1 hour ago ‘They didn’t even read the book’: Palestinian American children’s authors censored in US

Authors tell of book bans, cancellations and harassment – ‘they’re trying to disconnect us from our stories’Jenan Matari had just begun promoting her debut children’s book this summer when the cancellations began. First, Chevalier’s Books in Los Angeles called off her event after what Matari described as pressure from local community members. The employee who had booked the event refused to cancel it, and the bookstore fired her. Two days later, another employee quit in solidarity.Then came New Jersey. Watchung Booksellers, a community bookstore in Montclair, was set to host her next reading but abruptly canceled, explaining in an emailed statement it was “to ensure the safety of our staff and customers”. Continue reading...

Culture

3 h. ago Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville's life including new book, partner and weight loss

Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame has written his debut children's book.

Politics

4 h. ago UK schools and libraries told to remove children’s books hijacked by porn website

Andrew Cope’s Spy Dogs series were found to have a website link leading to explicit content

Culture

13 h. ago Children's books pulled from shelves after QR code 'hijacked'... with PORN

The printed editions of the Spy Dogs books by Andrew Cope - popular with seven to 11-year-olds - feature an URL which now directs the readers to explicit images and videos.

Politics

19 h. ago UK libraries urged to remove children’s books with URL hijacked by porn site

Puffin issues alert to schools and local authorities over books in popular Spy Dog series by Andrew CopeThe children’s publisher Puffin is hurriedly contacting UK schools and local authorities after it discovered that a website address included in a popular children’s book series had been hijacked by a pornography site.The publisher has urged school libraries to remove the books after a website address printed in the Spy Dog, Spy Pups and Spy Cat series by Andrew Cope was redirected to unrestricted adult content. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Revealed: How Britney fears she'll be 'picked apart as a mother' as tell

The image Britney Spears posted in June offered a glimmer of hope. That she was finally rebuilding her relationship with her children. But their father, Kevin Federline, looks set to jeopardise the reunion.

Politics

6 d. ago Best illustrated children's books of all time to inspire young minds

Discover some of the best illustrated children's books that continue to enchant young readers today, from timeless classics to contemporary favourites

Science

6 d. ago Coatbridge author James Kennedy releases children's book 'Baxter The Highland Unicorn'

Story a heartwarming tale inspired by a real Highland cow and set against the stunning Scottish countryside.

Culture

7 d. ago Hugh Bonneville: ‘I’m no flipping hero – I just don’t like inhumanity when I see it’

Ahead of his appearance at this year’s Henley Literary Festival, the ‘Downton Abbey’ actor sits down with Helen Coffey to discuss his new children’s book, departure from ‘Paddington’, and why he doesn’t regret speaking out about Gaza

Politics

9 d. ago Pensioner at war with council after being told to remove three plant pots from outside his home

The embattled granddad, Graham Bedward, set out the decorative display on a pavement in the village of Helmshore in Lancashire.

Economics

1 week ago I wanted to know if having a kid on a burning planet was right. I found that antinatalism is seriously taboo | Bri Lee

Society has come a long way in making space for maternal ambivalence and the childfree movement, but those frameworks ask whether we want to have children, not whether we shouldWhen I first started researching antinatalism a few years ago I presumed its proponents would be losers and edgelords. You know, those men who love playing “devil’s advocate”. Incels masquerading as philosophers and 14-year-olds who have just discovered Nietzsche.The world’s most famous antinatalist academic, David Benatar, has a book called The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys. I remember rolling my eyes back into my skull, thinking: here we go. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Three new UK towns update as Keir Starmer reveals plan for unleash housing boom

Each new town will have the potential for around 10,000 homes, with a minimum of 40% for affordable housing, along with GP surgeries, schools, libraries and local transport links

Politics

1 week ago Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels

A bothered bear; a great guide to drawing; a life of Josephine Baker; a role model daughter; a search for words and moreBear’s Nap by Emily Gravett, Two Hoots, £12.99Someone is cheeping and keeping Bear from sleeping in this increasingly uproarious picture book filled with forest-dwelling creatures and their noises. A joy to read aloud.This Is Who I Am by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane, Andersen, £12.99A moving celebration of heritage and identity, this softly coloured picture book follows a little girl with “a foot in two worlds”, who is both “the richness of all the worlds she belongs to” and uniquely, proudly herself. Continue reading...

Culture

1 week ago How Sarah Ferguson made and squandered millions in eclectic money

From writing children's books to promoting cranberry juice, Sarah Ferguson has spent decades working on money-making schemes to bring in some much-needed cash.

Economics

1 week ago Mum, 31, told she was ‘too young for cancer’ has HALF her organs removed after doctors missed it 10 times

A MUM told she was "too young" had to have "almost half her organs removed" after being diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer. Chelsea Davies, 31, said she was "devastated and furious" that the cancer was caught so late - after visiting the doctor ten times over four years. The mum started getting abdominal pain...

Science

2 w. ago The Librarians review – the heroic women battling against book bans and censorship

Kim A Snyder’s documentary highlights the defenders of young readers’ rights to see their lives in print facing rightwing attacksThere is real and genuine fear about young people’s use of pornography; usually, that conversation is about exposure to porn online, not in libraries. But this excellent culture wars documentary tells the story of book-banning in red states such as Florida and Texas, where religious rightwingers are crusading to protect children from “obscene” books. Usually that means titles about LGBTQ+ issues or race, and books about girls getting their period aren’t safe either. In Tennessee, a school board banned Maus, the graphic novel memoir of the Holocaust by Art Spiegelman, for mouse nudity. The utter nonsense of it would be funny if it wasn’t so disturbing.The most recent purge began in 2021 with a list of 850 books circulated by Texas state representative Matt Krause (over 60% were books with LGBTQ+ themes). Rightwing Florida governor Ron DeSantis piled in, fol...

Events

2 w. ago Judge ‘erred’ in blocking migrant’s removal to France, Court of Appeal told

The Home Office is asking the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge the High Court ruling.

Events

2 w. ago McFly's Tom Fletcher to release book about Pudsey Bear for BBC Children In Need 2025

Tom Fletcher, best known as a member of McFly, has announced that he has teamed up with BBC Children in Need and publisher Puffin ahead of this year's charity appeal show

Politics

2 w. ago McFly’s Tom Fletcher writes book about Pudsey Bear for BBC Children In Need

Pudsey And The Thread Of Hope will be published on November 6.

Politics

2 w. ago Sarah Ferguson apologised to Jeffrey Epstein after disowning him, leaked emails suggest

Duchess had promised convicted sex offender she would never have anything to do with him againThe Duchess of York “humbly” apologised to her “dear friend” Jeffrey Epstein a month after publicly disowning the convicted sex offender, according to leaked emails.Sarah Ferguson told the disgraced late financier that she never called him a paedophile in an earlier newspaper interview, and suggested that she had disavowed him to protect her career as a children’s book author and philanthropist, according to emails obtained by the Mail on Sunday (MoS). Continue reading...

Politics