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In this gripping investigation of children’s fiction, award-winning author Katherine Rundell makes a passionate argument for a literature that is often underrated, yet whose magic can live on inside us for the rest of our lives. The best children’s books need to be good enough both for the hungriest child and the wisest, sharpest adult. In the second of five original essays about children’s fiction, Katherine reveals how the fashion of writing for younger readers has changed - from the moral instruction of the earliest literature, telling children what to do and who to obey, to books that offered children intellectual freedom and huge worlds. Katherine explores the visions of some of the greatest writers, including Tove Jansson, CS Lewis and Tolkein. She discovers a world of literature that opens up spaces of imagination that can enchant or terrify, introducing us to characters and ideas that captivate us. Katherine Rundell is an acclaimed writer for children, winning Author of the Year and Book of the Year for Impossible Creatures at the British Book Awards 2024, and winner of the Costa Children’s Book Award. Written and presented by Katherine Rundell Producer: Jo Glanville Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Co-ordinator: Heather Dempsey Studio Engineer: Dan King A Loftus Media production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4 Photo credit: Nina Subin