October, October: WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022

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Gradually, though, as Dad slowly recovers in hospital, October starts to adjust to her tamed city life, making friends with a boy in her class and discovering the semi-wildness that is mudlarking on the Thames. Slowly, October lets her mum in to her heart, and life starts to change for the better. Can October and Dad ever return to the wild? Or are there some things about the city that aren’t so bad after all? Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... I think the knowledge that things aren't always perfect, and things don't always turn out how you expect, but that that's okay. You can find wonderful things in unexpected moments.

When I was planning the book, I couldn't decide what to call my main character. I tried lots of nature names and nothing seemed to fit. I wanted to connect her to the world she knew and I also wanted her name to be unusual. It made sense that a child growing up outside of conventional society would have a slightly strange name. The name October popped into my head and it just worked.KATYA: I have a good memory of my own childhood, and I’m a bit of a sponge when it comes to people. I have always, always loved reading, watching, learning, about other people’s lives. I think that really helped me form realistic responses and thought processes, because I’ve absorbed so many. From author Katya Balen for children aged 9-12 years is one of the most beautiful stories that has been published this Autumn. The critics are describing it as a future classic and our young reviewer certainly agrees that it is an amazing book that has been published by Bloomsbury. I adore the character development and characters in general, like how October gradually learns to love her mother and her father, as well as the fact that she learns you just have to let some things go. I also love the humour woven into the fabric of the story. You feel for the characters, and some parts make you smile while others make you feel a character’s sadness. I love the additions of real London facts and the wild side of the big city.

I think it's important to show that there are many different types of families, and many different types of parents. Sometimes being apart is better for everyone but it's obviously still really hard. We would love to see you enjoying the resources using #OctoberOctober and tagging KidsBloomsbury and readingagency. An unforgettable story, an unforgettable heroine – it’s no exaggeration to hail this a future classic. In this story of hope and endurance, we follow a scientist and her team during their search for the elusive 'Giant Arctic Jellyfish'.October is also a storyteller who sometimes struggles to find and tell her own story. Do you hope that her determination to do so might help children to recognise they can help shape their own stories - and future? I had to include the full fold-out version of the cover by Angela Harding as I just feel it deserves to be seen in its full glory!) Angela Harding is a fine artist specialising in nature and wildlife screen-prints as well as lino and vinyl cuts. Her beautiful prints appear in a huge range of galleries and have also been featured in Gardens Illustrated, BBC Countryfile and Country Living. This is what language can do - tell a story that burns with intense, furious passion, and yet be so disciplined that one never doubts, not for one moment, the emotional truths driving it. This song of the wild and of our most profound human longings is deeply moving, deeply satisfying, and it's my children's book of the year. - Kevin Crossley-Holland

October, October by Katya Balen is truly a feast for all the senses. The words are so beautifully written that the book makes you feel part of the natural beauty that October lives and breathes every day, as well as a part of the wild whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods. This book brings to life the meaning of the word 'wild' and its juxtaposition with comparisons from the natural world and the consumers world. The judges called the book an “evocative exploration of what it means to be truly alive and wholly human”. October, October also won the Shadowers’ Choice award for her category, voted for by young people across the UK. A review by Emily Bearn in The Telegraph of The Light in Everything states, "One of the challenges in children’s fiction is making difficult subjects palatable, without rendering them bland. Balen triumphs: what unfolds here is a deceptively complex story, in which she explores themes of grief and abandonment through the unfiltered voices of two children on the cusp of adolescence." [13] Carolyn Boyd writes in a review for The School Librarian, "Although the plot is about a blended family, the true centre is people learning to deal with their feelings. Balen's wise, supportive text guides both the characters and the reader through the storms to a safe haven." [14] KATYA: Yes, I thought it was important because it’s the kind of situation that affects so many children. It’s really normal, and because of that maybe we can forget that it isn’t easy. I think it’s good for children to be able to read their own lives and feel less alone, and for children who aren’t in that situation to grow their empathy and understanding. That’s the best result I can ever hope for when a child reads my books. Eleven year old October – named for the month she was born in – lives in the forest with her dad. She refuses to see her mum who lives far away in London and, in October’s eyes, abandoned her and her dad. Yet October is happy with the way things are – she doesn’t go to school, preferring to live as wild as she can in the woods, learning about nature and doing things the old-fashioned way with Dad.I think when you're about October's age you start to realise your parents are actually real people who make mistakes or have their own wishes and wants. October's mum couldn't handle the wild life, but she loves October very much. October has to face up to the fact that not wanting to live in the woods doesn't make her mother a bad person, and that the world outside her woods isn't as terrible as she'd always feared. That's a huge challenge for October. Absolutely! And you don't have to live in the countryside to connect with nature - I live in London and since writing this book I see nature all over. Birds and foxes, trees and flowers, tiny woods and big green parks. There are hidden corners of nature everywhere. Go and be wild! Gideon Sterer is an American author whose books include Skyfishing, illustrated by Poly Bernatene, Not Your Nest, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi, From Ed’s to Ned’s, illustrated by Ruth Cummins, and The Night Knights, illustrated by Cory Godbey, which has been optioned by Sony Pictures. Gideon grew up in the woods of upstate New York, where his parents owned a little zoo where he would run around after-hours and let the animals out.

Readers learn a lot about owls, too, through October's story - why did you choose an owl to help October better understand some of the changes in her life? Danica Novgorodoff’s illustrated edition of Jason Reynold’s 2019 Carnegie-shortlisted book, Long Way Down (Faber) wins the Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal – the first graphic novel to win since Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas in 1973. It is her debut children’s book published in the UK and is an “innovative” adaptation of the original verse novel of gun violence and grief written by 2021 Yoto Carnegie Medal winner, Jason Reynolds ( Look Both Ways). The book features hundreds of “stunning” watercolours depicting the decision that 15-year-old Will must make when his brother is shot. Concannon, Ruth (19 May 2023). "Sunshine on the bookshelf: The best books for children and teens this month". Irish Examiner. ProQuest 2815639232 Jennifer Horan, chair of judges, said the winning titles “provide outstanding reading experiences for young people”.Mariachiara Di Giorgio is an illustrator, storyboard artist and concept designer from Rome, Italy. She created her first picture book, the wordless Professional Crocodile, with writer Giovanna Zoboli in 2017. She admitted to feeling sorry for Bloomsbury when she pitched these vague ideas for a book but she is adamant that she is not a planner and that the books reveal themselves as she writes. She describes waking ‘in a cold sweat’ sometimes, wondering what she would write the next day. Writing is a ‘tortuous process’ but she is very disciplined, writing 1000 words a day and by taking time over crafting those words her first drafts are relatively clean by they time they reach her editor. She wanted me to go to school and spend my weekends with her far away, but then when would I ever be wild and free and climb trees and scavenge for treasure and tell stories by a fire? The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit membership organisation set up by writers, for writers.