Anyone for Quidditch? Harry Potter game kicks off at Oxford
The game that enthralled students at Hogwarts is starting to stir an interest at Oxford University
French children: enfants, but not terrible
Agnès Poirier: French parenting, praised in Pamela Druckerman's new book, is easily mocked – but strict rules create rebellious mind
Apple: iBooks 2 will ‘reinvent textbooks’
Although price is likely to be a barrier, the software will let students watch videos and take notes inside the virtual books
David Cameron’s reading to children speech: between the lines
Zoe Williams: The PM has revived this old chestnut to avoid addressing real questions, such as 'How can we redistribute wealth?'
Arizona’s ‘banned’ Mexican American books
Roberto Cintli Rodriguez: First, the Tucson school district came for the Mexican American studies program. Now, it's come for its books
And lo! Gove’s Bible project did run into a spot of bother
Sources say thousands of copies are in a warehouse abroad after the education secretary fails to find a private sponsor
The literary significance of dead mules
If it's true southern American 20th-century literature, a mule has to die – fictionally, of course
Lake District festival offers bursaries to attract a younger audience
Applicants aged between 17 and 24 can get ten free tickets for Words by the Water at Keswick, one of the main attractions of the Lake District visitors' year.
Jenn Ashworth: Why I refused to go to school
'Who wants to be locked into a room with 30 people dressed just like them, to be startled by a bell every 35 minutes, to stand outside in the cold twice a day?'
Rhona Rapoport obituary
Social scientist whose research shifted ideas on work-life balance
Universities collected £50m in library fines, figures show
University of Leeds took the most, with £1.8m, while Imperial College London got the least, with only £26,703
How to teach … Christmas
The Guardian Teacher Network this week is full of festive resources to keep pupils engaged
Overachievers: what it takes to be a bright young thing
Ten of the brightest and best tell their stories – from the first novel optioned at 26 to being head-hunted by Donatella Versace at 24
‘I was interviewed for Cambridge… by Kingsley Amis’
It's Oxbridge interview season. Fielding recalls the day he was mowed down by the wuthering scorn of the world's greatest satirist
Exhibition tells how Charles Dickens was spooked by ghost tale doppelganger
Bicentennial show at British Library says rival accused Dickens of plagiarism but author said he was amazed by story similarities