Writer for young people.

Liz Brownlee

Liz Brownlee is a poet and children’s poet with work in over 80 children’s poetry anthologies in the UK.

Chitra Soundar

Chitra Soundar is an internationally published, award-winning author of over 40 books for children

Sally Gardner

Sally Gardner is a multi award-winning novelist who has sold over 2 million books in the UK.

John Dougherty

John Dougherty is a former teacher and now author of the Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face series, the Zeus stories and many more.

Karl Nova

Karl Nova’s debut book “Rhythm And Poetry” was declared winner of the CLPE, CLiPPA 2018 Poetry award

Tom Palmer

Tom Palmer is the author of 50 books, most of them for children. Armistice Runner, won the UK Children’s Book Award in 2019.

Maz Evans

Maz Evans debut novel Who Let the Gods Out was selected as the Waterstone’s Children’s Book of the Month

Lisa Thompson

Lisa’s first novel, The Goldfish Boy, was one of the biggest selling debut books of 2017

Jo Cotterill

Jo Cotterill is a multi-award-winning author with over forty books for children, including new novel ‘Jelly’

Hilary Robinson

The award winning author of over 50 books for children, including the much loved Mixed Up Fairy Tales.

David Lucas

A new primary school teacher, David Lucas has created 15 children’s books as an author and illustrator.

Morag Hood

Morag Hood is an award-winning picture book author and illustrator from Edinburgh.

AF Harrold

A.F. Harrold is a poet and performer who writes for children and adults. He loves working with talented illustrators.

Joseph Coelho

Our featured author is a poet and children’s author. His latest poetry collection celebrates his childhood love of nature.

Gill Lewis

Gill Lewis a multi-award winning children’s author who writes stories about the natural world and our human relationship with it

Nicola Davies

Author of fiction, non fiction and poetry, she won the first SLA award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Non Fiction.

Isabel Thomas

This month we are delighted to profile the engaging work of Isabel Thomas who has written more than 150 books for young people.

Emma Carroll

The author of Strange Star, the Financial Times Book of 2016, Secrets of a Sun King and many more

Ross Montgomery

The author of Max and the Millions and Perijee and Me answers our fiendish questions!

Mini Grey

Creator of the Bad Bunnies talks to us about books!

MG Leonard

The author of the Beetle series tells us about her favourite books

Top Texts

Every month a guest recommends three books

Top Texts for October

October’s favourite read aloud books are chosen by Sarah Paxton, lead of the New Wave English Hub based in Hackney.

Top Texts for September

​This month’s favourite read aloud recommendations are made by Sonia Thompson, Head Teacher at St Matthew’s C.E. Teaching and Research School.

Top Texts for August

Great read aloud choices here for older readers, our top texts for August have been chosen by Fiona Evans, who is Director of Programmes at the National Literacy Trust.

Top Texts for July

​Karl Duke selects some high quality texts to promote reading to inspire learning for all.

Top Texts for June

Richard Charlesworth introduces picture books and graphic novels that create an emotional response in the reader.

Top Texts for May

Carol Carter maintains her passion for building reading communities and finding the right book to make every child a reader​

Top Texts for April

Miranda McKearney of EmpathyLab selects texts that enable children and young people to develop the skills that build empathy.

Top Texts for March

Nicki Cleveland has revolutionised the way the teaching staff at Cannon Park Primary think about Reading for Pleasure, it is now at the forefront of the school’s ethos

Top texts for January

Caroline Sence of charity ‘Read for Good’ recommends entertaining, diverse and accessible picture books for all ages.

Top texts for December

This month’s selections are drawn from the School Library Association’s Information Book Awards, and chosen by Alison Tarrant.

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