I write historical fiction for children – so you’d think I loved history, wouldn’t you? And you’d be right. Yet at school, I dropped the subject as soon as I possibly could – because the way it was taught was just so boring. And the topics that finished me off were the industrial and agrarian revolutions, which both began in the eighteenth century. I don’t know how my teacher managed to make the industrial revolution in particular so deathly dull, but she did. And up until a

A huge congratulations Flavia Z. Drago, the winner of the 2021 Klaus Flugge prize for the most promising and exciting newcomers to picture book illustration! Read on to find out more about this wonderful author-illustrator and her process… Big congratulations on being shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge prize this year for your fabulous book ‘Gustavo the Shy Ghost’, you must be thrilled. I’d be so grateful if you can take the time to answer these five questions for the readers o

It's one thing reading in a book that Stone Age people wore animal skins, but you realize what that means when you're freezing in an Arctic winter and you experience the relief of slipping on a pair of reindeer-fur mittens. My Wolf Brother books are adventures about a boy, a girl and wolf battling to survive in the Stone Age. Torak is an expert tracker, Renn is a terrific shot with a bow and arrow, and Wolf is a wolf: parts of the stories are told from his point of view. The

Over the last few weeks we have been featuring short interviews with each of the shortlisted illustrators for the Klaus Flugge award, this week, as the date for the announcement of a winner draws ever closer we wanted to bring you some words from a selection of the judging panel who share here their own experiences and explain what it has meant to them to be a part of this fantastic prize. Our thanks to Sarah Lovell for continuing to engage with this prize and all those invol

Amy Wilson has been described as a rising star. Stars come out at night, lightning can strike at any moment, it has struck this week with the publication of her latest book for middle grade, or as we like to call them in Armadillo HQ, Junior readers. Children aged 8-12 will love this book. Its adult readers here at Armadillo HQ loved this book, its reviewer (review below) Margaret Pemberton, loved this book. What made us all fall in love with this book? Well ... it could be t