Summary

New presenters Sam, Caroline, Charlie and Hannah offer some alternatives to recommend instead of the same old dependable children’s classics, with some of our favourite picks in different genres from the last 20 years. Plus, we each share a book that’s making us happy this month, and find time to address some of the most pressing questions in children’s literature: “were Goosebumps actually scary?” and “exactly how many Animorphs books were there?”.

Buy all the books mentioned in today’s episode from our new shelf on Bookshop.org – https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Check out the YA Book Prize on Twitter at @YABookPrize or at YABookPrize.com

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or Instagram at @DTRHradio. Follow Sam Sedgman @samuelsedgman, Charlie at @charlieinabook, Caroline at @CarolineC1988 and Hannah at @AitchLove

Summary

For a special handover episode, Katherine chats to the new team who’ll be taking over Down the Rabbit Hole – Caroline Carpenter, Charlie Morris, Hannah Love and Sam Sedgman – including finding out all about their favourite children’s books

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We discuss festive favourites and the best new books of 2020 with special guest author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, who joins us to celebrate the many ways that children’s books help us to celebrate small pleasures and find the magic in ordinary things

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Special guests Alexandra Sheppard and Simon James Green join Katherine and Louise to talk about funny books for older readers, including some joyful and hilarious reading recommendations to cheer up even the gloomiest day

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Authors Pamela Butchart and Michelle Robinson join Katherine and Louise to talk about the children’s books that make them laugh – and why funny books matter.

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Katherine and Louise chat to young adult author Taran Matharu about his ‘Summoner’ and ‘Contender’ series – and his journey from NaNoWriMo and Wattpad to New York Times bestseller.

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Katherine is joined by two fellow middle grade mystery authors – Robin Stevens and Sharna Jackson – to discuss writing detective series. This month’s episode celebrates the publication of the final Murder Most Unladylike book, Death Sets Sail, as well as High Rise Mystery winning the young fiction category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

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To celebrate his CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal win for Tales from the Inner City, Jack interviews acclaimed artist, writer and film-maker Shaun Tan

Summary

We celebrated Independent Bookshop Week 2020 by chatting to three independent booksellers – Katie Clapham of Storytellers Inc, Steven Pryse of Pickled Pepper Books, and Fleur Sinclair of Sevenoaks Bookshop – to hear about their experiences of bookselling during lockdown, plus their top children’s and teen book recommendations

Summary

Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell joins us to talk about creativity and the magic of reading – plus find out about our exciting competition for young writers