Creative writing and fiction articles

Time travel is a topic that will never cease to captivate kids' imaginations. Ancient Rome, Victorian Britain, where would you time travel to? We've collected some of our favourite time travelling and time slip novels for children that will keep their noses buried in their books and excited for the next chapter. Enjoy!

Who wouldn't want to live in worlds of floating castles, wizards and dragons, talking horses and endless summer nights? Writer Richard Lambert, author of The Wolf Road and Shadow Town, picks his favourite children's books set in an alternate reality to help your child find their own favourite land of magic and enchantment.

In the past children were often discouraged from reading graphic novels because they weren’t seen as ‘real’ books but, in fact, the vocabulary, storylines and humour are highly sophisticated and offer reluctant readers a brilliant introduction to the world of books. Children’s book expert and founder of children’s book review platform Toppsta, Georgina Atwell, picks 10 of the best to capture children’s imagination.

With plots to uncover, mysteries to solve and codes to break you'll need to work hard to join the best junior detectives and super-smart sleuths in children's literature. Puzzle your way through our pick of the best detective stories for KS2 kids.

Actor, children’s author and former CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell shares what it was like growing up with a disability, and why children’s books need more disabled characters.

Whether your child is just learning to read and print letters or looking for ways to put their creative writing skills to the test, we've rounded up some fantastic resources to help them practise phonics, grammar, story-writing and comic-creating at home. Plus there are loads of different ways to connect with authors and listen to stories.

Learning to use a dictionary is an important curriculum skill and will help your child expand their vocabulary. Here's how to help them find their way around it.

The Cricket World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. If your child has been inspired, harness their enthusiasm with our pick of the best books for kids who love cricket, chosen by primary school teacher and children's literature enthusiast Scott Evans. These cricket-focused reads will knock them for six!

Get your magnifying glass out and your thinking cap on: our selection of the best detective stories and books for KS1 kids will keep you guessing until the very last page! Packed with illustrations and plot twists, this selection of sleuth reads is perfect for newly confident readers.

Writing book reviews can help your child engage more deeply with what they're reading, find their next favourite series or author and develop their writing skills. Georgina Atwell, founder of kids' book review website Toppsta, offers her tips for helping your child share their love of reading with other bookworms.

As crime and thrillers fill the adult shelves of most bookshops, it is no wonder that this genre for children is going from strength to strength. Immerse yourself in clue-hunting and who-dunnit sleuthing with this choice of classic and magical mysteries from primary school teacher and children's literature reviewer Scott Evans.

From modern-English retellings to comic-book versions of the plays, there are wonderful books available to help you introduce Shakespeare's timeless stories to your primary-school child. Will you read The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream or Hamlet together at bedtime tonight?

If your child, like millions of others worldwide, is spellbound by Hogwarts and dreams of shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley and being sorted by the Sorting Hat, they might find any non-Potter reads unappealing. We asked primary teacher and children's literature reviewer Scott Evans to share his picks of the best books for J K Rowling fans to ensure that the reading magic continues.

From the Gruffalo to Harry Potter, there's an app for just about every much-loved children's book character. We've rounded up our favourites.

A wide vocabulary is a good indicator of how well your child will perform academically, but how can you tell if they’re on track?

Take a step back in time when Britain was being regularly invaded to find out more about the fearless raiders who travelled by sea in their long ships to settle here and who have left their mark on today's society. Primary school teacher and children's literature lover Scott Evans shares his pick of the best Viking historical fiction that will capture children's interest in this most interesting and exciting (and sometimes bloodthirsty!) of times.

Terrifying ogres, nasty pirates, a rainforest adventure, two evil toy thieves and a ghostly boarding school make these books the perfect choice for sharing with your eight year old. Snuggle up and get reading!

Ancient secret societies, a Stone Age boy and an Edwardian girl, a planet terrorised by jelly-like creatures and a 'practically perfect' nanny make these books the ideal twentieth-century classic reading choices for children in Key Stage 2.

When you find an author you love you want to share your discovery with everyone – including the next generation! Thankfully lots of the world's best-selling adult authors have also written junior fiction so you can get the kids hooked on John Grisham or Jenny Colgan sooner rather than later!