Away with Alison Lester: ‘I always ask a flight attendant if I can shift and sometimes they let me’

In Guardian Australia’s weekly series about travel, the children’s book author reveals her canniest long-haul flight hack and the holiday meals she’d rather forget

‘It will be jolly nice’: illustrator Helen Oxenbury, 86, on preparing for her first solo show – and a new book with Michael Rosen

Acclaimed for her work on children’s books, the artist is teaming up again with her collaborator on Bear Hunt

Kash Patel’s Maga kids’ book is embarrassing. I should know – I’m a children’s author

The Plot Against the King, a thinly veiled take on the ‘stolen’ 2020 election, has a few hits and lots of misses

From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Pope Francis: the books to look forward to in 2025

New work from Zadie Smith, a memoir from Bill Gates, plus the third instalment in Rebecca Yarros’s romantasy series - here’s the biggest fiction and nonfiction for the year ahead

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

Sibling rivalry, a massive shark, anti-Nazi resistance in Norway, a brilliant romcom, and a tale of power and betrayal

‘One of the most beloved writers of all time’: the genius of Joan Aiken at 100

From Willoughby Chase to Black Hearts in Battersea, Joan Aiken’s tales of plucky orphans surviving in industrial Britain are a keystone of children’s literature

The Guardian view on celebrity books: call them by their names

Keira Knightley and Jamie Oliver are the latest stars to write children’s books, but too often famous names hide the talents of ghostwriters

Topsy and Tim creator Jean Adamson dies aged 96

The writer and illustrator behind more than 150 beloved children’s books sold over 25m copies worldwide

John Marsden, author of Tomorrow, When the War Began, dies aged 74

Marsden’s death was confirmed in a letter from one of two schools he founded saying: ‘He died at his desk in his home, doing what he loved, writing’

The best children’s and YA books of 2024

From a boy on a snowy midnight adventure to a gothic family caper via a young offender inspired by poetry, our critics pick their favourite titles of the year

‘It can feel quite mysterious’: Alan Garner on writing, folklore and experiencing time slips in the Pennines

At 90, the author reflects on his friendship with Alan Turing, quantum realities and how his grandfather inspired his latest book

The Borrowers review – Arrietty and co’s awfully wordy adventure

With a cumbersome script and no sense of danger or atmosphere, this production loses its way

Well Done, Mummy Penguin review – Antarctic antics warm the heart

This is a sprightly adaptation of Chris Haughton’s popular book, adding circus skills, projections and BSL

The best children’s books of 2024

Get lost in a fox’s quest; plus snowman magic, a wily genie and cookery from around the world

Cillian Murphy as Voldemort? Everything we know about HBO’s Harry Potter TV show

Details are beginning to emerge about the ‘decade-long’ adaptation of JK Rowling’s books – with some starry actors reportedly in negotiations