Jerome Ch’en obituary
Historian of modern China, cut off from his roots, who rued the rise of the military and the Communist conquest
School textbooks are on the way out – and pupils will lose so much with them
New generations will miss the memories bound up with the sight and smell of books, says Sam Leith, literary editor of the Spectator
Pearson shifts to Netflix-style subscription model for textbooks
Academic publisher hopes to convince students to subscribe to access online materials
The Guardian view on the creative self: it needs more than 15 minutes
Editorial: Britons need time and space to release their imagination. It would be good for them and for their country
William Gray obituary
Literary critic whose multidisciplinary perspective revealed the existential depth of fairytales and fantasy
How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell named new children’s laureate
The author and illustrator comes to role with ‘giant to-do list’, which includes making school libraries a legal requirement, and more time for creativity
Norman Stone obituary
Historian and controversial media commentator who taught at Cambridge, Oxford and in Turkey
Forest schools: is yours more a marketing gimmick than an outdoors education?
Some UK schools have merely jumped on the bandwagon of the popular Scandinavian idea, a new book argues
Alice Oswald elected Oxford professor of poetry by huge margin
Oswald will be the first woman to serve in the role, established three centuries ago
Nicholas Sparks defends diversity record at school after emails leak
Author of The Notebook and school’s co-founder says emails to former headmaster are ‘not news’ ahead of trial in August
What Cambridge University taught us about racism
Cambridge graduates Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi on their guide for fellow students, published by Stormzy’s #Merky Books
Big Issue founder launches magazine to tackle illiteracy
John Bird says Chapter Catcher will do for illiteracy what the Big Issue did for homelessness
Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors review – grisly gags at the Tower of London
Iffy insults fly, heads bounce around and the wiper of the king’s bottom takes a bow – all in the moat where alligators swam
Brushes with the law: how teaching art to women in prison changed their outlook
Mim Skinner spent two years teaching prisoners. Now she’s written a book, Jailbirds, to change our view of incarcerated women – and how we can support them on the outside
Fly me to the moon: the best ways to mark the Apollo 11 anniversary
From great exhibitions and books to lunar festivals, our guide to the best celebrations of 50 years since the moon landing