Join us talking to Mayo Agard-Olubo about his debut picture book, Kid Rex to the Rescue, illustrated by Diane Ewen. Max's imagination transforms him into the superhero Kid Rex, and he's ready to use his dinosaur powers to battle robots, dragons and even the evil king dust bunny. A fun bedtime story and definitely one for dinosaur fans.

Mayo's website can be found here.

His BBC Sounds appearance on Margins to the Mainstream can be found here.

The books we reviewed were:

Auntie's Bangles, by Dean Atta, illustrated by Alea Marley

Fred the Very Demanding Deer by Pepé Smit

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Following on from episode 48 when we went through the Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist together with expert Carnegie followers Alison Jewitt and Amy McKay, in this episode we go through the Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist and make some more ill fated predictions for the winners.

Alison Jewitt is an English teacher at the London Nautical City of London Academy has led a Carnegie shadowing group in her school for many years and this is her third year helping us review the list.

Amy McKay is the librarian at Ullswater Community College, Penrith. She leads Carnegie shadowing at her school and has a long history with the Carnegies, having been the awards co-ordinator for the Carnegies which included overseeing the National shadowing scheme.

The full Carnegie Medal for Illustration Shortlist is:

The Playdate illustrated by Clara Dackenberg, written by Uje Brandelius, translated by Nichola Smalley (Lantana)
The Endless Sea illustrated by Linh Dao, written by Chi Thai (Walker)
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel illustrated & adapted by Aimée de Jongh, written by William Golding (Faber & Faber)
The Sleeper Train illustrated by Baljinder Kaur, written by Mick Jackson (Walker)
Wildful illustrated and written by Kengo Kurimoto (Pushkin Children’s Books)
Freedom Braids illustrated by Oboh Moses, written by Monique Duncan (Lantana)
The Paper Bridge illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh, written by Joelle Veyrenc, translated by Katy Lockwood-Holmes (Floris Books)
Wiggling Words illustrated and written by Kate Rolfe (Two Hoots)

All the information about the Carnegies and the Shadowing Resources can be found on their website here.

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Join us as we talk with author Malcolm Duffy about his YA book Dead Straight Line. This is his fifth book and is inspired by a teenage game of traveling in a straight line through, over or under obstacles. Rory pressures Yell into the game, with life changing consequences. The book explores risk taking, blame, guilt and shame as well as empathy and forgiveness. Written in a sparse and pacey style, it is an accessible read and will have wide appeal, including for Y8 and up boys that everyone struggles to find recommendations for.

As well as discussing the book, we talk about Malcolm's path to becoming a writer, how he researches the issues he portrays and what he is working on now.

More information about Malcolm and also school visit information can be found on his website here.

Malcolm's books can be found here:

Dead Straight Line

Seven Million Sunflowers

Read Between the Lines

Sofa Surfer

Me Mam. Me Dad. Me.

Ali also recommended The Boy I Hardly Know by Lisa Heathfield.

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Together with expert Carnegie followers Alison Jewitt and Amy McKay we go through the Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist and make our ill fated predictions for the winners.

Alison Jewitt is an English teacher at the London Nautical City of London Academy has led a Carnegie shadowing group in her school for many years and this is her third year helping us review the list.

Amy McKay is the librarian at Ullswater Community College, Penrith. She leads Carnegie shadowing at her school and has a long history with the Carnegies, having been the awards co-ordinator for the Carnegies which included overseeing the National shadowing scheme.

The full Carnegie Medal for Writing Shortlist is:

Ghostlines by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher (Hot Key Books)
Popcorn by Rob Harrell (Piccadilly Press)
The Boy I Love by William Hussey (Andersen Press)
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Tim Miller (Walker)
Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (Faber & Faber)
Birdie by J. P. Rose (Andersen Press)

Lots more information about the awards and all the resources that are mentioned can be found here.

We have a second episode coming up looking at the illustration shortlist.

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Join us as we chat with Cindy Wume, Taiwanese author and illustrator, about her new picture book, Home is a Hug. The book imagines all the different ways in which we can think about home. It has interactive elements with cutouts and flaps and lots of great details to seek out when reading it.

Find out about her journey from Taiwan to Cambridge, her creative process and discover how her travels and personal stories shape her vibrant illustrations and stories.

We talk about:

• Cindy's background and path to becoming an illustrator
• Inspiration behind "Home is a Hug" and its themes of belonging and emotional connection
• The creative process, including use of materials, digital tools, and interactive design elements like flaps and cutouts
• How travel and cultural experiences influence her artwork
• Favourite picture books growing up, including Where the Wild Things Are and the Japanese series 14 Forest Mice
• Future projects, including her new book about noodles and explorations of feelings and abstract concepts
• Meet her pet cat Bao

Links to books by or mentioned by Cindy:

• Home is a Hug by Cindy Wume
• The Bookshop Cat by Cindy Wume
• The Gardening Dog by Cindy Wume
• The Bed Book, by Sylvia Plath, illustrated by Cindy Hume
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Miki's First Errand by Yoriko Tsutsui
• A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Alemagna
• Three Happy Lions by Louise Fatio, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
• 14 Forest Mice by Kazuo Iwamura

Books reviewed:

Puggle Snuggles by Mo O'Hara, illustrated by Loretta Schauer

Seahorse is Furious by Morag Hood

Other Links:

• Cambridge School of Art
• Natural History Museum London - Giant Squid Exhibit

Connect with Cindy Wume:

• Instagram
• Official Website

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For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunity to share what they do and how people can get involved.

In this episode we talk to Lara Marshall, Libraries and Engagement Manager and Tom Norton, Information and Resources Officer at the RNIB.

RNIB, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, is the UK's leading sight loss charity. They offer practical and emotional support to blind and partially sighted people, their families and carers. They raise awareness of the experiences of blind and partially sighted people and campaign for change to make our society more accessible for all.

They offer a wider range of services to support children and young people's reading. Mentioned in the discussion are the following resources (click through for links).

RNIB Library

RNIB Bookshare

Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI)

Children's Reading Resources

Volunteering for The Big Help Out and Hi Vis Fortnight

In addition you can contact their helpline on 0303 123 9999
open Monday to Friday, 9am – 6pm. Email the helpline at helpline@rnib.org.uk or say: "Alexa, call RNIB Helpline".

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We talked to Jeffrey Boakye and tried very hard to stay on the topic of children's books (and mostly succeeded). We talked about his middle grade series which starts with Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer, his books on music - Musical Truth and Musical World and what he is currently working on.

We detoured into what everyone got up to in the 80s and 90s when there were only four TV channels and no mobile phones and then came back to children's books and why the diversity of both authors and main characters is on the decline again.

You can find more information about Jeffrey here and the books we discussed are as follows:

Kofi and the Rap Battle Summer

Kofi and the Secret Radio Station

Kofi and the Brand New Vibe

Musical Truth, illustrated by Ngadi Smart

Musical World, illustrated by Ngadi Smart

I Heard What You Said

Faith's First Case (out Feb 2027)

And the book Jeffery recommended to us was

Wild East by Ashley Hickson-Lovence

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In this episode we talk with poet Nicola Davies about the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award (CLiPPA). The CLiPPA is the UK’s leading prize for poetry for children and each year highlights outstanding new collections for the young and very young.

She takes us the through the 2026 Shortlist and we also talk about her her role as the Children's Laureate for Wales and quite a bit about birds too.

The CLiPPA Shortlist is as follows:

• Five Little Friends: A Collection of Finger Rhymes, by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Fiona Woodcock, Walker Books
• A First Book of Bugs, by Simon Mole, illustrated by Adam Ming, Walker Books
• The Poetry World of John Agard, by John Agard, illustrated by Shirley Hottier, Otter-Barry Books
• Press Start to Play, by Sam Gayton, illustrated by Jack Noel, Andersen Press
• This Is Not A Small Voice: Poems by Black Poets, selected by Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Jade Orlando, Nosy Crow

Nicola also mentioned this book about birds:

The Seabird's Cry The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers, by Adam Nicolson, illustrated by Kate Boxer

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