‘Why must I expose my kids to all these sexy trains?’ How the world will react to the new Thomas the Tank Engine

A new Thomas film features characters from all over the globe, including China, India and Brazil. This attempt at diversity is bound to make traditionalists grumble, so here is what to expect from the fallout

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga – review

‘This journey of Tambu helps us view society from a different perspective’

Cressida Cowell: ‘I encourage you to be creative. It’s part of my job’

The creator of Hiccup and Toothless spoke to site member Krazy Kesh at the Imagine Children’s Festival 2016 to talk about the end of How to Train Your Dragon, what inspired the series and how it changed over a decade of writing

Top 10 facts about jellyfish

They’ve been around for at least 600 million years – before dinosaurs, bony fish, insects, trees, flowers or fungi – and survived five mass extinctions. Ali Benjamin tells us why she is deeply fascinated by jellyfish

Teenage fiction reviews – small towns and other prisons

Escape and survival prove fruitful themes in settings from Tennessee, Alaska and Australia to Nazi-occupied Poland

Fiction for older children reviews – tales of gumption and cunning

Alexander McCall Smith gives us a lion tamer, Sophie Thompson a zoo keeper, and Lucy Worsley medieval sex and violence…

Guides to bears, bugs, brothers and knowing when to go

From Easter hunts, to the intricacies of Asperger’s, to the fun of a Muslim wedding – our pick of books for under-fives

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern – review

hilariousburritos: ‘I found this a great novel with a heroine who I like a lot’

Serge Bloch’s crazy gifs to help your imagination soar!

A chance to see an asparagus forest come to life and witness the strange little men frolicking in your loo roll… iconic illustrator Serge Bloch opens a window into his mind with these re-imaginings of ordinary objects as gifs and hopes you want to come and play too

Top 10 STEM girls in YA

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) aren’t just for boys - and here’s author Christiane Dorion’s 10 amazing STEM girls from YA to prove it

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern – review

awkward unicorn: ‘Flawed is one of the best written dystopian novels around’

Carnegie medal and Kate Greenaway shortlists 2016 announced

Patrick Ness and Chris Riddell are up for hat tricks again this year. Discover all the shortlisted writers and illustrators for the 2016 medals – how many books on the shortlist have you read?

Alex Wheatle: I was mesmerised by Tolkien’s inventiveness of language

Reading The Hobbit and Lord of Rings inspired the author of Brixton Rock to take risks with language and dialogue in his own books, none more so than in his YA debut Liccle Bit and sequel Crongton Knights, where he brews up a fictional concoction of South London, US Hip-Hop , Jamaican dancehall and beyond!

Victoria Aveyard: ‘I love JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling and George RR Martin to death and back’

Red Queen was one of the biggest debuts of 2015. To celebrate the publication of its sequel, Glass Sword, site members Lookingforlauren, Wren, Thefaultinourfandoms and Thedauntlessbookthief got to find out what makes Victoria Aveyard (AKA the new Queen of Dystopian fiction) tick

What are the best children’s books on science?

From the environmental classic Dear Greenpeace to out of this world books about space, the Book Doctor celebrates science week with book choices to inspire the scientists of the future