In the Reading Corner

Patrice Lawrence was born in Brighton and raised in an Italian and Trinidadian household. Her first book for young adults, Orangeboy, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award and won the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstone’s Prize for Older Children's Fiction.
In 2021 she won the Jhalek Prize's inaugural children's and young category for her book Eight Pieces of Silva (2020).

In this podcast, Patrice talks to Nikki Gamble about her middle-grade fantasy novel, The Elemental Detectives. Set in an alternate London where the elemental spirits power the world: the fiery Dragons, the airy Fumis, the watery Chads and the earthbound Magogs.
Humans have been causing chaos in this world for centuries with their disregard and lack of consideration for the natural world. And now someone is out for revenge.

Read our review of The Elemental Detectives on the Just Imagine website.

Purchase The Elemental Detectives from our book-selling partner Best Books for Schools

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

Donna and Vikesh Amey Bhat are the husband and wife team who wrote Lands of Belonging, a history of the South Asian countries that are intertwined with British history.

Vikesh is a Creative Director with a background in design who has worked in advertising for over 18 years. He loves exploring the past and retelling the somewhat strange stories from his childhood, and is passionate about accurate cultural representation in children’s books.

Donna writes the kind of things she loves reading; funny stories, books about people completely different to her, and collections of facts that can be used later to impress both friends and strangers at any social occasion.

In the run-up to the 75th anniversary of the partition of India, Donna and Vikesh joined  Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk about the importance of filling in the knowledge gaps that many people have about India's rich history and its interconnectedness with British history.

About Lands of Belonging
this book is a unique exploration of the rich and complicated history of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Britain. There are many ways of telling the same story, and how you tell it depends on your point of view. Some stories are so complicated, or difficult to explain, that they're not often told at all.

Like the story of how a company ended up running a country, or how one man drawing a line on a map could change the lives of millions of people forever. This book aims to piece together the interesting, surprising, and sometimes very sad story of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Britain, and how these countries have shaped one another over the centuries. From exploring the vast empires and amazing inventions of ancient India to revealing the challenges faced by South Asian migrants to Britain - or celebrating the amazing culture, innovations, inventions, and achievements of British people of South Asian heritage today - this book shows how the past, present and future of these four countries will always be intertwined.

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

James Dixon is a London-born, Glasgow-based novelist, poet, and playwright. His debut novel, The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J. Gyle (Thistle, 2017) was shortlisted for the 2018 Somerset Maugham Award by the Society of Authors. His debut children's novel, The Billow Maiden,  is published by Guppy publishing.

Nikki Gamble caught up with James to talk about The Billow Maiden and writing for children,

About The Billow Maden
Ailsa's mum is ill, not the first time, so they spend the summer with her aunt and uncle. Aunt Bertha, Uncle Nod, and their dog Moxie live on an island off the coast, by a beautiful fishing village surrounded by beaches and clifftops. Ailsa and Moxie spend their whole time there exploring these beaches and cliffs, until one day, they find a hidden cave.

Inside the cave, they find Hefring, a strange woman not keen on strangers. Ailsa slowly gets to know who Hefring is. She is a selkie, a mermaid, a billow maiden from ancient myth.

However, she is stuck on land and slowly dying. It is up to Ailsa and her new friend Camilla to save her, but there are plenty of obstacles in the way - not least Ailsa's own fears and her mum's illness. The Billow Maiden is a beautifully told tale of friendship, family, healing, and transformation from a stunning new writer for children.

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

Ewa Jozefkowicz grew up in Ealing, and studied English Literature at UCL. Her debut novel The Mystery of the Colour Thief, published by Zephyr in 2018, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. She has written four further middle-grade novels, most recently The Dragon in the Bookshop, a fantasy adventure story with a deep soul, inspired by personal memories.

About The Dragon in the Bookshop
An old Polish city fizzes with fear. The townsfolk are at the mercy of a dragon who lurks in the cave below the castle... Konrad's dad always used to say, 'There is a character in a book somewhere that matches you almost entirely. It's just a matter of finding them'. 

Konrad never expected the 'finding' to involve stepping right into a story, and he never expected his dad not to be there with him. After his dad's death, Konrad stops speaking.

Not a word at home or school as the year rolls by. But that begins to change when he meets Maya on the beach he loved to explore with Dad. She doesn't mind his silence. It gives her a chance to be heard because at home, no one seems to notice her. 

When the pair go on a last visit to Konrad's family bookshop before it's sold, they soon get lost in the pages of Konrad's favourite book of folk tales. Whisked back in time to quest with a dragon, they must find themselves and their voices, as well as a happy end to the story in the book and in real life.

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

Nicolette Jones is the children's book editor of the Sunday Times, and she has been a reviewer, feature writer, diarist, and book-prize judge. In 2012, she was shortlisted for the Eleanor Farjeon award for her "outstanding contribution to the world of children's books.

Nicolette joined Nikki Gamble In The Reading Corner to talk about her anthology, Writes of Passage, a personal selection of words to inspire young (and not so young) readers.

About Writes of Passage
An inspiring collection of over 100 pieces of writing - poems, prose, letters, speeches, song lyrics, quotations, and more - from Shakespeare to Stephen Hawking; Greta Thunberg to Galileo; Malala to Martin Luther King; and Lin-Manuel Miranda to Lord Tennyson - which are in turn powerful, funny, moving, wise, and thought-provoking, and expertly selected and with accessible, thoughtful commentary by Nicolette Jones, children's book critic for The Sunday Times.
 
Also reviewed on our website by Martin Galway.

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

Former teacher, Jonathan Tulloch, is a journalist,  writer and naturalist whose nature features appear regularly in The Times and The Tablet, His debut children's novel, Cuckoo Summer, was published in July 2022, It's a wonderfully evocative novel set during the Second World War which captures Jonathan's childhood memories, and the stories passed down through generations. In this episode, Jonathan talks to Nikki Gamble about where it all began,,,

About Cuckoo Summer
Summer 1940. As the cuckoo sings out across the Lake District, life is about to change for ever for local boy Tommy and his friend Sally, the mysterious evacuee girl who lives on the neighbouring farm. When they find a wounded Nazi airman in the woods, Sally persuades Tommy not to report it but to keep the German hidden.

This starts a chain of events that leads to the uncovering of secrets about Sally's past and a summer of adventure that neither child will ever forget.

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

Steve Cole has been a previous guest In The Reading Corner. We have talked about humour, comics and Dr Who. This time our conversation centres on four books important books that Steve has written for the dyslexia-friendly publisher Barrington Stoke.

Each book takes as its subject one of the major concerns of our time. From waste management to the social justice issues associated with the fast fashion industry, Steve's writing takes a global perspective that prompts reader to consider their role in tackling these concerns.

About Stitched Up
The horrific real-life cost of fast fashion is exposed in this gripping tale of survival from bestselling author Steve Cole. When twelve-year-old Hanh is offered a job as a shop assistant in Hanoi, she sees it as a chance to earn money to send back to her family living in poverty in rural Vietnam. But on her arrival in the city, she soon learns that the job offer was a lie and finds herself working in virtual slavery in an illegal garment factory.

Life in this sweatshop is a daily hell of long hours, little rest, poor food and regular violence. Hanh is desperate to escape, but when an opportunity arises will she be able to find the courage to take a dangerous chance?

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

Craig Caudill is an award-winning educator, naturalist and writer. He spent his formative years hunting, fishing and playing in the woods of Kentucky. For five decades he has cultivated experiential knowledge of the natural world as well as skills for survival in the great outdoors, which he now shares through his education workshops.

Craig has now shared some of that experience in his book for children, The Secret Signs of Nature.  Find out more in this episode of #InTheReadingCorner.

About The Secret Signs of Nature
Meet two young adventurers as they discover the ancient art of reading outdoor clues. Join them as they learn to read a full moon, decode the colour of the ocean and forecast the weather with a rainbow, uncovering the secret signs of nature and a world of forgotten skills. With a foreword from naturalist Steve Backshall.

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

Lauren Wolk is an American author, poet and editor. Born in Baltimore, she studied English literature at Brown University graduating in 1981. Wolk won a Newbery Honor in 2017 for her novel Wolf Hollow and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2018 for Beyond the Bright Sea.

In this episode of #InTheReadingCorner Lauren talks about In My Own Lightning, her sequel to Wolf Hollow,

About My Own Lightning
It has been several months since the tragic events set in motion by bully Betty Glengarry, and the routine of daily life in Wolf Hollow has slowly returned. But for Annabelle McBride, it’s hard to move forward and make peace with what feels like threadbare justice.
 
Newly warm summer days are about to bring a jolt of change on the winds of a powerful storm. In its wake, the search for her brother’s missing dog will set Annabelle on a new path that brings her to unfamiliar doorsteps and reunites her with a too-familiar adversary—Andy Woodberry, who was complicit in Betty’s most terrible acts. Growing up and blazing her own trail will soon force Annabelle to reexamine deeply felt truths—about people, about justice, about herself—that had once seemed so uncomplicated.

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

Atinuke was born and grew up in Nigeria. She writes children's books because she loves the vibrancy, joy, wisdom and humour of her  African culture, which forms the basis for most of her writing. She has written about urban and rural life in West Africa and her stories show the diversity of backgrounds that children come from, debunking the imagery that is familiar from charity promotions and crisis journalism. While there are undoubtedly important issues for us all to address, these images give only a partial presentation of what it means to live in West Africa and specifically, Nigeria.

 Atinuke shares her thoughts with Nikki Gamble and reads from Too Small Tola Gets Tough.

About Too Small Tola Gets Tough
Tola may be small, but she's very determined!

Too Small Tola lives in a flat in Lagos with her sister, Moji, who is very clever, her brother, Dapo, who is very fast, and Grandmummy, who is very bossy. One day Tola discovers the secret of multiplication and division. She is so happy! But then there is news of a deadly virus, and news of lockdown too.

Moji goes away to live and study with her teacher and Dapo goes off to live and work with his boss. Grandmummy cannot go out to work so Tola does instead. Tola goes to live with a wealthy couple, the Diamonds.

She cleans and washes and scrubs, scrubs, scrubs. She befriends the other workers too. But she soon learns that even the wealthy Diamonds have problems of their own.

And when it comes to solving them, Tola proves once again how kind and clever, mighty and resourceful she truly is.

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