If the words insulation, ventilation and retrofit make your eyes glaze over faster than a double-glazed window sales pitch, you’re not alone. For many London families living in draughty Victorian terraces, chilly conversions or well-loved but energy-hungry homes, the idea of improving energy efficiency can feel daunting, confusing and, frankly, a little intimidating. Enter What the Builder…
There is a particular exhaustion that comes with parenting a child with additional needs into adulthood. It is not loud or dramatic. It is quiet, cumulative, and deeply familiar to thousands of families who spend years navigating systems that promise support but rarely deliver it in ways that truly help. Alicia Cook’s What Now? Autism and Learning Difficulties is written from exactly that place…
There are children’s books that entertain, and then there are those rare stories that quietly open a door to wonder, curiosity and big questions about the world around us. The Boy Who Turned into a Butterfly… And Back to a Boy Again Just in Time for Dinner! by Mitchell Lee Mednick firmly belongs in the second category – a joyful, imaginative adventure that feels as at home on the bedtime…
If you have a little astronaut-in-training at home – the sort who gazes up at the night sky and asks perfectly reasonable questions like “How do you eat breakfast upside down?” – then Mission to the Moon – A Sensory Space Story may be the next family must-read.
Written and illustrated by David Grigor, a lifelong space enthusiast with more than a passing history of…
If you’ve ever wondered what the Nativity might have looked like fromground level, Janet McBride has the answer – and it comes with whiskers, twitchy noses and more curiosity than your average toddler on Christmas morning.
A Christmas Tale: What Harriet and Henrietta Mouse Saw in the Stablereimagines the very first Christmas Night through the eyes of two adventurous little…
A mum of six from Canterbury is finally seeing a twenty-year publishing dream come true thanks to her eldest son and youngest daughter. Tracy Quinton-Rose, who’s 62, wrote We’re Going on a Christmas Hunt when she was working as an early years’ practitioner at a local nursery.
Now, thanks to the publishing prowess of her son, Chip Colquhoun and the illustrating skills of her daughter…
There’s something quietly powerful about giving a book at Christmas. As Anna Quindlen once said,“Books are the plane, the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey.”A good book doesn’t just fill a stocking; it invites someone into a new world, a fresh idea or a story they didn’t know they needed.
This year, we’re shining a light on the writers who…
If your Christmas list includes someone who desperately needs a laugh (and frankly, who doesn’t in December?), Quiet Please! and Other Humorous Tales by Denise Dumont may be the most delightful little stocking filler you didn’t realise you needed. It arrives with all the charm of a hand-written Christmas card and the warm glow of a well-brewed cuppa, bringing together twenty light-hearted…
If you’re on the lookout for a quirky new read to spark your child’s imagination, London Irish author John Hughes has something rather special up his sleeve. His latest children’s novel, Things You Didn’t Know About Chimneys, is already drawing comparisons to the mischievous magic of Roald Dahl.
The story follows ten-year-old Millie, who finds herself dispatched to the…
A R Trent’s The Recyclosaurus and EggBangers invites young readers to step into LA-LA Forest Park for an unforgettable eco-adventure. When young Ed Williams gets lost, he discovers a secret world of homeless wild animals, a runaway stray dog, and a wise old crow – all debating who’s to blame for the planet’s climate crisis. Along the way, Ed befriends EggBanger, Little Bro, and learns…