I hope that we can all be creative in these next several months to try and have virtual events together perhaps and to make plans for when we can all meet up in person again. I loved creating the world of Big Forest with its newspaper ‘ News of the Wild’. We wanted to make all the characters really distinct and give them all a chance to shine. The world they inhabit has to seem real too. You have to feel at home there. But always we are looking for the ridiculous.

CWISL (Children’s Writers and Illustrators for Stories and Literacy), Herne Hill Station Hall, Herne Hill Forum and Tales on Moon Lane bookshop were all involved in the creation and running of the festival. We all hope to take it forward to continue to connect local kids with authors and illustrators. You are an actor as well as a writer, does this inform your writing and events at all? Conversely, do you feel your writing influences your acting?Candy Gourlay and I run the PULSE strand of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) events which is aimed at our published authors. As you know SCBWI British Isles as a whole and PULSE specifically have been keen to connect more with librarians especially YLG. We have done some fun joint events so far (pre pandemic) and hope to do joint panels, talks, socials and even conferences perhaps in the future. I think we both have so many common goals, promoting reading for pleasure especially and also just getting the right books in the hands of the right kids. Librarians work that voodoo. They are the people who, if given the opportunity, can impact a child’s reading life immensely. Authors and Illustrators are the content makers. We put our ideas and words and pictures out there into the world but feel powerless sometimes about how we can get those words and pictures into he hands of our future readers. Librarians and Authors (writers and Illustrators) truly have a symbiotic relationship. We are hoping to run the story making contest ( stories can be told in word, drawing or video) this year and we’ll have to see if circumstances allow us to hold any in person festival events.

Something fishy is going on at the South Shore. Folks just disappear and are never seen again. But when Agent Moose learns that a key witness has gone missing, he and Owlfred ride to the rescue. Will they find the missing turtle before time runs out? Brilliantly illustrated by the winner of the 2021 Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Award for A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu and You. Our Book of the Month for children aged 5+ is the latest title in the Agent Moose series, Operation Owl. We absolutely love this series, it’s so funny and punny, and Agent Moose truly does for spies what our beloved Dog Man does for superheroes. There’s some lovely inventive funny moments with ‘ News of the Wild’ and it feels a well realised habitat filled with humour and fun, how much world building was involved? The winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023 have been announced, with one winner from each of the four categories announced: Picture book, Children...

Anonymoose and Owlfred (special agents for Woodland HQ) are one case away from solving their 100 th case. Then Camo Cameleon (Agent Moose’s arch rival) solves his 100 th case first. Anonymoose is not amused. When they travel to Camo Cameleon’s patch to find a missing witness from Camo’s last case- everything is not as it seems. Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child...