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Tintin is experiencing new and exciting adventures these days. Not just in the cinema, but in Belgian courts as well. Bienvenu Mbuto Mondondo, a Congolese national studying in Brussels, filed suit to obtain an injunction against the continued publication, distribution and sale of Hergé’s comic book Tintin in the Congo (Tintin au Congo), as well [...]

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Although billed as a “modern take” on the children’s classic using a mix of CGI and live-action, the movie will go back to the beginning of the story and explain how the little bear from Darkest Peru was discovered in Paddington Station. It will also keep all of Paddington’s quirks, from his penchant for marmalade [...]

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There are two wondrous events I remember as a young boy: Hillary and Tenzing climbing Everest in 1953, and in 1954 Roger Bannister running the first sub-four-minute mile. I’ve never run a mile – competitively, that is – nor have I ever climbed a mountain: a few tors on Dartmoor has been my limit. But [...]

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Hogwarts, the wizarding school at the centre of the Harry Potter books, can now count 3 million virtual pupils among its numbers after fans rushed to sign up to creator JK Rowling’s latest venture Pottermore. After its initial launch date of last October slipped and slipped, Pottermore eventually went live to all on the morning [...]

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If tattooed warriors can win an audience by chanting Shakespeare in Maori and shaking the hallowed foundations of the Globe Theatre then, come on, there’s hope for us all.   That thought took me back to an evening last year, when I found myself at the Lyric in the West End for a programme of [...]

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The third Wizarding World of Harry Potter is to be built at Universal Studios Japan, in Osaka, with work starting in the next few weeks and the park scheduled to open in late 2014, the operator of the park announced on Thursday.   Universal’s first wizarding attraction, in Orlando, Florida, has already attracted millions of [...]

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Maurice Sendak, American born author of Where the Wild Things Are, has died at the age of 83. Over a career that began in the late 1940s he illustrated more than 100 books and wrote more than 20, but it was Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, that made his name internationally, selling [...]

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Mr Sendak wrote and illustrated more than a dozen books, the most famous of which, Where the Wild Things Are was also turned into a Hollywood movie in 2009. The author died from complications resulting from a recent stroke according to his longtime editor, Michael di Capua.   In the video, shot for the Tate [...]

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Maurice Sendak, who died on Tuesday, was one of the few – and rare – writers who truly wrote for children. Not to entertain their parents, or to improve their social skills – he told the stories that children live themselves, wobbling on the uncomfortable brink between dreams, imagination and reality, where truth is whatever [...]

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People who ‘lose themselves’ in a book can actually change their behaviour to match the characters they like best. Whether that means that reading Harry Potter will make children keener at school remains to be seen – but the effect certainly works on voting habits. The effect is particularly strong with books written in the [...]

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An Oxford undergraduate is following in the footsteps of best-selling author JK Rowling – after landing a six-figure book deal with the Harry Potter writer’s publisher. English undergraduate Samantha Shannon, 20, has signed a contract with publishing powerhouse Bloomsbury for the release of her novel, The Bone Season, and two sequels. But she doesn’t plan [...]

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Headteachers could boycott the Government’s controversial new reading test for six-year-olds if it is used “as a stick to beat schools with”, a union leader warned today. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, (NAHT) said there were fears that the check will be used to “attack rather than assess”. If [...]

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An event has been held to mark the 160th anniversary of birth of Alice Liddell, the inspiration behind Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Celebrations have included a massive Mad Hatter-themed tea party on Llandudno’s promenade. Organisers are now waiting to see if they have also earned a world record for the largest number of jam [...]

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An adorable Kickstarter campaign to create a children’s book about the election met its fundraising goal of $30,000 on Thursday. Support from almost 400 backers will help to make the book Roger Nix, President at Six available for purchase by the U.S. presidential election in November 2012. Author Nick Dazé says he would have never [...]

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A billionaire philosopher has endorsed a parenting technique that allows generous time for smoking, drinking wine and having sex. Elisabeth Badinter, a 68-year-old mother of three who is the 13th richest French citizen according to Forbes, has published a book about parenting the French way. Now, her controversial methods have sparked anger from U.S. mothers. [...]

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He may not be able to visit it for real, but one Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fanatic is doing his very best to create his own Willy Wonka world. Former set designer Nicholas Franklin, 33, has spent £30,000 transforming a bedroom in his home into a shrine to the films, based on the famous [...]

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I visit around thirty primary schools a year. Although my presentations are fairly standard, each school derives a different level of benefit, ranging from a creative, educational experience down to a waste of my effort and theirs. One of the puzzling experiences of being an author is watching schools undermine their own efforts during a [...]

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I’ve been reading Young Adult books for two years now, ever since I was struggling with a novel idea about a thirty-year-old woman going into Witness Protection. It just wasn’t working and my friend Cristin suggested I make her a teenager. I scoffed at first, thinking all books for teenagers are about sullen vampires and [...]

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Read the whole of Michael Morpurgo’s short story, Letter for Carlos, about a soldier writing home to his young son via Letter for Carlos by Michael Morpurgo – short story | Children’s books | guardian.co.uk. » Inline Ad Purchase:  Intext Link

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“Politicians,” he says, “have been downplaying the importance of history as a subject in our schools but, if they had bothered to have a better grasp of history themselves, they might have avoided costly wars. Instead they act like children. The only time that they think matters is their own.” Since the actor, author and [...]

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Are you a fan of fairy tales? Test how much you know about one of the fairest of them all – Snow White via Are you a Snow White whizz? – quiz for under-7s | Children’s books | guardian.co.uk. » Inline Ad Purchase:  Intext Link

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Malorie Blackman is famous for writing books with hard-hitting themes and realistic situations – she is also famous for battling these issues superbly to make them into brilliant, gripping books. Boys don’t cry is certainly no exception. Dante is 19 years old. One day, the doorbell rings, and the person he would be least likely [...]

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Public libraries have had to withdraw dozens of long-standing children’s favourites after parents complained they were offensive. Anxious adults have taken action over stories deemed to be racist, blasphemous, violent or otherwise unsuitable, a survey has revealed. Roald Dahl was among those criticised, with his Revolting Rhymes and Even More Revolting Rhymes singled out over the [...]

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While Americans are busy protesting about the violence and offensive language present in dystopian smash hit The Hunger Games, parents in the UK are focusing their complaints on the “coarse language” of Roald Dahl and the violence of the Horrible History books, according to a survey of the country’s libraries. The poll covered more than [...]

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For most parents, bedtime stories are a cherished and innocent time, featuring much-loved books full of comforting characters. But for some, it seems, this nightly ritual is a minefield of potentially offensive and unsuitable material.   A survey of libraries has revealed how dozens of children’s books have provoked complaints from angry parents – accusing [...]

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Every year the American Library Association releases a list of the ten books most frequently reported as banned or challenged by angry parents, schools and libraries across the country. And as is often the case, this year’s most reviled author, Lauren Myracle, is in trouble for a tween trilogy deemed unsuitable in content, profane and [...]

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When I went for my son’s eight month check-up I was not just given a lovely pack of books for him but the health visitor explained how much difference sharing books with him and reading to him could make – even at his early age. The pack has some really nice books in it and [...]

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Parents of teenagers will know that there is no greater mystery than what is going on in their children’s minds. Now, however, help could be at hand, with the release of a new parenting guide on how to raise adolescents – written by two 17-year-olds. Megan Lovegrove and Louise Bedwell, schoolgirls from Cheam, south west London, have [...]

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Martin Waddell’s Owl Babies with its superb illustrations by Patrick Benson has long been regarded as a classic because of the poignant simplicity and emotional integrity of its storyline and the way it is matched by its illustrations. The story of how three little owlets manage to keep their spirits up while their mother is [...]

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Why the Famous Five had the perfect austerity diet Enid Blyton’s heroes, now 70 years old, had an approach to food that we could all learn from Share 215 Comments (78) Josh Sutton guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 April 2012 20.00 BST Article history Tuck in … the Famous Five Photograph: Josh Sutton Seventy years ago this [...]

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Since the death of her mother, Hannah’s family life on their dilapidated farm has been a bit chaotic. One day, Hannah finds a ramshackle old hen house in a forgotten corner of the farm and decides to turn it into a secret theatre. But then the farm is threatened with demolition and Hannah must hatch [...]

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Culture Books Children and teenagers Happy birthday to the children’s books site No JK Rowling or Philip Pullman – but David Walliams and Enid Blyton make the grade. To mark the first anniversary of the Guardian’s children’s books website, here are the authors that our young critics loved best this year Share 140 Comments (27) [...]

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Chinese children’s and picture book illustrators – gallery The first exhibition in Britain of Chinese children’s and picture book illustration has opened in London, featuring artists who are award-winners in their own country but little known in the UK. Get a glimpse of their work in our gallery. For all copyright queries about these pictures, [...]

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The quest is on to find the JK Rowlings, Anthony Horowitzes and Roald Dahls of the future as the Guardian and publisher Hot Key Books launch a new writing prize looking for the next generation of children’s fiction writers. Hot Key Books, which will release its first titles this August, is on the hunt for [...]

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The book Diary of a Wimpy Kid is an international bestseller; I think this is because it is really funny and very easy to read. This book would appeal to children who love cartoon characters and funny books. The book is written for children aged 9 and above and I think both girls and boys [...]

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JK Rowling says she has begun work compiling her long-awaited encyclopedia of the Harry Potter world. In the ‘frequently asked questions’ section on her new author website, Rowling said that “for a long time I have been promising an encyclopedia of Harry’s world, and I have started work on this now – some of it [...]

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Why are children’s books so down on maths? ‘Being good at maths is cool not nerdy, but few stories or picture books have caught up with this new reality’ I find it tiresome that almost any time maths lessons in school are referred to in books for kids it is in a negative way. It [...]

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A day in the life of four girls called Matilda What is it like being the 10-year-old star of a hit West End musical? We ask the four young joint winners of the Olivier award for best actress The musical Matilda has four child stars sharing the title role and eight performances a week: a [...]

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Showing capital letters and how you read from left to right and top to bottom of the page also improves the childrens’ spelling and language comprehension skills. ”By showing them what a letter is and what a letter means, and what a word is and what a word means, we’re helping them to crack the code [...]

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Horrible Histories author Terry Deary might have sold 25m copies of his books, but he sounds like he’s hoping that that none of those sales came from schools. “I shudder when I hear my books are used in those pits of misery and ignorance,” he told the Evening Standard. Deary doesn’t visit schools either, and, [...]

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Terry Deary said he shudders to think of his books, which include Terrible Tudors and Vile Victorians, being used in lessons and that he would like to be able to sue schools for doing so. The author, whose books have sold more than 25 million copies and spawned a television series and an award-winning play, [...]

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A leading children’s author has hit out at Ofsted school inspectors and said he would rather his books were not read in classrooms. Horrible Histories writer Terry Deary said he does not want teachers to recommend his books, and would prefer children to discover them themselves. The best-selling author, whose books have been turned into [...]

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Book experts said that sales are likely to have been boosted by commuters eager to re-read the hugely successful franchise but less keen to be seen in public reading a children’s book. E-reading devices such as Kindles and iPads allow a person’s reading matter to remain anonymous. All seven Harry Potter books were released in [...]

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This is a delightful book of poems for young children and their parents to enjoy. There is a real spirit of fun and adventure which is captured from the first page by Ahlberg’s witty poems and Ingman’s illustrations. Tell us what you think: Star-rate and review this book Although Maya is a little young for [...]

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Letters from an Alien Schoolboy – Cosmic Custard is the second book in the series by R.L. Asquith. This time, aliens have come to capture earthlings as slaves. This book is weird, funny and freaky and made me giggle a lot. The main character is Flowkwee, a disguised alien told to bring animals back to [...]

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The Government’s new reading test for six-year-olds could face a boycott from teachers. The National Union of Teachers is expected to warn at its annual conference next month that the check is “unnecessary and inappropriate”. The union is due to discuss a motion calling for a campaign against the test, including a ballot for a [...]

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Violent teenagers struggling to survive in dystopian futures might be all the rage thanks to the popularity of Suzanne Collins’s smash hit The Hunger Games, but in Aiken, South Carolina, at least, Orson Scott Card’s classic science fiction novel Ender’s Game has proved rather unpalatable. The parent of a 14-year-old at Schofield Middle School complained [...]

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She is the former west London housewife who has revolutionised the genre of erotic fiction with her bestselling trilogy of novels, Fifty Shades of Grey, whose combination of romantic storytelling and themes of bondage and domination are so steamy they have been dubbed “mommy porn”. Now EL James is set to conquer Hollywood after securing [...]

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Q My son is nearly seven, and while he loves being read to, has to be pushed into reading himself. When forced, however, he does read rather well. Can you recommend some books that might encourage him to read alone please? He enjoys Horrid Henry, but a lot of close-typed text seems to put him [...]

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An exhibition at Seven Stories, the national centre for children’s books in Newcastle, celebrates the story worlds of Julia Donaldson, the author of The Gruffalo. Through memorabilia, photos, original artwork and sensory, interactive environments, children and their families can explore Julia Donaldson’s journey as an author from songwriter for TV programmes to current children’s laureate [...]

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