Clarice Bean gives us a snapshot of her life and family in the book that launched a bestselling series.

Charlie and Lola - Series 1: 7. But That Is My Book - BBC Charlie and Lola - Series 1: 7. But That Is My Book - BBC

Annie loved this book. The illustration is bright, clear and fun. She loves the TV series too, but I much prefer her reading the books.

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Tom Beattie, Betti Doherty, Alistair Douglas, Catherine T. Elliot, Tim Fehrenbach, Claudia Lloyd, James O'Shea, Caroline Parkinson, Mark Patterson, Steve Perkins, Kitty Taylor, Clare Winkworth, Andrew Zein. Share Charlie and Lola's world. Play games, listen to stories, watch clips and find craft activites.

I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato (Charlie and Lola) I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato (Charlie and Lola)

Lola is really, really excited about looking after the school guinea pig, Bert. Lola loves playing with Bert, and she and Charlie even build him his very own guinea-pig run! But when Bert goes missing, Lola soon discovers that she knows something about Bert that no one else has even thought of . . . They look just like carrots to me,” says Lola.“But how can they be carrots,” I say. “Carrots don’t grow on Jupiter.” E.H. Shepherd was of course the famous illustrator of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books, and Child’s characters and stories in many ways echo Milne’s writing as well as Shepherd’s illustrations. Like Milne, she captures the humorous idiosyncrasies of human nature, in characters who appeal to both children and adults. She is often described as having a fascination with childhood, yet it is more than this, for it encompasses an exploration of human nature as a whole. Child’s titles, particularly those in the ‘Charlie and Lola’ series, appear at first glance to be toddler-like statements, yet they also capture the ‘inner child’ that most adults (if they are being honest) will recognise in themselves. I Will Not Ever, Never Eat a Tomato (2000), But Excuse Me That Is My Book (2005) and I Absolutely Must Do Colouring-In Now (2006) encapsulate both child-nature and adult-nature with the same comical insight that is evident in Eeyore’s glumness, Piglet’s excitability and Pooh’s pondering. Perhaps the delight of such books, and the reason they appeal to adults as well as children, is that they bridge the gulf between childhood and adulthood, encouraging adults to identify and embrace their own childlike qualities, while also celebrating those qualities in children. My eldest loves Charlie and Lola, so when she saw this in the library she had to have it. When I read it to her, she was putting the voice on just like Lola and charlie. Even days later she was still repeating some of the lines from the book. Child decided that each Charlie and Lola story would focus on the small, everyday issues that feature in the lives of young children and yet resonate with adults as well, such as likes and dislikes, envy and fear:The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. In Child’s series, the focus is completely on the endearing sibling relationship between seven-year-old Charlie and his sister Lola, who is nearly five. As Charlie tells us:

Charlie and Lola - Penguin Books UK Charlie and Lola - Penguin Books UK

Sometimes nothing beats a classic. Here'es a list of classic books to share with your toddler or younger child, some of which you may have enjoyed when you were little. Lauren Child cites her artistic inspirations as E.H. Shepherd, Quentin Blake, Carl Larssen (the Swedish illustrator) and Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeleine books. Children's animation. Join brother and sister, Lola and Charlie, as they deal with everyday topics. Lola cannot find her favourite book at the library. More Her manifesto is launched the week after a six-year project from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education found that using picture books in primary schools, and making drawing part of the learning process, improves children’s writing and reading skills. The Power of Pictures project saw over 7,000 children and 318 schools across the UK take part in a course designed to help teachers use picture books, understand the process that goes into developing picture books and foster relationships between authors and schools. The project resulted in higher reading scores, and higher writing self-efficacy and writing creativity scores for children in the programme.

My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Never Fall Out (TV episode title: I Do Not Ever Never Want My Wobbly Tooth to Fall Out) We publish a Literature Newsletter when we have news and features on UK and international literature, plus opportunities for the industry to share. The first book, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (US title, later printing with Greenaway Medal seal, 2000)