Frank Cottrell-Boyce A BRITISH CHILDHOOD and Lauren Child with Anna Zieger

A British Childhood

'A British Childhood' is at once a searing account of our failure to look after the nation's most vulnerable citizens, and a call to arms to all of us to protect the innocence of childhood.

During his time as Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce visited schools that had been forced to make permanent homes in temporary buildings, where teachers doubled up as social workers, therapists and nutritionists. He talked to children abandoned within the prison system, seen to have forfeited their right to the second chance a good education might provide. He met families shuttled from one hotel room to another as they awaited the outcome of asylum decisions. And he talked to the extraordinary array of people working to change the fortunes of the young people around them.

These encounters prompted him to reflect on his own upbringing in Merseyside, the difference literature made to his early years, and how, during his lifetime, childhood in Britain has been transformed. He shows how the connections we make and the sense of community are so vital to our future adult selves, and how, in the twenty-first century, these connections have become increasingly frayed.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, UK Children's Laureate 2024–2026, is a multi award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut children's novel, won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal.

His other books include Cosmic, Framed, The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth, Runaway Robot, Noah’s Gold and The Wonder Brothers. He has enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with award-winning illustrator Steven Lenton. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children’s Fiction Award, The Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award.

Frank is also a highly successful screenwriter. He has written for the hit TV series Dr Who and his script for Michael Morpurgo’s Kensuke’s Kingdom won a British Animation Award. Along with Danny Boyle, he devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. Frank has been the judge for the 500 Words competition and the BBC's One Show As You Write It competition. Frank is a lifelong champion of children’s books. His podcast with co host Nadia Shireen, The Island of Brilliant!, celebrates writing and illustration for children of all ages.

Lauren Child

Lauren Child is an award-winning artist and writer. She is the creator of many much-loved characters, including Clarice Bean Charlie and Lola and Ruby Redfort, along with several stand-alone picture books.

Her first two books were published in 1999 –I Want a PetandClarice Bean,That’s Me, and she won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal in 2000 forI WillNot Ever Never Eat a Tomato, the first of her Charlie and Lola picture books that became a worldwide bestseller and award-winning tv series. The first Clarice Bean novel was published in 2002 by Orchard–Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. Her books have sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Her latest Clarice Bean book isClarice Bean SMILEpublished by Harper Collins in 2024, and the picture bookGreyby Laura Dockrill published Spring 2024 by Walker Books. 2025 will be the 25th Anniversary of Charlie and Lola.

She was awarded a CBE for Services to Literature in 2020; and was the 10thWaterstones’ Children’s Laureate from 2017-2019.

Lauren is a champion for the importance of illustration as an art form. She has been a trustee of the House of Illustration for ten years, and at the forefront of innovation, raising the profile of illustration as a sophisticated art form for all ages. She works with mixed media, has pioneered text as an integral part of illustration and collaborates with artists across different fields including music, film, and design. Lauren is a Foundling Museum Fellow and an UNESCO Artist for Peace and her work has always championed the importance of childhood.