His Dark Materials is two decades old, but its lessons are made for today
The Book of Dust will soon expand Philip Pullman’s landmark fantasy trilogy, but the first books can still teach us a lot about how we live now
Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust should learn from JK Rowling’s magic
The two authors have long written in step, and the His Dark Materials promised ‘equel’ will hopefully use similar tricks to Harry Potter’s author in extending Lyra’s story
The magic of television: how Doctor Who brought my son and me closer together
Some of the most enchanting hours my son and I have shared have been travelling through time and space with the Doctor and his Tardis
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson review – a perceptive tale of a 12-year-old sleuth with OCD
A missing toddler, and a witness with OCD… this kind and confident debut is a fine addition to the ‘child detective’ genre
Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans review – a riotously funny adventure
Recalling the magic of Dahl and Carroll, this tale of a tyrannical toy rabbit is the first must-read children’s book of the year
Raymond Briggs: ‘There could be another world war. Terrifying, isn’t it?’
The creator of children’s classic The Snowman cried during recordings for a new festive film about his parents. Now he fears the dark times they lived through are coming back
Authors and teachers pick a children’s book for Christmas
Education Guardian’s Christmas gift ideas from teachers and authors, with Anne Fine, Holly Smale, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson
How do you tell a child his mother is dying?
In A Monster Calls, a boy struggles because nobody tells him the truth about his dying mother. John-Paul Flintoff talks to the people behind the new film of the multi-award winning book
The best children’s books of 2016
From tales of migration and crime to wolves, bugs and the difficulty of sharing – Julia Eccleshare’s picks of the year
Louisa May Alcott: a practical utopian from a divided US
The author of Little Women grew up among idealistic transcendentalists – and the book itself was a practical sacrifice to sustain those dreams
After David Walliams, publishers turn to standup comedians for children’s stories
Many comics are now turning their hand to writing books for younger readers
Teenage fiction reviews – affairs of the heart and the afterlife
This season sees plenty of emotionally charged titles to choose from, including tales of love from New York and beyond the grave and the aftermath of childhood
Fiction for 8 to 12-year-olds review – magic, moles and redemption
Celebrity authors Tom Fletcher and Clare Balding come up trumps along with seasoned favourites from Moira Young to Lauren Child
How I made Wendy the real star of Peter Pan
The director Sally Cookson is renowned for turning family shows upside down. As her National Theatre Peter Pan opens, she talks about why she made Wendy the real star of the show
Alex Wheatle: ‘I felt like the token black writer who talks about ghetto stuff’
The Guardian children’s fiction prize winner on facing his demons through writing and why he switched to YA