Down The Rabbit Hole

Prick up your bunny ears, listeners - your favourite podcast about children's books is back!

From Tuesday 15th of February we're launching a new season - you'll be able to hear a brand new episode of Down the Rabbit Hole every week!

Stay tuned to this feed for fun conversations with special guests about the best food in kids' books, surviving Young Adult dystopias, crushing on book characters, and much more!

--

Our music is Hustle by Kevin MacLeod from incompetech.com, licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Your Down the Rabbit Hole presenters have huddled around Hannah's Christmas tree to share a sleigh full of our favourite festive reads with you. So grab some mulled wine and mince pies, and join us! We talk about our most nostalgic reads we remember from our own childhoods, and why Christmas is the perfect time to reconnect with who we were as a child. We unearth some of the best modern Christmas books out this year and last, as well as looking back on the greatest hits of 2021, sharing some of our favourite books from the year gone by - and the ones we've saved up to read over the holidays. Plus, we discover the secret to a perfect Christmas book.

Foil. The secret is foil. And possibly a really cosy murder, too.

Follow the show on Twitter @dtrhradio.

This month Caroline and Charlie are joined by authors Jason Reynolds and Tom Vaughan to talk about children's books featuring separated parents, single parents and blended families. Tom Vaughan's Bin Boy was published earlier this year and Jason Reynolds' Stuntboy, in the Meantime came out this month. Both feature characters with complex families, and they're here to share their thoughts and inspiration about books with families of all shapes and sizes.

Invite us into your ears this Halloween to hear us sink our teeth into one of the spookiest characters in children's books - vampires! The fangs come out as Hannah and Sam talk with special guests Amy McCaw and Harriet Muncaster about their favourite bloodsucking heroes and villains, what makes a good vampire, and why we seem to be seeing more vampires in books for young readers than ever before.

You can buy books mentioned in today's show from our shelf on Bookshop.org - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or on Instagram @DTRHradio. You can find Amy McCaw at @YAundermyskin and Harriet Muncaster at @H_Muncaster.

In honour of the start of Black History Month in the UK, Charlie passes the mic to guest host Aimée Felone, Managing Director of independent children's publisher Knights Of, who is joined by Clare Weze, E. L. Norry, Chanté Timothy and Camilla Ru, four of the contributors to children's anthology Happy Here, a book which champions joy and celebrates the work of Black British authors and illustrators. Down the Rabbit Hole joins them for a candid conversation and a look behind the scenes at the aims and inspiration of the book - copies of which will be delivered to every school in the UK in partnership with Booktrust and CLPE. Plus, we all recommend a book that's been making us happy this month, and our guests share their hopes for the future of publishing, and what legacy they would like to leave with their work.

You can buy books mentioned in today's show from our new shelf on Bookshop.org - https://bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or on Instagram @DTRHradio. For more information about Happy Here, follow Knights Of at @_KnightsOf or check out their website - knightsof.media.

Welcome first-timers and seasoned listeners alike! Today we are talking all about the wonder of debuts in children's literature, and finding out what's so special about an author's first piece of published work. Caroline Carpenter and Sam Sedgman are joined by two very special guests: Struan Murray, author of Orphans of the Tide, and his editor at Puffin, Ben Horslen. Struan and Ben join us fresh from winning this year's Branford Boase Award, which honours the author and editor of a debut title in children's fiction.

Buy all the books mentioned in today's episode from our shelf on Bookshop.org - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or Instagram at @DTRHradio. Follow Caroline @CarolineC1988, Sam @samuelsedgman, Struan @Struan_Murray, and Ben @BenHorslen.

Pack your bags and climb aboard this very special bonus edition of Down the Rabbit Hole all about travelling the world by book. Sam Sedgman is joined by special guests Rumena Aktar and Katherine Woodfine (yes, she's back!) to share our favourite children's stories set in other countries, and discuss the joys and perils of writing and reading books set in foreign countries. Plus, we share which books are making us happy.

Buy all the books mentioned in today's episode from our shelf on Bookshop.org - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or Instagram at @DTRHradio. Follow Sam @samuelsedgman, Rumena @rumena_aktar and Katherine @Followtheyellow

In today's episode, presenters Hannah Love and Caroline Carpenter are joined by author Elle McNicoll and Harry Woodgate to discuss the presentation of grief in children's books, and why children's books can be a perfect refuge in difficult time.

Buy all the books mentioned in today's episode from our new shelf on Bookshop.org - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or Instagram at @DTRHradio. Follow Hannah @AitchLove, Caroline @CarolineC1988, Elle @Booksandchokers and Harry @harryewoodgate.

Listen up! Today's show is all about the magic of audiobooks.

Sam Sedgman and Caroline Carpenter are joined by two special guests: Laura Marlow, an Editor in Audio at Penguin, and Jot Davies, an award-winning audiobook actor and voice artist. Together they share memories of their favourite childhood books on tape, discuss where the modern audiobook industry is headed, and recommend some new modern favourites for listeners to try out. Plus, Caroline listens to her very first audiobook - and we share some of the books that are making us happy this month.

Buy all the books mentioned in today's episode from our new shelf on Bookshop.org - https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/downtherabbithole

Follow us on Twitter @DTRHradio or Instagram at @DTRHradio. Follow Sam @samuelsedgman, Caroline @CarolineC1988, Laura @LauraMarlowW and Jot @JotDavies.

Charlie Morris and Hannah Love celebrate the start of Pride month by exploring the rainbow of recent children's books that put LGBTQ+ families and youth at the heart of the story. 

Joining us on our parade of must-read books are Jodie Lancet-Grant: debut picture book author of The Pirate Mums, L.D. Lapinski: author of magical middle grade adventure series The Strangeworlds Travel Agency, and Benjamin Dean, author of Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Month Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow. 

From lonely mermen to misunderstood monsters, to two daddies and a road trip of remembrance, we talk about why LGBTQ+ representation in books matters to us and why allowing Queer kids to go on all sorts of adventures means we can help young readers find themselves and their families along the way. Plus, we all share a book that's been making us happy this month.

Buy all the books mentioned in today's episode from our new shelf on Bookshop.org