Jodie Lancet-Grant and Lydia Corry popped into The Reading Corner to talk about their book, The Pirate Mums. 

Jodie explained that as a gay mum with twin daughters she was aware of how few picturebooks are available showing same-sex parents as normal and so she set out to write her own.

There's more than a little pirate mum in both writer and illustrator in their approach to bringing up proud, strong and creative daughters.

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In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Born and raised in Alaska and a longtime journalist for Alaska Public Radio, Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock spent ten years fishing commercially and raised her children on a boat in Southeast Alaska - bringing a rare authenticity to her writing about America's last frontier.

She lived briefly in Colorado and then returned to Fairbanks, Alaska, Her first novel, The Smell of Other People's Houses was published to acclaim.

In this episode, she talks to Nikki Gamble about her second novel, Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Wildlife writer Martin Jenkins writes books about the natural world for young children that are both informative and engaging.

After graduating from Cambridge University, Martin worked for ten years for World Conservation Monitoring Centre, writing about a range of conservation issues. He continues to work freelance for organisations such as WWF and a number of UN bodies concerned with conservation and the environment.

Martin started to work with children's books when he was asked to advise on Walker Books Animals at Risk series.  Since then he has written many books including Emperor's Egg, winner of the Times Junior Information Book of the Year Award, Can We Save Tiger? Caterpillar and Bean, Beware of the Crocodile. He has also written a book about the exploration of Space: Exploring Space from Galileo to Mars Rover and Beyond and an adaptation of Don Quixote, which was illustrated by Chris Riddell.

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Tim Hopgood is a graduate of Kingston University and worked for 20 years as a graphic design and freelance illustration.
 
His first book, Our Big Blue Sofa, was published in 2006. Other titles include Here Comes Frankie, Upoppable and the hugely popular Wow Said the Owl.

In 2008 he was the winner of the Best Emerging Illustrator Award at the Book Trust Early Years Awards.

In this episode, he talks to Nikki Gamble about his latest project a bumper book about the natural world, My Big Book of the Outdoors.

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Sam Thompson was shortlisted for the 2012  Man Booker Prize for his debut novel Communion Town. He has published short stories and has contributed articles to the Times Literary Supplement and The London Review of Books.

His debut children's book, Wolfstongue is an animal fable that draws on the tradition of La Fontaine's fables. sam joined me in the reading corner to tell me more.

About Wolfstongue
Deep in the Forest, the foxes live in an underground city built by their wolf slaves. The foxes' leader Reynard controls everything with his clever talk. Silas is bullied at school because his words will not come.

He wishes he could live in silence as animals do. One day, Silas helps an injured wolf. Then he enters the secret world of the Forest, where the last remaining wolves fight to survive.

But even there, language is power. Can Silas find his voice in time to help his wolf friends - can he become the Wolfstongue?A lyrical fable about the power of language and the relationship between humans and the natural world. 'We had a name for a certain human child.

This was the child who would walk side by side with the wolves and would know our silence. The child would be our voice. So that we could live as wolves ought to live.

Free from words. The name for that child was WOLFSTONGUE.'

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In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Ben Garrod is an evolutionary biologist, primatologist, broadcaster and writer.  He is currently Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Science Engagement at the University of East Anglia, Norwich.

He has worked extensively in the field working on projects such as great ape conservation. He spent several years in western Uganda working on the development and management of a leading field site for chimpanzee conservation with the Jane Goodall Institute.  He has also worked in Southeast Asia for an orangutan conservation organisation, in  Madagascar studying marine life, and in the Caribbean studying introduced monkeys.

Ben's latest series, Extinct is a collection of eight books explaining the mass extinctions on Earth taking a positive approach by looking at how extinction leads to creative evolution.

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Jason Cockcroft is an acclaimed illustrator, winner of the inaugural Blue Peter Children's Book Award for his interpretation of Pilgrim's Progress.

In this interview, Jason talks about his debut novel, a powerful and poignant read with stunning illustrations.

About We Were Wolves
Boy lives in a caravan on his own in the woods. His dad, John, is in prison and promises to get out soon. All the boy needs to do is survive alone for a little while longer. But dark forces are circling – like the dangerous man in the Range Rover, who is looking for his stolen money. ...

Support the show

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Chatting with David Litchfield about the illustration for Pip and Egg by Alex Latimer.

David talks about his approach to composition, light and the way in which his illustrations work with the text. It's a delightful book that takes a fresh approach to lifecycles and friendship.

About Pip and Egg
One bright afternoon, Pip met Egg. Pip is a seed from a glorious tree, and Egg is a bird's egg from a nearby nest.

When Pip and Egg first meet, they are almost the same size and shape - like two peas in a pod. But as their friendship grows, so do they - for Pip this means growing roots, but for Egg? Well, Egg grows wings, and she can't wait to use them. Though Pip wishes he can follow Egg on her adventures, his roots are strong.

So he watches his friend fly away. But true friends always find their way back to one another, and there are no truer friends than Pip and Egg. And if there's one thing they learn, it's that the circle of life will always lead them back to each other.

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Swapna Haddow is the author of the prize-winning Dave Pigeon series illustrated by Sheena Dempsey and writing as Swapna Reddy, The Ballet Bunnies series for fledgeling readers.

Dapo Adeola is an illustrator with a background in character development. His partnership with writer Nathan Bryon brought us the lovable science crazy character, Rocket who made her first appearance in the book Look Up! and a reappearance in Clean Up!

Swapna and Dapo are now collaborating on a new project, My Dad is a Grizzly Bear and it sounds as though they had great fun putting it together.

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If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

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Patience Agbabi's second novel in the Leap Cycle is published this month.

The Time Thief picks up the story from the previous novel The Infinite and it's another highly inventive, page-turning story with plenty to provoke thought. Great for children who love mystery and solving codes and puzzles.

Patience joined me In The Reading Corner to talk about some of the ideas behind the story.

About The Time Thief
It's midsummer's day and thirteen-year-old Elle and her Leapling classmates are visiting the Museum of the Past, the Present and the Future. But on the day of the school trip, disaster strikes, and the most unique and valuable piece in the museum, the Infinity-Glass, is stolen! And worse still, Elle's friend and fellow Infinite, MC(2), is arrested for the crime!To prove his innocence Elle must leap back centuries in time, to a London very different from today. Along the way, she will meet new friends, face dangers unlike any she has ever known, and face an old enemy who is determined to destroy her.

Can Elle find the missing Infinity-Glass and return it to its rightful home before it's too late?

Support the show

Thank you for listening.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com

In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine.

Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1

For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/

Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk