Calls to ban books hit highest level ever recorded in the US
Demands to censor, most often for gender themes or sexual detail, rose 38% year on year in 2022, with Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe being last year’s ‘most challenged’ title
Kate Saunders obituary
Prize-winning novelist who won the Costa award for Five Children on the Western Front and whose Belfry Witches stories were adapted for TV
Peter Usborne obituary
Publisher whose eponymous company changed the face of children’s nonfiction with its fact-filled illustrated books
Judy Blume forever: the writer who dares to tell girls the plain truth
Remembered fondly by women of a certain age, but still relevant today, the American tween writer’s best-loved heroine is about to hit the big screen
Dogger to the rescue: how my mother’s books brought joy to the children of Ukraine
After the death last year of children’s author Shirley Hughes, her son took hundreds of her books, including the award-winning Dogger, to libraries in Ukraine
Alice Oseman reveals plans for sixth volume of Heartstopper graphic novels
Forthcoming fifth volume of the hit series was planned to be the last but writer says a sixth book will give characters ‘their final moment to shine’
Jill Barklem’s family find the tree that inspired her Brambly Hedge tales
The children’s author was famed for her intricate illustrations and the site in Epping Forest that inspired her – thought lost to storm damage – has been located still standing
The Portable Door review – Harry Potter-ish YA fantasy carried by hardworking cast
Jeffrey Walker’s adaptation of the young-adult fantasy novel retains its edge thanks to its performances, but gets stuck on the whole door thing
Judy Blume: book banning now much worse in US than in 1980s
Children’s and young adult author of 1970 book Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret says growing intolerance must be challenged
Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
A bullying beetle; an Irish myth; the search for a magical beast; and a gripping coming-of-age story set in Ghana
Mary Rayner obituary
Children’s author who devised the adventures of the Pig family and illustrated stories including Dick King-Smith’s The Sheep-Pig
Eric Brown, science fiction author and Guardian critic, dies aged 62
Writers, publishers and agents pay tribute to a warm, generous figure, author of more than 50 books ranging from SFF to crime to children’s literature
Apocalyptic road trip story wins the Waterstones children’s book prize
The Cats We Meet Along the Way by Nadia Mikail – about a family’s trip across Malaysia during the impending end of the world – wins the older readers category, the overall prize and £5,000
Gunned down and burned by the Nazis: the shocking true story of Bambi
Walt Disney made Bambi a cutesy schmaltzfest for kids. But the original story was a brutal allegory by a Jewish writer who later fled the Nazis. As the character hits 100, we look at the iconic fawn’s extraordinary life
Carnegie medal for writing announces all-female shortlist
Seven authors are in the running for prize celebrating outstanding achievement in children’s writing