This ‘bum-poo-fart author’ is Australia’s biggest writer: Andy Griffiths on ending the Treehouse books

The children’s author who has sold millions of funny (and disgusting) books talks about challenging nervous adults and being married to his editor Jill

What to read this autumn: 2023’s biggest new books

Sara Pascoe’s new novel, rare Terry Pratchett, memoirs from Barbra Streisand and Britney Spears, plus the essential reading on today’s hot button topics – all the releases to look out for

Poem of the week: The Clever Cat by Mary Hannay Foott

A children’s poem from 1890 is the cheerful opposite of a homily about the virtues of working hard

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new chapter books

TV presenter Alice Roberts explores the world of ice age hunter-gatherers, Katherine Rundell brings fantastic beasts to life and Simon Packham tackles classroom anxiety with a thumping plot twist

‘I wanted to be No 1. But a certain JK Rowling came along’: Jacqueline Wilson on rivalry, censorship – and love

Raised by a ‘scary’ father and a ‘terrible snob’ of a mother, the Tracy Beaker author has always understood the loneliness that marks so many young lives. But at 77, she’s never been happier

New Stephen Hawking children’s book to be published next year

You and the Universe, adapted from his posthumous 2020 Earth Day message, will bring the late physicist’s ‘extraordinary work to life for readers of all ages’

The Guardian view on Heartstopper: a phenomenon that defines a generation

Editorial: Alice Oseman’s tale of queer romance is a global success story built on fans who want to feel good about themselves in tough times

Nicky Singer obituary

Other lives: Author and playwright whose novel Feather Boy was adapted into a BBC TV children’s drama

Picture books for children – reviews

A joyful introduction to the power of art, plus doggy-popping delights and a Julia Donaldson jaunt

Gareth Floyd obituary

Other lives: Book illustrator whose drawings were used in more than 150 episodes of the BBC’s Jackanory series

What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in June

Authors, critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Summer reading: 50 brilliant books to discover

From family sagas to political memoirs, the best recent books to accompany your summer break, plus page-turning paperbacks and children’s and YA books

Carnegie medal for children’s books goes to a translation for the first time

Manon Steffan Ros’s young adult novel The Blue Book of Nebo, set in a post-apocalyptic Wales, was praised by judges as ‘expertly realised’ and heartbreaking

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

Dreams of Bollywood; awkward questions about the British Empire; a haunted school trip; and a riotous YA horror-comedy

Children’s enjoyment of writing has fallen to ‘crisis point’, research finds

Only one in three UK children now enjoy writing in their free time – including text messages – with those on free school meals most likely to do so