Varjak Paw – The Musical!

Earlier this year, I had the enormous pleasure of visiting Mercenfeld Primary.  The brilliant teacher who invited me, Amber Rao, told me they were planning to stage a musical version of Varjak Paw.  And they did: it was staged at the end of last term!

I heard all about it on Twitter, where people were saying it was the best show they'd ever seen.  I was absolutely knocked out when I saw the pictures: it looks seriously brilliant.  So here are some of them, with huge thanks to Amber and everyone at Mercenfeld for making such a fantastic show from my book – I am so honoured!!!

PS! Mercenfeld have now posted a video of the Varjak Paw musical!

The Top 10 Children's Books Of All Time

I was asked to vote in a BBC poll to find the top 10 children's books of all time.  I found it impossible to pick 10; whatever I chose, brilliant books got left out!  So I know this list is problematic, and I might choose another 10 books on another day.  But I'm in favour of anything that celebrates children's books, and reminds us how many classics the field has produced.  So here's my list, in chronological order.  What would be on your top 10?

THE JUNGLE BOOKS

by Rudyard Kipling (1893-5)

THE STORY OF THE TREASURE SEEKERS

by E Nesbit (1899)

THE LITTLE PRINCE

by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943)

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

by CS Lewis (1950)

A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA

by Ursula Le Guin (1968)

CHARLOTTE SOMETIMES

by Penelope Farmer (1969)

WATERSHIP DOWN

by Richard Adams (1972)

MATILDA

by Roald Dahl (1988)

THE STORY OF TRACY BEAKER

by Jacqueline Wilson (1991)

HIS DARK MATERIALS

by Philip Pullman (1995-2000)