Featuring death and grief in children’s books can equip them with skills to navigate emotional terrain

We don’t need to overload young people with everything that adults carry, but we should be as truthful as we can for their age

‘Darling of my heart’: the irresistible love story of the Ladies of Llangollen

For 50 years, Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler shared a home – and a bed – in Wales. It was a fantastically brave choice in the 18th century, offering a roadmap for the women who followed them

In praise of dog-eared pages: the joy, memories and gentle ghosts to be found in beloved books

Some find folding down the corners akin to literary vandalism. For Jane Howard, to revisit those paper scars is to be haunted by – and reminded of – a past self

Queen of clean Marie Kondo says she has ‘kind of given up’ on tidying at home

Decluttering guru reveals birth of third child has changed priorities

‘I have sad thoughts every day. I try not to be overcome by them’: Michael Rosen on coping with the death of his son

He is much loved for his daffy humour, but poet Michael Rosen’s new memoir, Getting Better, is an arrestingly honest account of devastating loss. He talks to Alex Moshakis about feeling sad, and why he’s no longer ‘carrying an elephant’

The Gospel of Wellness by Rina Raphael review – bee-sting therapy, jade eggs: why do some women buy it?

A reformed wellness addict isn’t entirely convincing as she constructs a grand theory to explain some bizarre behaviour

Reading is precious – which is why I’ve been giving away my books

I’m donating my books to people who can most benefit from them. Why keep a novel that could delight someone else?

Just the three of us: could our friendship survive having the same lover?

Lauren John Joseph reveals a remarkable and moving story of love, death and enduring friendship

Charlie Higson: ‘I hope to be so unwound I can just lie on the sofa’

The comedian and author on gorging on granola, long lie-ins, Zen housework and feeling totally relaxed

I was a student far from home when George Eliot taught me to consider the perspectives of others

Alone in England, Natasha May found messages from Middlemarch offered enduring lessons for how to live well

Axel Scheffler: ‘To work for children, you must have optimism’

The Gruffalo illustrator, 65, on dealing with his natural pessimism, the lifelong joy of drawing and why he always tells people not to give up on their dreams

‘A very street library thing’: in praise of sharing books with strangers

From chance encounters with neighbours to the 1970 Australian Women’s Weekly Cookbook, a weekly trip to the street library is a special kind of joy

I left my baby to write this. How do artists balance creativity and the ache for their child?

All writers and painters who are mothers must tread a heroic path. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to, says the Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

52 acts of kindness: how to spread joy in every week of 2023

Whether fostering kittens, donating blood or delivering boxes of biscuits to striking workers, there has never been a better time to help out. And it will improve your life too

Are you bored yet? Maybe it is time to write that great novel – here are some tips to get going

That book, memoir or screenplay is not going to write itself. Take some time away from the festivities, follow these exercises and that masterpiece could be on its way