"This is not a library, it's a forest of books"

We loved hearing feedback from pupils at Rowan Preparatory School about their brand new library. Senior Interior Designer Helena worked with the school to create a library space where they could grow and nurture a love of reading for pleasure in every pupil. So we were thrilled to hear from pupils that it's the "best library ever"!

Explore Rowan Preparatory School's new library by clicking the link in our bio.

What's that noise? It's us celebrating our Books of the Week!

This week, our librarians voted for We are your children by David Roberts, and What's that noise? by Charlie Higson and Nadia Shireen as their must-have reads.

We are your children chronicles the diverse history of LGBTQ+ rights in the UK and USA, spanning from the 1940s to present day. Accompanied by wonderful illustrations, this volume touched Children's Librarian Debbie: "Oh, my goodness. This book elicits so many emotions. It makes you angry and breaks your heart. But it also makes you laugh, uplifts you and makes you feel hopeful." It's a perfect one-volume timeline, and a must-have for Pride Month and all year round.

If you're looking for a new story time read for EYFS and KS1, then choose What's that noise? for unreservedly silly fun! It celebrates imagination and the joy of play in a simple cardboard box. Children's Librarian Lucy recommends it for one-to-one sharing or with a big group: "It's wonderful to read out loud. Deceptively simple and packed with little details to notice more and more of with each re-read. Fab!"

See our Books of the Week by clicking the link in our bio

Children's reading for pleasure: what can we, as teachers, librarians, and carers, do to encourage it?

That's what we asked our award winners in our Peters Children's Book of the Year Q&A. We loved Catherine Cawthorne's answer: "Be a reading role model. Let children see you reading. We can tell children that we love books and that reading is wonderful as much as we like, but it is far more compelling for them to actually see us making the time to read ourselves."

Let's all be reading role models for children and young people! ????

Read our Peters Children's Book the Year interview with author and school librarian Catherine Cawthorne, and illustrator Sara Ogilvie, by clicking the link in our bio.

Illustrations by Sara Ogilvie, from Peters Children’s Book of the Year Overall Winner and Non-fiction book of the Year, Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales.

Go behind the scenes of award-winning Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales

In our Peters Children's Book of the Year Q&A with author Catherine Cawthorne and illustrator Sara Ogilvie, we had to ask them about fairy tales. Fairy tales are often the first stories children hear, and what can hook them into reading at an early stage. So what were their childhood fairy tale memories?

One of Catherine's core memories was "being terrified of the picture of the witch holding the poisoned apple in Snow White. It still gives me shivers to look at it now!"

Fairy tale illustrations also captured Sara's imagination: "The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a memorable one. I would usually pour over the pictures but the illustration of the troll under the bridge was terrifying (as he should be) so I'd turn his pages really quickly!"

Read the interview with Peters Children's Book of the Year winners Catherine and Sara by clicking the link in our bio.

Operations Assistant Amin shares our Book of the week, a gripping YA novel!

Seventeen-year-old Elias has been in a near-fatal car crash which has left him emotionally numb, with no memory of the accident. Desperate to feel something again, Elias winds up at an underground club called Traumaland, but this is no ordinary nightclub...

Traumaland by @smudgecotton has “a gripping plotline, shocking in parts and the writing is such that you really want to find out Elias's reality, memory and the truth, especially when it involves his family and his therapist!”

Children’s Librarian Michaela was captivated by the book, “Traumaland is not what it first appears either as its dark underbelly is slowly uncovered. It's a heavy theme and the author's experience of being a mental health nurse really comes through in the details."

See our full review on our Books of the week webpage. Link in bio