By no means exhaustive! These are simply suggested authors.

Picture books

Julia Donaldson

Mary Hoffman

Shaun Tan

Anthony Browne

Neil Gaiman

Quentin Blake

Allen and Janet Ahlberg

John Burningham

Lauren Childs

Babette Cole

Carrie Weston

Mick Inkpen/ Nick Butterworth

Graphic Novels

Tony Lee

Marcia Williams

Art Spiegelman’s Maus

Raymond Briggs

Dav Pilkey

Sarah McIntyre

Poetry

Michael Rosen

Jackie Kay

Benjamin Zephaniah

Kit Wright

Allen Ahlberg

Brian Patten

Stories with familiar settings

Jacqueline Wilson

Helena Pielichaty

Dan Freedman

Jamila Gavin

Anne Fine

Gillian Cross

David Almond

Fiona Dunbar

Lauren Childs

Folk/ Traditional/ Fairy tales

Berlie Doherty

Jamila Gavin

Madhur Jaffrey

Richard Mente

Nathan Kumar Scott

Petronella Breiburg

Oxford Collections (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales)

Usborne collected fairy tales

Alexander McCall Smith

Jamila Gavin

Philip Pullman

Alan Garner

Mysteries and Adventures

Lauren St John

Antony Horowitz

Michael Morpurgo

Tom Palmer

Eoin Colfer

Charlie Higson

Gillian Cross

Helen Moss

Graham Marks

SF Said

Beverley Naidoo

Malorie Blackman

Fantasy/ Science Fiction

Philip Pullman

Jenny Nimmo

Liz Kessler

Malorie Blackman

Eoin Colfer

Philip Ridley

Eva Ibbotson

Garth Nix

Joan Aiken

Philip Reeve

Neil Gaiman

Ann Jungman

JK Rowling

Robin Jarvis

Diana Wynne Jones

Historical Fiction

Caroline Lawrence

Berlie Doherty

Rosemary Sutcliff

Michael Morpurgo

Michelle Magorian

Nina Bawden

Jamila Gavin

Judith Kerr

Ann Jungman

Animal Stories

Dick King- Smith

Lauren St John

Philippa Pearce

Michael Morpurgo

Daniel Pennac

Jill Tomlinson

Funny Stories

Roald Dahl

David Walliams

Andy Stanton

Philip Ardagh

Liz Pichon

Kjarten Poskitt

In addition, look for good quality information books on the following commonly taught topics:

Romans in Britain            The Seaside                   Homes and Houses

The Victorians                 Maps and Journeys        Rocks and soils

Ancient Greece                Local History                 The Earth in Space

Ancient Egypt                  The Great Fire of London    Growth

The Tudors                      Forces                          Britain in the 1930s

http://storify.com/AliB68/fedbkgrp-chat-books-with-positive-depictions-of-d

Please join us! Alternate Sundays on Twitter, 8-9pm UK time. #fedbkgrp

drivingbarefoot:

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about challenging my class of seniors to read 100 books. I finally got a chance to read through all of their review cards and compile a list of their top fifteen books/series. These are all books that the students gave 5/5 stars and…

1. Happy Bicentenary Charles Dickens
2. Why is Charles Dickens trending?
3. #dickensinasongtitle
3. I hate Charles Dickens
4. Will everyone STOP tweeting about Charles f’ing Dickens?

I have a series of posts on by blog about winter reads, including Arthur Ransome’s Winter Holiday, Clement Freud’s Grimble at Christmas and Terry Pratchett’s Wintersmith. You might want to read it: http://ali-fantasticreads.blogspot.com/

We met on Saturday to discuss Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights. One of the joys of the group is that the books are brand new to the children; since they choose the books (despite gentle lobbying for a favourite from me!) they choose what looks interesting rather than what they feel they “should” read. Anyway, they LOVED Northern Lights. They were intrigued by Lyra: she does bad things, she lies, and yet in many ways she is admirable. We talked about favourite characters: Ma Costa, Iorek Byornson, Lee Scorsby as well as Lyra. We discussed what a daemon represents and what ours would be: a golden eagle, a humming bird and a big cat were some suggestions. We tried to get our heads round the nature of Dust. All in all, we gave the book 10/10. And I remembered what I love about working with children- their lack of cynicism, their enthusiasm and seriousness. We meet again at 10:30am on 19th November to discuss Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Midnight Palace. Join us at Big Green Bookshop, Wood Green, London N22. We have squash and biscuits, and a chance to win the new Percy Jackson book!

@BigGreenBooks

@ChelmsfordBooks

@talesonmoonlane

@juxtabook

@MarchhouseBooks

@Booksellercrow

@VictoriaParkbks

@DauntBooks

@Foyles

@RavenBooks

@brumwstkids

@7Stories

@camdenlockbooks

@GoldsboroBooks

@stokeybookshop

@lrbshop

I had a brilliant time at the Haringey Children’s Literature Festival on Saturday, at the Marcus Garvey library. I heard SC Ransom talking about her YA book, Small Blue Thing, which she kindly signed for me, and it made me eager for the two bookish events happening this week that I’m involved with: Bookswap Haringey and Children’s Book Group.

Bookswap Haringey is on Thursday at the Duke of Edinburgh, Coburg Road, N22 (off the High Road). Please bring a book you want to swap. It’s a good opportunity to chat to fellow Haringey readers (we may even let in some Enfield/Barnet/Hackney/Islington people!) and have a drink. 7:30 onwards. https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=259166740769732

Saturday is the Children’s Book Group at the wonderful Big Green Books, Brampton Park Road, N22, near the 02 shop on Wood Green High Road, Turnpike Lane end. We’re reading Katherine Langrish’s fantastic Troll Blood, but please come even if you haven’t read it and are 8-12 years old and like reading, as you can help us choose the next book. Parents are welcome to stay but don’t have to. We have a drink and (hopefully) some biscuits. Last month was Jammie Dodgers! 10:30-11:30am.

 Hope to see you at one of these events.

Yesterday morning was the reading group at the bookshop in Wood Green, North London. We have a very small group at the moment, with more adults than kids, but they seem to really enjoy it. This month was Patrick Ness’s The Knife of Never Letting Go- an advanced read for the age of the children, but they chose it and there was some great discussion about why it was classed as a teen book rather than children (they thought swearing and violence rather than subject matter). The style of writing intrigued them, and again, great discussion about it. We scored it 9/10.

The reading group seems even more important in the light of the recent riots and looting in the area. The members of the group have not been directly affected, but one of the areas of collatoral damage is the reputation of Wood Green. It is an incredibly poor ward: 48% of children live in poverty (household income 60% below the national average wage; when you consider that this is £24 000 this is very poor) but there are positive things going on here too. I hope that the reading group is one of them.

Next month on 17th Sept at 10:30am we’re discussing Troll Blood by Kathryn Langrish, also chosen by the children. I’m looking forward to it!

I’ve just come back from holiday, but even on the shores of Lake Garda news of the riots last weekend were hard to escape. Bookswap Haringey is happening on Thursday 20th August, and I wonder if people coming would like to start a book collection for people affected? I am thinking that children may have been particularly affected, and am hoping that books could be passed on via churches/ community centres and churches. Please tweet at @AliB68 or email fantasticreads at gmail dot com with any suggestions.