Southbank Centre’s annual multi-arts Imagine Children’s Festival returns for its seventeenth year from 7 – 18 February 2018, with twelve days of jam-packed fun over half-term week for children and their families.

With storytelling at its heart, this year’s programme includes a specially curated Royal Festival Hall event celebrating the world’s leaders and pioneers who have changed the world, to inspire the next generation of young changemakers.

The twelve day festival includes inspiring and playful events and activities from Super Hero parties, magical immersive adventures and snail friendships to dancing scientists with flatulence. With over fifty per cent of the programme free, Imagine Children’s Festival has something for all ages, with leaders from the world of theatre, literature, music, dance and visual arts, including Caroline Bowditch, CBBC’s Ben Shires & Cerrie Burnell, Charlotte Cotterill, Radio 1’s Chris Smith & Greg James, Francesca Simon, Harry Hill, Jacqueline Wilson, James Campbell, Jess Thom, Joseph Coelho, Mitch Johnson, Patrick Monahan, Robin Stevens, Yuval Zommer and many more.

The Kids Takeover also returns for another year, giving children the chance to take the reins, managing the day-to-day of the festival, from selling programmes, checking tickets to making intercom announcements. This year the Kids Takeover will be partnering with local young carers groups, offering activities to children who look after a sick or disabled relative.

Steve Antony's well-mannered and impeccable Mr Panda is back and we DEMAND our own doughnut-covered pyjamas!

Here's a fantastic and fun tale teaching children the value of working together to solve a problem. In this case a rather big red problem...

With a corking cover that instantly makes this book feel like a classic, it's time to wake up to "The Very Long Sleep" by Polly Noakes...

A fabulous story with a message that (sadly, in this day and age) may seem all too familiar to a lot of us...

Ooh now this we like! A poignant, thought provoking and ultimately joyful story with a soulful message of hope...

As well as being one of the coolest people on the planet, and one of the most interesting creatives to follow on Twitter, we think Viviane Schwarz is something of a cat-whisperer too...

Our second Picture Book of the Week this week just couldn't be ignored - a fantastic folk tale based around the very beginnings of the amazing "Silk Road" from China to the rest of the world...

Our Chapter Book of the Week this week is the sizzlingly brilliant follow-up to one of our favourite middle grade books of last year. Back with the Bland Sisters!

Our Book of the Week this week has such a fantastic core story idea that we're once again amazed that no one thought of this before...

Defaults. What are defaults? This week's ReadItTorial started to take shape after watching a Twitter discussion thread between authors around the defaults in children's books.

An article on "Why there are no female monsters" penned on The Guardian website offered up evidence of a massive imbalance between male and female lead characters in children's books (you can read the article here).

This argument feels familiar - in fact it reminds me of the exercise we conducted for an article a couple of years ago when "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls" used a piece of extremely clever, if a little misleading marketing to champion a book about important female historical figures).

We're not here to rake over those coals again, but we are here to talk about defaults and how insidious - and to be honest how insufferably BORING they are in children's books. This whole thing goes way beyond just gender issues, so once again although it's impossible not to see that huge gender bias in children's books it's also impossible not to see other annoying defaults being used again and again.

Sometimes these are visual defaults. Who owns and runs the flower shop? A female character is drawn almost automatically. Who drives the delivery van or delivers the post? Often male ("Look, the author said "postman" so I drew a man!"). Who is teaching at the nursery? A female character.

 In some instances it begins to feel like we've progressed no further than the heady days of Richard Scarry books where you'd inevitably see Mrs Rabbit at home with the kids while Farmer Rabbit was the corncob-smoking fellah out in the fields all day driving the tractor (talking about the originals here, not the hastily rejigged versions that came back into print a few years ago).

Why do these defaults still exist when children can easily see that they're not reflective of their everyday world any more.

Playing an exercise with your child, ask them the following questions about would-be children's book characters.

1) If a story contained someone being silly, would they more likely be a daddy or a mummy?

2) If someone was going out to work and someone was staying at home, which would be a man and which a lady?

3) If a children's story contained a character who was a bully, would the bully more likely be a girl than a boy?

4) Likewise, if a story contained a character who was an evil genius intent on conquering the world, male or female?

It gets even weirder when you start to dip into the animal kingdom. Animal books are usually where tinies start their reading journeys, and yet we still find the same tired old defaults coming up again and again - pretty much dooming little ones to see (and worse, adopt) those defaults as normal very very early on. Bunnies are never anything but cute, busy or wolf-fodder. Wolves - nearly always male, always up to no good, like the bullies they're just an easy lazy 'bad guy' to adopt (See also: Foxes).

Similarly, crocodiles. I think I can remember one book (see below) where a crocodile was female, kindly, mildly subversive but interesting for all those elements that broke away from the usual hungry nasty crocodile who just wants to eat everyone.

"Aunt Amelia" by awesome and wonderful Rebecca Cobb. See what happens when you ditch the defaults? Amazingness ensues!

Defaults are everywhere and it begins to feel like they are there because children's books have begun to settle into an all-too-comfortable (read: lazy) set of standards that it's very easy to adopt, but very difficult to 'sell' alternatives to.

The discussion on Twitter raised some amazing points (which really made me feel proud as a follower and fan of these people's work - for example, the fantastic scenario discussed about stuff like same-sex marriage just being 'there' in kid's books rather than being some sort of flagpole to nail an issue to).

So who is insisting on and perpetuating these defaults? Sadly, the answer to that particular spaghettified debate lies at home. Parents are the biggest influencers on their kids, and sadly there are parents out there who still seem to be cut from some itchy uncomfortable late 20th Century cloth where those hideously tired old defaults are THEIR 'norm', therefore they will be their children's 'norm' too. I have heard and seen evidence of parents banning their children from reading certain books where (picking an example out of the air) transgender issues are raised and discussed, or indeed are the main point of the story. I've also heard evidence of parents leaving snotty reviews on books like "The Boy in the Dress", making them sound like they've slipped through some time-tunnel from Victorian times into a modern world they can no longer control or shape in their own image, so they'll fight that particular fight through their kids.

It's a crying shame. Authors and Illustrators can change things, and the more those defaults are crushed under a stylishly tailored Chelsea boot or two, the better.
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Here's a gorgeous, colourful and hug-friendly book to kick off the new year with. A marvellous worldwide celebration of friendship and love.

Our very first Chapter Book Roundup of 2018 and we're back with a superb selection of new and upcoming books to tempt you in with.

Starting off with a young lady who is busily creating some of the most astonishing and amazing book worlds to play in.

Abi Elphinstone's "Skysong" is actually released today (hooray!) and if you love books filled with magic, mystery and suspense then this is really going to be your cup of Darjeeling.

In the snowy kingdom of Erkenwald, whales glide between icebergs, wolves hunt on the tundra and polar bears roam the glaciers. But the people of this land aren’t so easy to find. Because Erkenwald is ruled by the cruel Ice Queen and the tribes must stay hidden; if they are caught in the open they risk capture and imprisonment by the evil sorceress.

The story begins with Eska, a girl who breaks free from a cursed music box, and Flint, a boy whose inventions could change the fate of Erkenwald forever
It's been a few months since school detectives Howard and his erstwhile partner Ivy Mason had a really juicy case.
After a mysterious phone call, Geronimo sets off for Ratoff in spooky Transratania.
But when Zak's plane crash-lands on Outpost Zero, a small Antarctic research base in one of the most isolated places on Earth, he discovers a cold, dark nightmare.

One of the most important habitats for a huge diverse range of species, the Rainforest is definitely something that children will love learning about from a really early age.

Mischief, multicoloured mischief is the order of the day in this most unusual tale of a girl and her fabulously weird pet...

Two new fantastic Non-Fiction titles have caught our eye this week, coming from fairly newly established Non Fic imprint Walker Studios.

What must the younger generation think of the state of the world, when adults seem to make such horrible decisions about its future?

Sometimes we need simple well constructed children's books just to remind us that they are the perfect conduit for awesome life messages...

Once again we're thrilled to see what Lantana Publishing have in store for us in the coming year.

We've been in awe of three new titles coming up in March, April and May (and believe me, they'll soon whizz around so you won't really have that long to wait.

First up is "Kaya's Heart Song" by Diwa Tharan Sanders and Nerina Canzi.

This delightful and gentle story offers up a sublime slice of mindfulness, particularly needed by children who increasingly have so much to deal with in their young lives.

Kaya is looking for her heart song - the song that happy hearts sing. 

Gorgeous, gorgeous artwork and a thought provoking story. "Kaya's Heart Song"

School is over and Nimesh is about to walk home. 

You can be whoever you want to be, if you just use a little imagination! "Nimesh the Adventurer"

All the stars in the sky. Stunning artwork in "You're Safe with Me"

Simon James' books are always quirky, original but always have a heartfelt message tucked away inside...

Our YA / Grown-Ups Comic of the Week kicking off 2018 is the latest in a long-running Saga. Oh god, yes the jokes do get worse from hereon in..."Saga Volume 8" by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples...

Our Chapter Book of the Week sees the glorious return of our favourite feathered friend and his trusty sidekick. Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey are back with "Dave Pigeon (Racer!)"

Once again it's been a sheer delight to hear C cackling like a drain every 5 seconds while reading a book.

This time, we catch up with Dave and Skipper, who are uprooted from their nice comfy abode with "The Human Lady".

Stuffed into a shoebox (not the best place to be when your best friend is a big fat pigeon with stinky feet who isn't averse to a bit of 'pigeon-spreading') Dave and Skipper are off to the Pawsville Vets for some much needed medical attention for poor Dave's broken wing. At least that's what they thought...

Instead, the two find themselves living in a pet shop instead, with some very odd characters indeed.

There's Jet the Dog - who is a bit too energetic for such a small space.

Cricket Ball Face the Hamster. You'll have to read the book to find out quite why the poor mite has such an unfortunate (yet fitting) nickname.

Worst of all is Mickey Lightning, a worthy adversary indeed - and one who Dave soon finds himself drawn into a crazy challenge with. Dave firmly believes he can somehow turn his slightly podgy over-fed body into that of a prime racing pigeon - speedy enough to take on Mickey Lightning in a race for fortune and glory (or at least a lion's share of the scoff at dinner time!)

There's one slight obstacle in the way of Dave's imagined glory though and despite a lot of help from friends old and new, Dave's situation seems hopeless. It's just not going to be easy for a rotund feathery fellah to transform into a sleek racing machine!

I think we both felt a bit guilty from christmas over-indulgence reading this one, and definitely felt distinctly Dave-like after one too many Quality Street sessions. So this is not only brilliantly timed, it's once again the perfect combination of pant-wettingly funny storytelling, hilarious and characterful artwork and a durned good read to boot! Thoroughly recommended!

"Dave Pigeon (Racer!)" by Swapna Haddow and Sheena Dempsey is out now, published by Faber and Faber (kindly supplied for review)

There's still a chill in the air as we think about our Book of the Week winners for this week, so here's a perfect wintry tale of a wolf who wants to go it alone...