Podcasts about children's laureate

The writer and illustrator Cressida Cowell joins me this week, with a backdrop of birdsong from outside her writing shed. Cressida wrote and illustrated the Wizards of Once series, and the How to Train Your Dragon series, which became a highly successful Dreamworks franchise. She also wrote the Emily Brown picture books, and is passionate about getting kids into reading, and showing them that whether they're good at school or not, they're still smart. She talks about her quest as Waterstones Children’s Laureate, and about what it's like to write a book that becomes a global hit on the big screen – plus everything she learnt from her wild childhood on a Viking island.

We're back for season 6 and to kick things off Gi is joined by celebrated children's author and the 2019 Children's Laureate, Cressida Cowell to discuss how raising a child is not too different from training a dragon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After being presented with an Honorary Doctor of Arts at winter graduation, Children's Laureate and creator of the How to Train Your Dragon series Cressida Cowell caught up with us to talk about her pride, arts degrees and children's literacy. Listen to this podcast and previous editions via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Award-winning author and former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman discusses Crossfire, the new novel in her Noughts and Crosses series, which will also be a BBC TV series starring Stormzy. A family must prove whose parent died first in an extraordinary inheritance battle. That was the situation at the high court this week, which resolved a dispute between two sparring stepsisters. But it is also the plot of Dorothy L Sayer’s much-loved novel The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. So how did the Mistress of Crime come to predict today’s court battles nearly a century ago? We ask Seona Ford, Chair of the Dorothy L Sayers Society and author, Jill Paton Walsh. Composer Errollyn Wallen’s work stretches back four decades and includes 17 operas, numerous orchestral, choral and chamber works, concertos, as well as award-winning scores for visual media. You might remember her music being featured in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. She was made an MBE for her services to music in 2007 and has also received an Ivor Novello Award. She was the first black woman to have her work performed at the BBC Proms back in 1998 – and this year she has been specially commissioned by them to write a new orchestral work. It’s titled This Frame is Part of the Painting and it will be performed by Elim Chan, Catriona Morison, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on Thursday 15th August. Presenter: Jenni Murray Producer: Kirsty Starkey Interviewed Guest: Malorie Blackman Interviewed Guest: Professor Lisa Avalos Interviewed Guest: Seona Ford Interviewed Guest: Jill Paton Walsh Interviewed Guest: Errollyn Wallen

Cressida Cowell says, "I will be talking about the thoroughly modern magic of reading and how that magic can and must be made accessible to absolutely everybody. Also I'll be talking exclusively to Woman's Hour about lost ancestors including an extraordinary but forgotten relative of mine, plus the vital importance of diverse authors and heroes for children, and funny words for the countryside, the words we are losing and our worrying disconnect with nature." Presenter: Jenni Murray Interviewed guests: Cressida Cowell, Children's Laureate David Tennant, actor Jonathan Douglas, director, National Literacy Trust Claire Williams, deputy head, Kenilworth Primary School Patrice Lawrence, author Aimee Felone, publisher Jackie Morris, writer and illustrator Dr Kate Lewthwaite, citizen science manager at the Woodland Trust

Bex caught up with Cressida at The Globe, just after the announcement was made, to hear all about it!

Cressida Cowell is announced as the new Waterstones Children’s Laureate. We speak to the How to Train Your Dragon writer about her plans for the role which is mainly focused on encouraging primary school age children to read. With recent attempts by the USA to rekindle the Israeli-Palestinian peace process having foundered on the rocks, we talk to Cherie Blair about her role as Executive Producer of a new film about the crisis. The drama is in development and will be directed by John Deery who also joins John in the studio. The film, The Rock Pile, explores the lives of three little boys – a Muslim, an Arab-Christian and a Jew – who meet and play football together on the streets of Jerusalem. Yann Martel's novel Life of Pi won the Man Booker, selling over 3 million copies and was a critically acclaimed Hollywood movie. It’s the story of Pi, a 16 year old boy stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. Paul Allen reviews a new adaptation at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield and discusses the challenges of bringing the story to the stage. Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn

Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman says: “Young people need stories more than ever. Stories to delight, stories to beguile, stories to inspire, stories to move deeply.” He believes stories help our young people to develop empathy, insight and resilience: “I like to think of them as a bit like vitamins.” He’s been producing those vitamins for over 30 years now and has written over 40 books (for 8–12 year olds). Don’t miss this chance to hear one of the world’s most articulate and heart-huge children’s authors in conversation with Barbara Larson. This show was broadcast on OAR 105.4FM Dunedin www.oar.org.nz

Michael Rosen is a multi-award-winning English children's novelist, poet, and author of 140 books, including We're going on a Bear Hunt and Sad Book. He served as Children's Laureate from June 2007 to June 2009. He is also a TV presenter and a political columnist.Michael met us down at Nordic Bar on a cold November morning to talk all things BLANK over a cup of tea. We chatted at length about Michael's early life and in particular, his adventures in the mysterious Metroland. Michael talks candidly about the controversy surrounding his sacking from the BBC in the 1970's and his subsequent diagnosis with hyperthyroidism. We discuss the differences between having a creative BLANK and having a block and Michael explains to Giles and Jim about 'Ego Strength' and the issues that arise when some creatives can run out of it.Michael's biography is available here: https://bit.ly/2zk3x4FOur wonderful pod music is by the amazing Paul Pilot and you can hear more from him here: http://paulpilot.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the new series of Dr Who launches, Mark Coles profiles the life of new Dr Who script writer and distinguished children's author Malorie Blackman. The former Children's Laureate has been called a “phenomenal author and a childhood hero” by rapper Stormzy and name checked on Tiny Tempah's hit Written In The Stars. She has written over 60 books for children and young adults, plays the drums, speaks several languages and apparently Klingon. Producers: Diane Richardson, Smita Patel and Jade Thompson. Editor: Emma Rippon

Another chance to listen to the writer speaking to Kirsty Young in 2013. A prolific and multi-award winning author, Malorie Blackman has powered her way to success not just through talent but determination and perseverance. From the careers mistress who told her, "black people don't become teachers," to the 82 rejection letters she received before she was published, significant parts of her life seem to have been spent proving people wrong. A technology whiz, her first career was in computing. As a writer her books have tackled challenging themes: bullying, teenage pregnancy, racism and terrorism. A former Children's Laureate, her own formative years were spent in South London where as a little girl she went from thinking everyone was her friend to feeling, as a teenager, that the world was her enemy. She says, "Good stories made me reassess the world and people as I thought I knew them. Great stories made me reassess myself."

Australia's first Children's Laureate shares the name of a sacred waterhole on Gunggandji country in far north Queensland.

The creator of Charlie & Lola and current Children's Laureate explains how you can give the best gift to your kid: imagination.Steve and Rich pop into Lauren Child's kitchen to discuss the importance of stimulating your little one's creativity, the difficulty of writing children's books in the modern publishing world and what dads can do to set an imaginative example to their offspring. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Adam talks to illustrator Chris Riddell, the UK's Children's Laureate.   Speaking at the Guernsey Literary Festival, he discusses the power of libraries, the joy of drawing, and the fun he has on social media.

We were joined by novelist and poet, former Children's Laureate and the author of 140 books Michael Rosen for a discussion of his fascinating new work The Disappearance of Emile Zola: Love, Literature and the Dreyfus Case.

On this episode we discuss the theft of Grey, the first Latin-American Poet Laureate for the U.S.A., the new Children's Laureate and all sorts of other stuff. We also take a look at a list of the (allegedly) most evil child characters of all time. #LiteraryLoitering #TheGeekShow #Books #Novels #Arts #Theatre #Comedy #News #Reviews #Podcasts

La production au Royaume-Uni est trop foisonnante et trop ancienne pour que nous prétendions proposer un panorama exhaustif. Pour avoir déjà fait l'objet de nombreuses études, Roald Dahl ou C.S. Lewis manquent, par exemple, à l'appel. Mais nous avons privilégié quelques entrées significatives : un axe historique et culturel qui pose des jalons essentiels et rappelle les grands précurseurs ; un axe économique, le livre de jeunesse anglophone occupent une place prépondérante sur le marché international – nous avons d'ailleurs interrogé un éditeur irlandais, Michael O'Brien, pour savoir quelle place il avait réussi à se construire. En ce qui concerne la création contemporaine, deux domaines très prolifiques sont abordés, celui de l'album et celui du roman de fantasy. L'hommage que nous rendons à l'institution britannique du Children's Laureate nous donne l'occasion de saluer également sept auteurs-illustrateurs majeurs dont vous retrouverez les bio-bibliographies en ligne sur notre site.

La production au Royaume-Uni est trop foisonnante et trop ancienne pour que nous prétendions proposer un panorama exhaustif. Pour avoir déjà fait l'objet de nombreuses études, Roald Dahl ou C.S. Lewis manquent, par exemple, à l'appel. Mais nous avons privilégié quelques entrées significatives : un axe historique et culturel qui pose des jalons essentiels et rappelle les grands précurseurs ; un axe économique, le livre de jeunesse anglophone occupent une place prépondérante sur le marché international – nous avons d'ailleurs interrogé un éditeur irlandais, Michael O'Brien, pour savoir quelle place il avait réussi à se construire. En ce qui concerne la création contemporaine, deux domaines très prolifiques sont abordés, celui de l'album et celui du roman de fantasy. L'hommage que nous rendons à l'institution britannique du Children's Laureate nous donne l'occasion de saluer également sept auteurs-illustrateurs majeurs dont vous retrouverez les bio-bibliographies en ligne sur notre site.

Broadcaster Nicholas Parsons; chef and writer Ken Hom; author Jacqueline Wilson and comic Scott Gibson join Libby Purves Comedian Scott Gibson swapped his job in a call centre for the stand-up stage after surviving a brain aneurysm at the age of 24. Winner of the best newcomer award at the lastminute.com Comedy Awards in 2016, his show Life After Death explores his illness and recovery. Scott Gibson is appearing at the Fringe Comedy Awards Shows at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London. Nicholas Parsons OBE is a broadcaster who has chaired BBC Radio 4's comedy panel game Just a Minute since its inception in 1967. He is also a keen horologist and presents The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch on BBC Four which celebrates the work of a master of the timepiece, Abraham Louis Breguet. Nicholas goes in search of the most expensive and exquisite watch ever made - The Marie-Antoinette - also known as The Queen - a case watch designed by Breguet in the 18th century. The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch is on BBC Four. Dame Jacqueline Wilson is a writer of children's literature. Her new book Clover Moon tells the story of a young girl trying to survive in Victorian London. Publication also marks the launch of the Jacqueline Wilson Creative Writing Prize which encourages children to take up writing fiction. One of Jacqueline's most successful and enduring creations has been the famous Tracy Beaker who first appeared in 1991. A former Children's Laureate, Jacqueline's books have sold over 40m copies in the UK and have been translated into 34 languages. Clover Moon is published by Doubleday. Ken Hom is a chef and food writer. A leading authority on Chinese cuisine, his first book on the subject was published in 1981 and his first programme for BBC television was broadcast in 1984. In his new autobiography, My Stir-Fried Life, he writes about his childhood in Chicago's Chinatown where he worked in his uncle's restaurant at the age of 11 and how he found social acceptance through food and cooking for others. My Stir-Fried Life is published by Biteback Publishing. Producer: Paula McGinley.

Sarah's guest this week is the illustrator and Children's Laureate, Chris Riddell.

Écrivain et éducateur, enseignant à l'école primaire de 1967 à 1975, Michael Morpurgo a fondé et dirige depuis 1976, avec sa femme Clare Lane - qui est la fille du fondateur des éditions Penguin Books, son premier éditeur - des fermes pour les enfants des villes où il fait découvrir le travail à la ferme et la vie avec les animaux. Michael Morpurgo est sans cesse en relation avec les enfants et écrit exclusivement à leur attention (près de 100 livres – romans, albums, nouvelles, comédies musicales - publiés en Grande-Bretagne). Il a été nommé « Children's Laureate » de 2003 à 2005 (il est à l'initiative de ce Prix, en 1999, avec son ami, le poète, Ted Hughes), et, à ce titre, a été ambassadeur de la littérature de jeunesse dans le monde. « Je suis un raconteur. J'adore raconter des histoires… ». Avant de s'atteler à un roman Michael Morpurgo se livre toujours à un méticuleux travail préparatoire, de chercheur et d'enquêteur, afin d'être le plus juste et le plus authentique possible.

Libby Purves meets children's writer Julia Donaldson; author Iain Sinclair; QC Gary Bell and journalist and food writer Michael Booth. Michael Booth is a travel and food writer who became something of a a cultural phenomenon in Japan after his book Sushi and Beyond became a bestseller. The book, which traces his culinary journey across Japan, was transformed into a cartoon series on Japanese television featuring Michael and his family as characters. Michael is attending this year's Hyper Japan Festival to talk about starring in his own animated series. The Hyper Japan Festival is at various locations at the O2 Arena, London. Gary Bell QC is a defence barrister who specialises in fraud cases and is known as BBC's The Legalizer. He grew up in poverty on a Nottingham council estate and his career history includes stints as a lawnmower mechanic, fireman and forklift truck driver. He was also a self-confessed football hooligan who was convicted of fraud before turning his life around and becoming a Queen's Council. His autobiography, Animal QC - My Preposterous Life, is published by Monday Books. Julia Donaldson MBE is former Children's Laureate and the author of over 120 books and plays. Her breakthrough book was the Gruffalo, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which has sold over 13m copies, won several prizes for children's literature and played in the West End and on Broadway. The shows Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts - with Julia Donaldson and the Scarecrow's Wedding - both based on her books - are showing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh. Iain Sinclair is a writer, poet and filmmaker, long associated with psychogeography - the study of the effects of the geographical environment on people's emotions and behaviour. In his new book, Black Apples of Gower, he takes a rare excursion out of London to walk along the cliff-top paths of his childhood in South Wales and rediscovers the Gower Peninsula, a place he first explored in his youth. Black Apples of Gower is published by Little Toller Books. Producer: Paula McGinley.

Anne Fine est née le 7 décembre 1947 à Leicester, en Angleterre. Elle a commencé à écrire d'abord pour les enfants avant de devenir aussi auteur pour les adultes. Certains de ses livres ont été traduits en Allemagne, aux États-Unis, en Italie… en France…, au total dans trente-cinq langues. Anne Fine a été Children's Laureate de 2001 à 2003.

This week Róisín meets Eoin Colfer, author of the Artemis Fowl series of children's books. They discuss his new musical comedy show, how hard it was to be a disco fan in Wexford in the 1970s, and his recent appointment as the Children's Laureate. Roisin Meets is a weekly podcast presented by Roisin Ingle and produced by Sinead O'Shea.

Jacqueline Wilson est née à Bath (Grande-Bretagne). Dès son plus jeune âge, elle tient un journal et écrit, dans des cahiers, des poèmes, des nouvelles et de petites pièces. Elle quitte l'école tôt et travaille pour un magazine destiné aux adolescentes, Jackie magazine. C'est au début des années 1980 qu'elle commence à écrire pour les enfants. La banlieue où elle vit est une source importante d'inspiration pour elle. En Grande-Bretagne, Jacqueline Wilson est l'auteur dont les livres sont les plus empruntés en bibliothèque. Ses ouvrages ont été traduits dans plus de 30 langues. En 2005, elle est devenue «Children's Laureate», l'ambassadrice de la littérature pour la jeunesse, et en 2007 elle a été décorée par la Reine pour services rendus à la littérature.

With Kirsty Lang. Atlantis is the new family drama from the BBC, aiming to fill the Saturday night slot vacated by Merlin and Doctor Who. The action takes place in the mythical city of Atlantis and features Mark Addy as Hercules and Juliet Stevenson as the Oracle. Natalie Haynes reviews. Michael Morpurgo is one of our best known and most prolific children's writers. On the eve of his 70th birthday and with a writing career spanning nearly 40 years, he has witnessed a huge shift in the profile of the children's writer, in part aided by the Children's Laureate award he devised with his friend Ted Hughes. He reflects on the reasons for the shift and the impact on his career of the War Horse phenomenon, as it became a play and then a film. The final shortlisted author in the BBC National Short Story Award 2013 is Lavinia Greenlaw, who'll be discussing her entry We Are Watching Something Terrible Happening. Love and science collide in the chaos of a disintegrating relationship, a civil war and the trajectory of meteorites. The story will be read on Radio 4 tomorrow afternoon at 3.30. A new film by Margarethe von Trotta explores Hannah Arendt's experience of covering Adolf Eichmann's war crimes trial for the New Yorker. This became the basis for her most famous work Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Shahidha Bari reviews the film. Producer Ellie Bury.

With Mark Lawson. Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman and Jesse Eisenberg star in a new film Now You See Me, in which four illusionists pull off bank heists during their elaborate shows and reward the audiences with the money. But the FBI and Interpol are on their case. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh reviews. The Swedish writer Henning Mankell is best known for his series of novels featuring Inspector Kurt Wallander, but this accounts for only a fraction of his work, which includes books for children, plays, and novels set in Africa, where he spends half his time. Henning Mankell discusses his latest novel, A Treacherous Paradise, set in Mozambique, and how his Wallander series has tended to overshadow his other output. For the first time in its history, Tate Modern is focussing on the rarely told story of African and Arabic modernism. Sudanese painter Ibrahim El-Salahi gets his first major exhibition in the UK, with a retrospective that spans five decades and over one hundred paintings. Meanwhile Benin-born artist Meschac Gaba has created a temporary museum of contemporary African art inside the gallery, complete with its own shop. In Cultural Exchange, Julia Donaldson, the former Children's Laureate, talks about the stories by American writer Arnold Lobel. Best known for his series Frog and Toad which are for young children beginning to read, Julia chooses and reads from Grasshopper on the Road.

Kirsty Young's first castaway is one of our most popular illustrators, Quentin Blake. His work is immediately recognisable and is full of energy, anarchy and joy. An award-winning author in his own right, he is best known for his long collaboration with the author Roald Dahl. In the same way that it is impossible to think of Alice in Wonderland without imagining Tenniel's solemn drawings, when one imagines Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or James and the Giant Peach it is invariably Quentin Blake's pictures that spring to mind. As a child growing up in the London suburbs he was self-contained, quiet and serious. Family friends remember that he didn't say much - but that he always loved drawing. His cartoons were first published in Punch when he was 16, making him one of its youngest ever contributors, but after graduating from Cambridge and training as a teacher, he decided his future lay not in one-off sketches for magazines, but in book illustration. He was named the first ever Children's Laureate in 1999 and in 2005 was awarded the CBE. He lives in London and continues to work towards the establishment of a museum celebrating the history and techniques of illustration. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: String Quartet No 2 - Intimate Letters by Janácek Book: Collected Works by Charles Dickens Luxury: Arches watercolour paper

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the widely respected children's author and the current Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo. He styles himself as a 'story-teller/writer' and the themes he explores are the relationships between young and old, children and animals and children's experiences of loneliness and self-reliance. He was initially planning on a career in the military and trained at Sandhurst, but a change of direction led him to study English at university and become a teacher and then, when he was aware his class were bored with a book he was reading to them, started telling them his own stories. Together with his wife, Clare, he set up the charity Farms for City Children in Devon to give inner-city children the opportunity to experience life on a farm, working with animals and being close to nature. The charity now has three farms and they have been visited by more than 30,000 children. He is the third Children's Laureate and says he is devoted to giving children a love of books and reading. His own works include War Horse, Kensuke's Kingdom, Why the Wales Came and, most recently, Private Peaceful. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Spem In Alium by Thomas Tallis Book: The Rattlebag: An Anthology of Poetry by Ted Hughes Luxury: Waterslide