Queen Camilla's Christmas gift of Impossible Creatures to 800,000 children is well-aimed and well-meant. But it reveals how we've come to think literacy works: as something bestowed. From France's pass Culture to the economics of non-fiction, forty years of making children's books suggests a different answer - and a longer clock.

The Booker Prize Foundation has launched a £50,000 Children’s Booker Prize for ages 8–12 — with child judges at the table and 30,000 free books for those who need them most. Here’s why it matters, how it fits the National Year of Reading, and what schools, parents and publishers should do next.

New reports reveal a troubling decline in children’s reading for pleasure. Fewer children are being read to, and reading is increasingly seen as schoolwork—not joy. From misused reading programmes to celebrity book distractions, we urgently need a smarter, more joyful approach.

To get your children's book into UK schools and libraries, ensure high-quality content, gather positive reviews.

A Beta reader is an English term from the information technology and software industry, where beta testers attempt to identify problems in a