It’s heartbreaking so few children read for pleasure – and sad to know the reasons why
When people face financial pressure and child poverty is so high, it’s hard to prioritise family reading, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Cornish tourist spot unveils spider-related haiku spun by Simon Armitage
Work first in a series from poet laureate about wildlife that exists in the Lost Gardens of Heligan
Digested week: The era of the big night out is over. Finally a world remade to suit me
Young people are admitting that going out is awful. Plus, is it the end for Gwyneth Paltrow’s vaginal maintenance empire Goop?
Humbug: vandal smashes gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge
Damage to fictional gravesite, seen in 1984 adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, discovered on Sunday
Barbara Taylor Bradford obituary
Bestselling author who enjoyed overnight success with her debut novel A Woman of Substance
‘We live in a climate of fear’: graphic novelist’s Elon Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher
Darryl Cunningham blames fear of ‘legal consequences’ for reluctance to take on book, now only available in French
‘A force for everything he represented’: Ronald Blythe’s home to become nature reserve
The Akenfield writer’s ancient Essex farmhouse will be opened up as a sanctuary for people and wildlife
The Gruffalo’s illustrator launches book to help UK pupils learn German
Axel Scheffler says he hopes Wuschel auf der Erde will encourage more children to learn his first language
‘I’m so not an astronaut!’ Samantha Harvey on her Booker-winning space novel – and the anxiety that drove it
She won the top prize with a time-distorted novel set on the International Space Station. Yet, the writer reveals, Orbital is actually ‘a celebration of Earth’s beauty with a pang of loss’ – fuelled by her anxiety-induced insomnia
Jamie Oliver pulls children’s book from shelves after criticism for ‘stereotyping’ Indigenous Australians
Billy and the Epic Escape to be withdrawn worldwide after First Nations groups say fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories
Jamie Oliver apologises after his children’s book is criticised for ‘stereotyping’ First Nations Australians
Exclusive: Publisher takes responsibility for the failure to consult Indigenous groups, who say the fantasy novel trivialises complex and painful histories
Kneecap leads nominations for British independent film awards
Belfast-set rap comedy leads the charge with 14 nominations, with Love Lies Bleeding and The Outrun close behind
Report finds ‘shocking and dispiriting’ fall in children reading for pleasure
National Literacy Trust finds only 35% of eight to 18-year-olds enjoy reading in their spare time, a sharp drop on last year to the lowest figure yet recorded
Konnie Huq launches free climate crisis ebook for UK primary schools
Children for Change contains stories, poems, and illustrations from more than 80 collaborators including Jamie Oliver, Mary Portas, David Baddiel and Adam Kay
London poet accuses author Coco Mellors of basing Blue Sisters character on him
James Massiah says experience has been ‘harmful’ and led to him having a ‘mini identity crisis’