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Deborah Maclaren - Editorial Expert
LoveReading CEO and literary prize judge, championing books and reading for pleasure
Deborah is a book reviewer, passionate literacy advocate, regular speaker and presenter about the power of books and the importance of reading for pleasure.
MD of LoveReading and LoveReading4Kids since 2018, Deborah has led the brand into a new world, filled with brilliantly bookish content and the launch of an online bookstore with social purpose. Their mission to share book love and to get more people reading is a daily reality.
Deborah’s ten years governing in schools has given her a strong perspective on the issues facing our education system and she feels passionately about doing more. Deborah has been a Fellow of the RSA since 2020, she is a trustee of two children focussed charities and a judge of several awards including The Week Junior Book Awards, Coram Voices and The Shine Media Awards. She adores sharing book love.
We all absolutely loved Matt Haig's The Midnight Library, a wonderfully imaginative and deeply moving novel that reminds us just how precious life is. It's a beautiful and inspiring story that is full of hope.
Nora Seed enters The Midnight Library and is given the opportunity to experience how her life could have turned out, answering her "what ifs?" and undoing each regret she has in search of the perfect life.
An open and heartfelt tale from the briliant, emotionally cognizant Matt Haig, The Midnight Library is an entertaining story with a soul and very important lesson to ... View Full Review
I've adored The Tempest ever since studying it at secondary school and seeing it performed at the Manchester Royal Exchange. It's one of those wonderful plays that stays with you long after you've first encountered it, and returning to it reminds me just how extraordinary Shakespeare's imagination really was.
Set on a mysterious island, the story follows Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, who uses his magical powers to conjure a fierce storm and bring his enemies within his reach. What unfolds is a wonderfully rich tale of betrayal, revenge, love, forgiveness and, of course, magic. From the mischievous spirit ... View Full Review
This timeless Gothic classic, is jam-packed with mystery, suspense and psychological intrigue. Exploring the battle between good and evil and the darker side of human nature, it's a cracking introduction to Victorian literature and an essential read for young readers discovering the classics. A perennial re-read for me. View Full Review
HAPSIE is one of those rare magazines that genuinely understands what keeps children turning the pages. It doesn't try to disguise learning as fun - it simply makes reading irresistible, with the learning happening naturally along the way. Its comic-strip storytelling, memorable characters, puzzles, jokes and hands-on activities create exactly the kind of low-pressure, high-enjoyment reading experience that helps children build a lifelong reading habit. For eco-warriors everywhere it quietly weaves in themes of sustainability, science, creativity and environmental responsibility without ever feeling preachy. Published by the Clean Planet Foundation, HAPSIE combines free weekly online stories with a monthly print ... View Full Review
This is pure joy in book form. Wonderfully endearing with hilarious illustrations throughout Forest Xiao has created a hardback treasure for every loving, caring, over-protective, sensitive, emotional, and childlike parent.
Within its pages are all the joyful, panicky, painful, recognisable, and utterly wonderful moments that make up family life. It's a celebration of the little details. The tiny things that shape who we are and become the memories we cherish most as a parent. I smiled, chuckled, and laughed out loud from beginning to end, then immediately turned back to the first page to make sure I hadn't missed ... View Full Review
“We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”
George Eliot’s epigraph hangs over every page of Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s A British Childhood, a book published as his tenure as UK Children’s Laureate draws to a close. It is his first book written for adults, although for decades, whether as a novelist, screenwriter, creator of beloved children’s stories or architect of unforgettable national moments, Cottrell-Boyce has been working towards this.
Drawing on hundreds of visits to schools during his laureateship, he paints a ... View Full Review
This title is available to purchase directly from the Bloomsbury website here.
Few educational publications could be more timely. As oracy moves towards becoming a central part of educational policy and practice, 100 Ideas for Secondary Teachers: Oracy offers secondary schools a practical and comprehensive guide to embedding high-quality talk across the curriculum.
Oracy is about far more than public speaking. It encompasses learning through talk, learning how to talk and learning about talk. It enables students to listen well, collaborate effectively, develop academic language and take an active role in classroom dialogue. When embedded across a school, oracy helps increase ... View Full Review
If football is your game, then Back of the Net! is a sure-fire winner. Selected by Paul Cookson, Poet in Residence at England’s National Football Museum, this fantastic collection brings together 50 football poems from a dream team of soccer-mad poets including Roger McGough, Michael Rosen, Coral Rumble, Joshua Seigal and Paul Cookson himself. Brilliantly complemented by Martin Chatterton’s zany, energetic illustrations, this really is the GOAT in football poetry collections.
Whether you play every weekend on a proper pitch or use jumpers for goalposts in the park, there’s something here for every football fan. ... View Full Review
Two turtles can’t decide what to play - basketball? football? - before settling on a game that’s supposedly “for bears only” (though readers are sworn to secrecy in case the bears revoke the suit).
Soon there are bearsketballs made from oranges, hot lava to avoid, sticks to collect, hills to roll down and even sharks to dodge, all governed by the wonderfully elastic “usual rules” that Bearsuit Turtle seems to make up as he goes along.
The sheer silliness of the story is what makes it so charming. Childhood play, where ... View Full Review
My Little Museum: Ancient Rome is a brilliantly interactive introduction to life in Ancient Rome, created by Nosy Crow in collaboration with the British Museum. This beautifully produced concertina-style book invites children to become curators of their very own museum, using over 100 photographic stickers to build and explore their collection.
Covering four fascinating themes - from the grandeur of the Pantheon to the drama of the Colosseum, as well as Roman feasting and life as a legionary - the book offers a rich, hands-on way to discover history. The sticker object list cleverly encourages children to think like archaeologists, helping ... View Full Review
From prehistoric poop to the ingenious Ancient Romans - who built the first large-scale sewer systems and even turned toilet trips into social occasions - this book is packed with surprising facts. Discover the origins of everyday phrases like “getting the wrong end of the stick,” why a poo is called a “stool,” and how “spending a penny” became slang for going to the loo.
Travel through the grimy streets of early medieval England, where sewage could run knee-deep and proper sanitation was desperately needed. Learn about the filthy cities of Europe, the diseases ... View Full Review
He's wowed us all for years with his interactive books for kids. His New York Times best-selling creations continue to amaze, inspire and help young children fall in love with books. In an age where so many things compete for our children's attention, Tullet's creativity knows no bounds.
Known for brilliant books such as Let's Play and Press Here, this is his latest offering. Helping children play, learn, follow simple commands and understand how a book works - this is genius in its simplicity. The book takes the child on a journey, page by page, line by line, flap by ... View Full Review
