In the Reading Corner

Sophie McKenzie is the undisputed queen of the teen thriller. After being made redundant from her job in 2003, she started a year-long 'Writing for Children course' at the CityLit Institute in London. She finished her first novel, Girl Missing, at the beginning of 2005; it was then published by Simon & Schuster Children's Books in 2006.

Sophie joined Nikki Gamble  In the Reading Corner to talk about her thriller Truth or Dare.

Purchase Truth or Dare from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools

Publisher's Blurb
When lies are everywhere, how far will you go for the truth? A tense eco-drama with an explosive twist from the million-copy-selling author of Girl, Missing. Fourteen-year-old Maya cannot believe she has to spend the summer with her grandmother, helping out at the family cosmetics firm. But things get much more exciting when she meets a community of activists campaigning against the dumping of chemical waste.

Getting closer to one boy in particular, Bear, Maya is dared to join one of their protest missions but doesn't know that her grandmother's business is the target. Someone has been lying about their environmentally-friendly products, and as danger threatens, Maya must uncover the truth or betray her family forever. In this edge-of-your-seat drama exploring the line between truth and lies,

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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

A. M. Dassu is an English writer of fiction and non-fiction. In 2017, Dassu won the international. We Need Diverse Books mentorship award. Her bestselling debut novel, Boy Everywhere, was published in October 2020 and was shortlisted for the 2021 Waterstone's Children's Books Prize.  Az talks about the book in the previous In The Reading Corner episode.

In this episode, she talks with Nikki Gamble about her latest novel, Fight Back.

Read our review of Fight Back on the Just Imagine website.

Purchase  Fight Back from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools.

Publisher's blurb
When a terrorist attack occurs near her home and racial tension increases, Aaliyah decides to begin wearing a hijab to challenge people's preconceptions of her faith. Aaliyah has to channel all her bravery and resourcefulness to halt the tide of hatred rippling through her community.
A story about finding your identity and fighting for it.

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

Naomi Walmsley runs Outback2Basics with her husband, Dan. She has a passion for teaching young people Stone Age education and Bushcraft, and she also runs some workshops for adults.

Naomi says, 'I like to think my writing reflects my own experiences, linking nature with education and imagination.'

She has co-authored Forest School Adventure and Urban Forest School with Dan. Her most recent book is Live Like a Hunter Gatherer, a perfect book for any class studying The Stone Age.

Read our review of Live Like a Hunter Gatherer on the Just Imagine website

Purchase  Live Like a Hunter Gatherer from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools

Publisher's Blurb
If you imagined that all Stone Age people lived in caves, were not very clever, not very clean and said “Ugg” a lot, then think again. Marking the start of all human history, the Stone Age lasted around 3.5 million years.

Delve into that incredible time with this book packed full of amazing facts, information, crafts, storytelling and myth debunking to discover what it was like to live as a hunter-gatherer.

Many of our Stone Age ancestors' everyday needs were similar to ours – how to keep warm, where to sleep and what to eat and drink. We find out how they met those needs, what a typical day was like, what medicine they used and even how they had fun – all brought to life with beautifully detailed illustrations. Dotted through the book are step-by-step craft activities and recipes that give you first-hand experience of some vital Stone Age skills – making a Mesolithic shelter, fat lamps, a digging stick, creating cave art, making a bow and arrow and a fishing hook are just a few.

A fictional tribe member pops up throughout the book to tell us about her life, describing the sights, sounds, smells and emotions she experiences. The safety of a warm cave with flickering firelight and other tribe members nearby, the gnawing feeling of hunger when food is scarce, and the excited relief when a deer is hunted.

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

Frances Hardinge is a British novelist whose debut novel, Fly by Night, won the Branford Boase Award in 2006 ( awarded to the writer and editor of the best debut children's novel).

In 2015 she won the 2015 Costa Book Award for her novel The Lie Tree, the first time a children's book was awarded the overall category since Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass in 2001.

Her latest novel, Unraveller, is an otherworldly story of curse making and breaking (the unravelling of the title). Reviewing the book for Just Imagine, Martin Galway writes:

'It’s a dark novel of dark themes and dark places. It explores the tensions of what it means to be human. It explores what it means to be no-longer-human or never human. It’s in these tensions, and in the complexity of feelings of those that straddle the human/inhuman divide that the book offers the most satisfying food for thought.'

Frances joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to tell us more.

About Unraveller
n a world where anyone can cast a life-destroying curse, only one person has the power to unravel them. Kellen does not fully understand his unique gift but helps those who are cursed, like his friend Nettle, who was trapped in the body of a bird for years.

She is now Kellen's constant companion and his closest ally. But the Unraveller carries a curse himself, and unless he and Nettle can remove it, Kellen is a danger to everything - and everyone - around him...

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

Petr Horacek is a children's picturebook creator with a background in fine art. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia and at the age of 15 attended the High School of Art in Prague, where he developed skills in printing, photography, sculpture and painting.
After working for a design agency, he went on to further study at the Academy of Fine Art and was awarded his Master of Fine Art degree in 1994.

His first books, Strawberries are Red , and What is Black and White? were published by Walker Books in 2001. And he was awarded the Books for Children Newcomer award that year.

Since then he has gone on to write and illustrated many favourites including A New House for Mouse, Silly Suzy Goose, Puffin Peter,  The Greedy Goat Blue Penguin and The Perfect Present

In this podcast, Petr talks to Nikki Gamble about his picturebook A Best Friend for Bear

You may also be interested in this livestreamed event

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

SF Said is a British children's writer with a Middle Eastern background. He was born in Beirut and spent his early childhood in Jordan.

His first novel, Varjak Paw, illustrated by Dave McKean, was published in 2003. It was the winner of the Nestle Smarties Book Prize. The sequel, The Outlaw Varjak Paw, won the Blue Peter novel. His third book, Phoenix, was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize.

SF Said was selected to represent the UK for the IBBY Honour List for 2016.


SF joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk about his most recent novel, Tyger.

Read our review of Tyger on the Just Imagine website

Purchase Tyger from our bookselling partner bestbooksforschools.com

Publisher's blurb
'There are three doors that I may show you. You will find a different kind of power behind each one...

'Adam has found something incredible in a rubbish dump in London. A mysterious, mythical, magical animal. A TYGER.

And the tyger is in danger. Adam and his friend Zadie are determined to help, but it isn't just the tyger's life at stake. Their whole world is on the verge of destruction.

Can they learn to use their powers 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

Angela Sangma Francis, writing as Sangma Francis, worked as an in-house editor and writer for publisher Flying Eye before branching out as a full-time author.

Her two books, Everest and Amazon River provide a fresh approach to physical geography. She joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to tell us all about it.

It is the highest spot on planet Earth, known to many as the roof of the world, and the ultimate challenge for mountain-climbing adventurers. Welcome to Mount Everest. Mount Everest is undoubtedly one of the most famous mountains on Earth.

Hundreds of people clamber to its summit every year, following in Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's footsteps... but there is so much more to this mountain than the people who climb it. With sumptuous and stylish illustrations by Lisk Feng, this dynamic book reveals the great mountain's ancient origins, the flora and fauna that thrive upon its great flanks, and the rich mythology of Sagarmatha, the Goddess of the Sky.

Read our review of Everest on the Just Imagine website

Purchase Amazon River from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools

Purchase Everest from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools

Publisher's Blurb
Beginning with a tiny trickle high in the mountains, smaller streams join until they form the world's largest river. Crossing a continent, it winds through lush rainforests until it meets the ocean. From piranhas to the giant anaconda, this mighty waterway is home to the world's most incredible ecosystem.

Welcome to the Amazon River. This stunning illustrated guide to the world's most famous river and its surrounding rainforest is packed with incredible facts about South America's wildlife, people, geography and history.

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

Manon Steffan Ros is a Welsh novelist, playwright, games author, scriptwriter and musician (being one half of the acoustic duo 'Blodau Gwylltion').

She is the author of over twenty children's books. Llyfr Glas Nebo, won the 2018 Prose Medal at the National Eisteddfod and the 2019 Welsh Book of the Year Award. It is her first novel to be translated into English (by the author)

Manon has also written three novels for adults, all in Welsh. Her award-winning novel Blasu has been translated (by the author) into English under the title of The Seasoning.

In May 2021 she was described as "arguably the most successful novelist writing in Welsh at the moment". (Wales Arts Review)

Read our review of The Blue Book of Nebo on the Just Imagine website.

Purchase  The Blue Book of Nebo from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools.

Publisher's Blurb
Dylan was six when The End came back in 2018, when the electricity switched off, and the world he knew disappeared. Now he's 14 and he and his mam have survived in their isolated hilltop house above the village of Nebo in north-west Wales, where mother and son confide their experiences and memories in a found notebook - the Blue Book.

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

Ian Livingstone is the co-founder with Steve Jackson of the phenomenally successful Fighting Fantasy Series.   Fighting Fantasy, which employs role play and board game strategies in the printed book, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Two new titles,  Secrets of Salamonis and Shadow of the Giants, will delight faithful fans and new converts too.

Ian is also co-founder of Games Workshop and founder of The Livingstone Academy in Bournemouth -  all through academy (4 - 18 years) which aims to transform young people from digital consumers to digital creators.

Ian joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner.

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

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer turned children's author who loves taking big ideas and making them accessible and exciting for young readers. Rashmi writes non-fiction picture books that ignite children's curiosity and fictional stories that crackle with imagination. When she's not playing with words, you'll find her on her yoga mat twisting herself into all sorts of shapes.

Rashmi has had huge success with her hilarious stories about dinosaurs who shouldn't be taught to read, draw or do sums. Still, she is a versatile writer and the very personal picturebook Dadaji's Paintbrush shows us emotional depth.

Rashmi joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk about the stories behind this book.

Purchase Dadaji's Paintbrush from our bookselling partner Best Books for Schools.

Publisher's Blurb
Discover that bereavement can be a beginning, not an ending, in this beautiful story of one boy's grief when he loses his beloved grandfather. Dadaji loves to teach others to paint, especially his grandson. But after Dadaji passes away, the boy can't bear to use the favourite paintbrush his grandfather left for him.

When a little girl knocks on the door, the boy discovers how many lives Dadaji touched with his art, and finds a way to continue his legacy.

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