Category Archives: Kids

Last week ended with the focus very much on children and reading with, I hope, some advance in literacy skills and the love of books.

Thursday saw World Book Day, an event I’ve always supported but I have been critical of the way the focus has been on dressing up as a ‘favourite character’, rather than reading the books, as my own research has shown. I’m hoping that this is slowly changing particularly as 2026 is The Year of Reading. Apparently the most popular outfits included Matilda & Charlies Bucket (Roald Dahl), Alice (Alice in Wonderland) and Gangster Granny (David Walliams), as well as Paddington. BBC TV news carried a nice piece where all the kids at one school had chosen to be Mr Men characters!

Friday saw the final of the BBC 500 Words Competition for ages 5 – 7 and 8 – 11 years. The medal presentations took place at Windsor Castle with HM The Queen. It was great to see over 46,500 children took part, with excellent results if the 6 winners are a good measure. Each finalists story was read by a the likes of Sara Cox. Jodie Whittaker and Big Zuu. On Saturday BBC Bitesize had all the readings on line.

The winners were chosen by a celebrity panel of judges; Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson, Rose Ayling-Ellis and Malorie Blackman.

Eleven-year-old Felix Twain’s life revolves around TWO. He skips every second step when he takes the stairs, he taps door handles twice and positions objects in pairs. The problem has become so bad that Felix, who suffers from autism and OCD, is on the verge of being expelled. The principal has had enough of trying to run the school around his pupil’s very specific rules.

Then Charlie Pye arrives and turns Felix world upside down. She’s grown up with very few rules – of which two wasn’t a part. She eats cereal for lunch, calls a boat home, and has a very loose interpretation of school uniform. The question is, can Felix ever learn to be wrong when he is so obsessed with being right.

This is a new edition of a bestselling title by Sally Harris and illustrated by Maria Serrano, which includes a whole new section on how to make a comic. Compiled by the husband and wife team behind Quickdraw Stories, it shows how readers can easily learn how to create their own version – like Felix Twain and Charlie Pye do in the story!

Double Felix is for 7+ and published by Wacky Bee Books