A British Childhood is at once a searing account of our failure to look after the nations most vulnerable citizens, and a call to arms to all of us to protect the innocence of childhood.
During his time as Childrens Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce visited schools that had been forced to make permanent homes in temporary buildings, where teachers doubled up as social workers, therapists and nutritionists. He talked to children abandoned within the prison system, seen to have forfeited their right to the second chance a good education might provide. He met families shuttled from one hotel room to another as they awaited the outcome of asylum decisions. And he talked to the extraordinary array of people working to change the fortunes of the young people around them.
These encounters prompted him to reflect on his own upbringing in Merseyside, the difference literature made to his early years, and how, during his lifetime, childhood in Britain has been transformed. He shows how the connections we make and the sense of community are so vital to our future adult selves, and how, in the twenty-first century, these connections have become increasingly frayed.
Arvustused
Young readers could not have a better advocate than Frank Cottrell-Boyce * The Guardian * Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Waterstones Children's Laureate, 2024 - 2026) is an absolute genius -- BookTrust Frank Cottrell-Boyce is an enchanter * New Statesman *
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In this searing, moving work of non-fiction, Frank Cottrell-Boyce tells the story of 21st century childhoods in Britain. Through deeply illuminating stories of real lives in homes, libraries, schools and the streets across the country he shows our children, and ourselves in a glaring new light.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, UK Childrens Laureate 20242026, is a multi-award-winning childrens book author and screenwriter. Millions, his debut childrens novel, won the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal. His other books include Cosmic, Framed, The Astounding Broccoli Boy, Sputniks Guide to Life on Earth, Runaway Robot, Noahs Gold and The Wonder Brothers. His books have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes, including the Guardian Childrens Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Childrens Fiction Award, the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award. Along with Danny Boyle, he devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. He lives in Merseyside with his family.
