Christmas Children's Books for Literary Review

My children's book round up for Literary Review is in the December / January issue. This year I've reviewed a selection of compelling and beautiful tales: Celia Rees's The Glass Town Wars; Kenneth Oppel's Inkling; Katherine Rundell's Into the Jungle; Kevin Crossley-Holland's Between Worlds; Anthony McGowan's Lark; Lucy Strange's Our Castle by the Sea; and Brian Wildsmith's two picture books about Christmas.

Literary Review, June issue: Children's Round up

What ho. I've done my summer round up for Literary Review - the June issue is out now, with a beautiful cover featuring Edmund Spenser. There's plenty of goodness in the magazine, including a review of Hilary Mantel's Bring up the Bodies. And a book about The Only Way is Essex. Or TOWIE, as I believe it's known. I've reviewed a feast of writers - Eva Ibbotson, Frances Hardinge, Conrad Mason, Derek Keilty, Philip Reeve, Prentice and Weil, Sally Nicholls, Celia Rees, and Gill Lewis. Check it out, chums. It's not online, so haul yourself to an actual real life newsagent. You won't regret it.

Launch of Hot Key, and Notting Hill Editions

A brace of bumptious literary parties last night: the first, in Clerkenwell, for a new children's imprint that will publish books for children and young adults. It is helmed by Sarah Odedina (who was my first editor at Bloomsbury), and looks set to publish its first book later next year, which I look forward to very much indeed. Lots of little mince pies and bucketfulls of champagne made a  merry evening in their snazzy, white-painted and wood-floored offices. I spotted The Fool's Girl author Celia Rees, who's got a new, modern-day novel coming out soon, as well as I, Coriander writer Sally Gardner. The place was thrumming with agents and authors as I left, so it all looks set for a rocket-fuelled lift off - very best of luck to Hot Key.

Then onto the Hammersmith and City line (not one of my favourite lines, I must admit, although it was behaving properly last night) to the other end of town, for a party celebrating Notting Hill Editions' new series of essays. It took place in the Idler Academy, which was packed to the brim with literary types and lots of cakes (including a rather delicious ginger biscuit) and, of course, champagne. Latinist Harry Mount (who teaches at the Academy) was there; as was the author of The Kit-Kat Club, Ophelia Field, and erstwhile Cheap Date editor, Kira Jolliffe, as well as bags more. NHE's new selection of handsomely bound essays includes Adam Mars-Jones, neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, and Simon Heffer, as well as Osip Mandelstam and Stanley and Munro Price. They combine intellectual curiosity and power with - well, looking nice on your coffee table. And there aren't many things that can do that. The box set makes a lovely present, too.

Literary Review Christmas Children's Round Up

My ravishing round up of children's books for Christmas is in the bumper December / January issue of Literary Review. Again, no online version, so a trip through the snow to the newsmongers to find it is necessary. Or you could subscribe. The books I've reviewed are:

Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley
Ministry of Pandemonium by Chris Westwood
The Fool's Girl by Celia Rees
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Almost True by Keren David
Now by Morris Gleitzman
Elliott Allagash by Simon Rich
Pull Out All The Stops! by Geraldine McCaughrean
Ghostly Holler-Day by Daren King
The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future by George Beard and Harold Hutchins
Dexter Bexley and the Big Blue Beastie on the Road by Joel Stewart
Alienography by Chris Riddell.

Phew! Now I'm going to read the entire Faerie Queene for a change of scene. See you in the New Year...

Financial Times Summer Reading

I was immeasurably pleased to discover that The Liberators has been chosen as one of the Financial Times's summer reading picks, along with Celia Rees's The Fool's Girl and Chris Riddell's new series, Wyrmeweald. There is something so satisfying about the FT - its classic lines and formal layout are a joy to behold and read. I would, of course, much prefer my readers to gaze upon an actual physical copy of the paper - but if that is impossible, here is a link to the website, for which one must register.

CLICK HERE