You know those interviews with authors they put in the back of the Sunday supplements? The ones where they share the content of their fridges, or what they last bought on their credit card, or what their writing day is like? Either they’re all lying, or I’m doing something badly wrong. This is how my […]
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The Story Museum's 26 Characters: the best exhibition you'll ever go to
If you’re within a day’s travel of Oxford and haven’t yet visited The Story Museum, you’re missing out. The museum is a hidden gem in this beautiful city, and 26 Characters is far and away the most exciting, inspiring and thought-provoking exhibition I’ve ever seen. The exhibition takes 26 well known children’s authors and creates a […]
Never mind Page Three – what about women's magazines?
I’m a big supporter of the No More Page Three campaign. I have no issue with women who want to take their clothes off for an audience, but I don’t believe page three of a newspaper is the right place for it. The Sun finds its way into two million homes every day, where it […]
A field full of cows
I am not a fan of cows. I’m not easily intimated by large animals, having owned horses for many years, but I have a nervousness around cows which I darkly suspect they recognise. Many years ago, when I was on maternity leave with three children under 18 months, […]
Book covers: what draws you in?
A library in Cumbria is wrapping books in plain paper, to encourage readers to expand their choices and pick up something they wouldn’t normally read. It’s not a new idea (Google ‘blind date with a book’, and you’ll see what I mean) but it’s a great one. Covers are hugely important. as I write this, […]
A scrap of paper
We moved house when Josh was eight months old. I didn’t know it then, but even as the boxes left our house at one end of the town, and stacked up in our new house at the other, I was already pregnant with his sisters. The pull of your first family home is like no […]