Harry Potter and the 56 anniversary editions: endless tie-ins are diluting the magic
With so many versions of seven titles and several Fantastic Beasts film tie-ins, the books that changed my life are now being spun into dead weight
Fox 8 by George Saunders review – wisdom in the woods
A deceptively childlike fable from the Booker winner is rich with ethical and environmental concerns
Why are Australian children’s books suddenly so political?
From My Muslim Mate to Love Makes a Family, what’s behind the recent rise in socially conscious children’s literature?
Children’s and teens roundup: the best new picture books and novels
A journey into the afterlife, a Doctor Who adventure, a boy in a blizzard, a cicada’s escape and more
Readers rejoice as shop finally sells book that sat on shelf for 27 years
Announcement of unusually slow sale of Pitkin children’s biography of William the Conqueror retweeted 150,000 times
Five days, 110,000 books sold: how does David Walliams do it?
With his latest book the fastest-selling since Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the celebrity author is getting something right
AL Kennedy: ‘It is all terrible but that’s when you can’t despair’
The award-winning author on revisiting Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince and the joy of messing about in boats
Morris Gleitzman, beloved children’s author, meets his new editors – children
‘It’s hard to select the stories because all of them are so good,’ says a primary student editor of Early Harvest magazine
Ten of the best theatre shows for Christmas 2018
Musical improv elves, cabaret and interactive hijinks abound in these festive shows for families
How Aladdin’s story was forged in Aleppo and Versailles
A new translation of the tale of magical opulence coincides with fresh evidence that its first teller was a Syrian dazzled by the court of Louis XIV
The Monsters We Deserve by Marcus Sedgwick review – dark fable of artistic creation
A slender, but beautifully written evocation of the travails of writing and the deep sources of horror
The Magic Pudding can still make us laugh even after 100 years
A bohemian whose work was often censored, Norman Lindsay’s book of delightfully nasty characters and superb illustrations became a beloved children’s classic
Despite its critics, light verse is booming – that’s poetic justice
A new poem commissioned by the Children’s Society will win the hearts of a new generation of readers, says Guardian journalist Claire Armitstead
Young adults’ books of the month – favourite haunts revisited
Frankenstein and Narnia are given fresh twists, alongside an inspirational teen love story and an upbeat feminist collection
The Way Past Winter by Kiran Millwood Hargrave review – a quest to the frozen north
Sibling love drives this richly imagined adventure from the author of The Girl of Ink and Stars