Author: Rachel Shelley
November 2025
Childhood books inspire not only golden hues of nostalgia, they also impart special meaning at an impressionable age, helping shape the way we experience and view the world. What could be more intimate than meandering down memory lane with some much-loved public figures, to explore the children’s books they’ve loved the most.
Delivering not quite the soundtrack of their lives, but the literary yarns that knit them together. A kind of Desert-Island-Discs of children’s books So who better to kick us off than the lovely Lauren Laverne?
In our first episode, we were thrilled to discover that the home of young Lauren Laverne was stuffed with books and music, ultimately enticing her to become the Patron of our charity. Stephen and his sister Anita Mangan riffed on an entertaining and beautifully bizarre retirement plan to become a very idle bookseller by the sea, and Clare Balding shared her deep, emotional connection with animals via Black Beauty and War Horse. The Baddiel brothers cavorted in poo stories (shiterature, anyone?) but also revelled in football as Matt and Tom Oldfield, authors of the Ultimate Football Heroes series, harnessed the passion and power of sport to connect with young, reluctant readers.
This week’s joyful episode is with the wonderful TV Chef, author and bibliophile Andi Oliver. Andi shares intimate revelations about books that emotionally saved her life during racism in the 1970s and celebrates finding solace in stories such as the Chronicles of Narnia. Next week, it’s the turn of the spoken-word internet phenomenon that is Suli Breaks, in another powerful conversation with our host Rachel Parris.
Our last episode in this series features an animated panel of award-winning novelists led by Tracy Chevalier, who invited Jessie Burton, Patrice Lawrence and Francesca Simon to reflect on the children’s books that shape and influence their writing, recorded live in front of an enthusiastic studio audience.
Each episode is a fascinating listen and along the way we share our message of book donation and re-homing, the work of The Children’s Book Project, and how families can get involved.
