Our daily lives affect animals and the environment in many ways, some of which are obvious, others we may not realise. Is it possible to live kindly and minimise the harm we do? Can we opt out of cruelty altogether? Find out more on this new page.

I was very sad to hear that K M Peyton (Kathy) died on 19th December, aged 94. She was a wonderful writer, and a pioneer of young adult fiction in the 1970s and 80s. I owe her not only the inspiration to write for this age group but also for her kind permission to continue her Flambards quartet into the present-day, with The Key to Flambards. On the separate page for this book, I've written about how I came to be friends with Kathy and about the various elements of the Flambards books that attracted me to them. 

She was a much-loved author who created unforgettable characters and stories, and achieved the amazing feat of publishing books across eight decades. My tribute to her is here. 

'Don't throw it away - there is no away!' This was an advertising slogan from, erm, Shell, the oil giant. It's a good message, though. This book - which started life as a single-word 'concept' book - encourages upcycling, creativity, sharing, growing and fun. 

The charming illustrations are by Katie Rewse. Find out more about Katie and her work here.

Rubbish? is published by the brilliant Otter-Barry Books.

I'm delighted that THIS BOOK IS CRUELTY FREE - ANIMALS AND US has been chosen for the 2022 Read for Empathy Guide, alongside great fiction and non-fiction titles. Find out more from Empathy Lab, download the whole collection and follow #ReadforEmpathy for updates, especially on Empathy day on 9th June!

Click here for my selection of books about animals, nature and protest. 

I'm keen to support independent booksellers and am lucky to have three excellent ones within range. Buying or ordering directly from the shops is of course the best way to support them, but if you do need to order on line, Bookshop.org lets you support local booksellers too. Look them up to see what they can offer, and what titles they're recommending. You can look up authors and illustrators, too - we can have our own 'shops'. Here's mine, where my various lists (growing ... compiling them at odd moments is hard to resist) include books I recommend, what's on my reading pile, categories such as the First World War, as well as my own titles by category.

Click here to visit!

I was so delighted with this Tweet from Dr Rebecca Garcia Lucas, teacher and children's book specialist, that I asked if I could post it here - she kindly agreed.

Published by David Fickling Books, with lovely cover art by Katie Harnett. 

The launch was held at Copped Hall, near Epping - which I have fictionalised as Graveney Hall in The Shell House. Kathy Peyton, author of the wonderful Flambards quartet from which this grew, was of course the guest of honour - here we are in the mansion, with David Fickling. Launch photography is by Chris Normandale.

"Poignant, thoughtful ... Newbery's teenagers feel somewhat old-fashioned, but her sensitive portrayal of grief and recovery is superlative." Imogen Russell Williams, The Guardian

6 CHELSEA WALK is the new series title for what used to be called HISTORICAL HOUSE - six separate stories, two each written by Adele Geras, Ann Turnbull and myself. The whole series is being relaunched by Usborne, each story coinciding with a significant anniversary, and with this lovely new cover art by Tiziana Longo.

Read more on the Middle Grade fiction page.