Mostly Book Talk

We talk with author Clare Pollard about her new middle grade book The Othernauts. Based on the story of Jason and the Argonauts, we follow Phoebe who is bored of life on the island where she lives and is desperate to escape. When a ship with Jason and the Argonauts comes into the harbour she acts quickly and joins their quest to find the Golden Fleece. Full of humour and with illustrations by Macha Yao this is a fun and entertaining take on a classic tale. 

You can find out more about Clare here. And find her children's books below:

The Othernauts, illustrated Macha Yao

The Untameables, illustrated by Reena Makwana

And her book about picture books can be found here:

Fierce Bad Rabbits - The Tales Behind Children's Picture Books

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We talk to the chair of judges and the 2025 winner of The Klaus Flugge Prize for Illustration, Emma Farrarons. Emma won the prize in 2025 which is for the year’s most exciting newcomers to children’s picture book illustration. This year she is back as the chair of judges alongside illustrator Rob Biddulph, illustrator and course director for the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University, Shelley Jackson and co-owner of the The Book Nook in Hove, Vanessa Lewis.

Emma won the prize in 2025 with her illustration of My Hair is as Long as a River by Charlie Castle.

This year's shortlisted illustrators are:

Becky Colvin who studied illustration at The University of West England in Bristol and went on to win the prestigious Macmillan Prize for illustration in 2023. Becky loves telling stories, capturing both the quiet and the exceptional moments in life. The Great Green Island her debut picture book was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Books Prize. Her next book, Princes Don't Practise, written by Kathryn Simmonds, is out in August 2026. Becky lives in Bristol.  

London-based author-illustrator Laila Ekboir who worked as a freelance illustrator for many years in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before completing an MA in children's book illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. Drawing inspiration from everyday moments and childhood memories of living in California, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires, Laila’s art is colourful, warm and rich in texture. She works by hand, exploring a variety of materials and using digital tools to make her work pop, but her favourite medium is printmaking. Laila enjoys telling whimsical stories with quirky characters, as well as exploring the themes of home, memory, identity and belonging delicately and thoughtfully. Her debut picture book, We Are Like Birds, is published by Kumusha Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Born in Weimar in 1990, Thekla Priebst studied visual communication at Bauhaus University Weimar and Berlin Weissensee School of Art. Since 2017, she has been living with her small family on the west coast of Portugal, where she works as a freelance art director and illustrator. With her flair for composition and colour, as well as a typographic sensibility, Thekla designs books from the first to the last page. The glorious The Voyage That Changed the World is her debut as author-illustrator. She has the ability to hold her breath for a long time because she likes to surf big waves. Thekla is currently based in Portugal. 

Justin Worsley who has been a toy designer for over 25 years, and has now turned his hand to picture book making. He has a BA Hons in Industrial Design at Northumbria University, and in 2022 he graduated with a distinction from the Cambridge School of Art with an MA in Children's Book Illustration. He has since won the Batsford Prize, the CA award of excellence and the Sebastian Walker Prize. Henry: the Artistic Dog is Justin's first picture book. Justin is originally from Windermere, now living in Lewes.

Forest Xiao who is an image maker, storyteller, treasure finder and mother to two girls. She has lived in China, Germany, USA, the UK and Malaysia. Forest obtained a BA in Graphic Design from Camberwell College of Art which led her to the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Forest was a runner-up for the Sebastian Walker Prize 2023, highly commended by the 2022 Macmillan Prize for Children’s Picture Book Illustration, and winner of the Batsford Prize 2023. Forest was also one of the 2023 Bologna Illustrators Exhibition Winners. Forest loves connecting with people and hearing stories. She is shortlisted for her book  Seven Babies.

Circle Yuen who is an award-winning author and illustrator born in Hong Kong and now based in the UK. Her work transforms personal experiences of family restructuring and co-parenting into emotionally rich, healing narratives for children. A graduate of the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, she champions social justice and empathy through art. Her debut picture book Our Dance: Living Apart, Time Together is the first UK picture book to address child contact centres, created with the National Association of Child Contact Centres. Her work has previously been chosen for the dPictus Unpublished Picturebooks Showcase and was longlisted for the Illustrators Exhibition at Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2024.

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We talk to Bex Hughes about the upcoming Canterbury Children's Literature Festival which is on the 9th - 12th of July and also about Book Shop Crawl UK which hosts book shop crawls in cities around the UK.

You can find out more about all the exciting events on at the Canterbury Children's Literature Festival here.

And check out up coming book shop crawls here.

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In September 2026 all UK Secondary Schools will receive two copies of the book Scientists Making a Difference by Dr Shini Somara together with a pack of resources. This is a collaboration between publishers What on Earth!, the Gatsby Foundation and Imperial. We talk to teacher Jennifer Marchant who created the school resources to discuss the book, what schools will find in their pack and how they can be used within the science curriculum as well as in careers lessons.

There are linked resources online supporting the resources in the box and also CPD for teachers (starting in September and available to book now) to support them in using the materials.

For more information check out the dedicated website here.

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Join us as we talk to lead curators Alison Bailey and Laura Walker, of the British Library's Fairy Tales Exhibition. This interactive and child friendly exhibit is on until 23 August 2026 and covers many familiar tales as well as lesser known stories. 

They have brought together interactive displays, theatrical design, story sharing spaces, costumes and activities, as well as some great examples of early drafts and drawing ideas. There are beautiful books and artwork to see and plenty of hands on activities to keep children engaged.

Sensory packs can be picked up from reception and large print and Braille resources are available.

We discuss how they put the exhibition together, why they chose to focus on fairy tales, and how the items in the exhibit were selected. Ali and Katy have been to see and we all talk about our favourite items.

More information about the exhibit and how to buy tickets can be found here.

Cover art includes dragon illustration © Chris Riddell and British Library 2026

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Join us talking to Mayo Agard-Olubo about his debut picture book, Kid Rex to the Rescue, illustrated by Diane Ewen. Max's imagination transforms him into the superhero Kid Rex, and he's ready to use his dinosaur powers to battle robots, dragons and even the evil king dust bunny. A fun bedtime story and definitely one for dinosaur fans.

Mayo's website can be found here.

His BBC Sounds appearance on Margins to the Mainstream can be found here.

The books we reviewed were:

Auntie's Bangles, by Dean Atta, illustrated by Alea Marley

Fred the Very Demanding Deer by Pepé Smit

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Following on from episode 48 when we went through the Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist together with expert Carnegie followers Alison Jewitt and Amy McKay, in this episode we go through the Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist and make some more ill fated predictions for the winners.

Alison Jewitt is an English teacher at the London Nautical City of London Academy has led a Carnegie shadowing group in her school for many years and this is her third year helping us review the list.

Amy McKay is the librarian at Ullswater Community College, Penrith. She leads Carnegie shadowing at her school and has a long history with the Carnegies, having been the awards co-ordinator for the Carnegies which included overseeing the National shadowing scheme.

The full Carnegie Medal for Illustration Shortlist is:

The Playdate illustrated by Clara Dackenberg, written by Uje Brandelius, translated by Nichola Smalley (Lantana)
The Endless Sea illustrated by Linh Dao, written by Chi Thai (Walker)
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel illustrated & adapted by Aimée de Jongh, written by William Golding (Faber & Faber)
The Sleeper Train illustrated by Baljinder Kaur, written by Mick Jackson (Walker)
Wildful illustrated and written by Kengo Kurimoto (Pushkin Children’s Books)
Freedom Braids illustrated by Oboh Moses, written by Monique Duncan (Lantana)
The Paper Bridge illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh, written by Joelle Veyrenc, translated by Katy Lockwood-Holmes (Floris Books)
Wiggling Words illustrated and written by Kate Rolfe (Two Hoots)

All the information about the Carnegies and the Shadowing Resources can be found on their website here.

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Join us as we talk with author Malcolm Duffy about his YA book Dead Straight Line. This is his fifth book and is inspired by a teenage game of traveling in a straight line through, over or under obstacles. Rory pressures Yell into the game, with life changing consequences. The book explores risk taking, blame, guilt and shame as well as empathy and forgiveness. Written in a sparse and pacey style, it is an accessible read and will have wide appeal, including for Y8 and up boys that everyone struggles to find recommendations for.  

As well as discussing the book, we talk about Malcolm's path to becoming a writer, how he researches the issues he portrays and what he is working on now.

More information about Malcolm and also school visit information can be found on his website here.

Malcolm's books can be found here:

Dead Straight Line

Seven Million Sunflowers

Read Between the Lines

Sofa Surfer

Me Mam. Me Dad. Me.

Ali also recommended The Boy I Hardly Know by Lisa Heathfield.

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Together with expert Carnegie followers Alison Jewitt and Amy McKay we go through the Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist and make our ill fated predictions for the winners.

Alison Jewitt is an English teacher at the London Nautical City of London Academy has led a Carnegie shadowing group in her school for many years and this is her third year helping us review the list.

Amy McKay is the librarian at Ullswater Community College, Penrith. She leads Carnegie shadowing at her school and has a long history with the Carnegies, having been the awards co-ordinator for the Carnegies which included overseeing the National shadowing scheme.

The full Carnegie Medal for Writing Shortlist is:

Ghostlines by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher (Hot Key Books)
Popcorn by Rob Harrell (Piccadilly Press)
The Boy I Love by William Hussey (Andersen Press)
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Tim Miller (Walker)
Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (Faber & Faber)
Birdie by J. P. Rose (Andersen Press)

Lots more information about the awards and all the resources that are mentioned can be found here.

We have a second episode coming up looking at the illustration shortlist.

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Join us as we chat with Cindy Wume, Taiwanese author and illustrator, about her new picture book, Home is a Hug. The book imagines all the different ways in which we can think about home. It has interactive elements with cutouts and flaps and lots of great details to seek out when reading it. 

Find out about her journey from Taiwan to Cambridge, her creative process and discover how her travels and personal stories shape her vibrant illustrations and stories.

We talk about:

• Cindy's background and path to becoming an illustrator
• Inspiration behind "Home is a Hug" and its themes of belonging and emotional connection
• The creative process, including use of materials, digital tools, and interactive design elements like flaps and cutouts
• How travel and cultural experiences influence her artwork
• Favourite picture books growing up, including Where the Wild Things Are and the Japanese series 14 Forest Mice
• Future projects, including her new book about noodles and explorations of feelings and abstract concepts
• Meet her pet cat Bao  

Links to books by or mentioned by Cindy:

• Home is a Hug by Cindy Wume
• The Bookshop Cat by Cindy Wume
• The Gardening Dog by Cindy Wume
• The Bed Book, by Sylvia Plath, illustrated by Cindy Hume
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Miki's First Errand by Yoriko Tsutsui
• A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Alemagna
• Three Happy Lions by Louise Fatio, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin 
• 14 Forest Mice by Kazuo Iwamura

Books reviewed:

Puggle Snuggles by Mo O'Hara, illustrated by Loretta Schauer

Seahorse is Furious by Morag Hood

Other Links:

• Cambridge School of Art
• Natural History Museum London - Giant Squid Exhibit

Connect with Cindy Wume:

• Instagram
• Official Website

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