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If you’re looking for children’s books and you want to make sure they reflect the world around us, I urge you to check out Inclusive Books for Children.

This wonderful new website collects hundreds of diverse and inclusive books with full information on each title. You can search for books by age range or category and they even have helpful lists on key topics like ‘Disability visibility’, ‘Girls can be anything!’ and ‘Top-rated read alouds’.

Each book has been carefully selected by expert reviewers, so you can be sure you’re getting the best the publishing world has to offer. Go take a look now!

Popping back on here with a brief recap of the year.

Life continues to get in the way of writing somewhat, but I was pleased to complete two new projects this year, of which I hope to share news in 2023.

Sadly, Covid again restricted my theatre visits but I was very glad to catch David Eldridge’s Middle at the National Theatre, a deeply poignant two-hander about the choices we face at the middle of life’s journey.

Of the new(ish) books I read this year, I relished Alejandro Zambra’s magnificent Chilean Poet (translated by Megan McDowell), full of invention and insight, and Pat Barker’s The Women of Troy, a bleak exposure of the wreckage of war.

And of the slightly older books I caught up on, I loved Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie’s extraordinary Half of a Yellow Sun. I’ve also been enjoying Elizabeth Strout’s touching and beautifully observed Amgash novels.

Finally, the Jericho Prize for new Black-British children’s authors is running again. The deadline for picture book submissions is 9 January 2023. I’m delighted still to be involved with this important competition providing comprehensive, lasting support for Black-British writers.

Wishing you all the best for 2023. Let’s make it a good one.