The rise of the geekettes

Huw Powell wrote his books Spacejackers with his two sons in mind but the positive reaction from girls made him realise with delight that times had changed since he was a lad – here he celebrates gender diversity in sci fi and fantasy fiction – and charts how we got here via Harry Potter, the Hunger Games and through to Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave

Flat Stanley review – classic kids’ book becomes wonderfully wonky musical

This show based on Jeff Brown’s offbeat novel is loud, colourful and cleverly designed – and it will strike a chord for younger siblings, writes Chris Wiegand

Making children’s books more diverse: what you can do

Authors and illustrators Alex Strick, Sean Stockdale and Ros Asquith set a couple of challenges for the next time you go to a library or bookshop – and here’s something you can do to make a difference with the ‘Everybody In’ campaign

Diverse characters: Corinne Duyvis on the decline of “issue” books

Incidental diversity – where a character’s difference is mentioned but not highlighted – is on the rise. But disability and difference informs a huge chunk of people’s lives, whether good or bad, and it’s not shameful to acknowledge that. Corinne Duyvis, author of YA sci-fi/fantasy Otherbound, wonders, are diverse characters only OK as long as they’re not too diverse?

Where are all the disabled characters in children’s books?

Megan Quibell TheBookAddictedGirl has never read a book with a physically disabled character as a lead – and nearly felt obliged to go to YALC as Professor Xavier from X Men. And that sucks, doesn’t it?

Kim Hood’s top ten characters with a disability

Kim Hood, whose debut novel Finding a Voice is about the friendship between a lonely girl and a disabled boy, recommends her top ten interesting characters who just happen to have a disability…

Children’s illustrators’ doodles: watch them in action!

Want to experience the magic of illustration in motion? Then watch these six-second videos of top children’s illustrators drawing. From Axel Scheffler to Debi Gliori, watch the finest British illustrators doodling beautifully for us

The Maze Runner’s James Dashner: Movies are my first love. And that’s how I write

How does it feel to have your best selling novel turned into a Hollywood movie? Site member Patrick Sproull gets to ask James Dashner, as movie version of his book The Maze Runner hits the screens across the UK

John Dougherty’s top 10 fictional badgers

Badgers in stories are usually wise and kindly animals – which may have little to do with real life but does anybody really care? Here John Dougherty picks the best badgers in children’s books

Marcus Sedgwick: where I write

Come with Marcus Sedgwick as he takes us on a dizzying photographic blog tour of where and how he wrote his new book The Ghosts of Heaven. It all starts in his shed…

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke – review

Hannah3111999: 'This to me is simply a very dramatized way of showing the truth behind reading'

Why poetry belongs to us all

On Poetry Day, Sarah Crossan argues that poetry is everywhere. And it is ours. So sing and share your songs and don’t be afraid to snatch poetry back into your life and use it!