Confession time… I seem to have misplaced an entire week of March.
Somewhere between our household lergy-fest and the excitement of World Book Day, it just… vanished. But as they say, the best-laid plans and all that. (Although, to be fair, I’m not entirely sure mine were ever that well laid… anyone else have days—weeks—like that? 😄)

ANYWAY… very exciting blog today.

We’ve got the results from last week’s ⚔️ Battle of the Books AND a brilliant 📖 Storyteller session with the incredible author and all-round fantastic human, Patrice Lawrence. I genuinely can’t wait to share our Q&A!

But first…

⚔️ Battle of the Books – Results!

A huge thank you to all our contestants. We went slightly rogue this time and hosted our first family vs author showdown!

The Harley Family went head-to-head with Cruise Ship Kid author Emma Swan.
Horrible Histories: Cruel Kings and Mean Queens battled Dragonflare by Jamie Hammond.

Both excellent choices, with some very persuasive arguments on both sides.

However, as we know, in battle there can only be one winner… and this time, the victors were the valiant Harley Family! The gore, the humour… Horrible Histories really does have it all.

Congratulations Harley Family! 🥳🥳🥳

That said…please do give both books a go!
Jamie Hammond’s Dragonflare is packed with adventure, humour and heart, and is out on 7th May 2026. You heard it here first… (or, alright, maybe you didn’t..but this is your sign to read it anyway!🐲)

Now on to this month’s Storyteller Patrice Lawrence. Patrice is an award-winning author who writes across all ages, from picture books to powerful young adult fiction. her storytelling continues to reach new audiences with her debut adult novel Wildfire (a historical novel inspired by the life of dancer, singer and actress Josephine Baker) out next year.
Her work is known for its warmth, honesty and emotional depth, often exploring themes of identity, belonging and resilience.
Before writing full time, she worked in family law. Something which runs so intrinsically through her stories. Patrice is also a passionate advocate for social justice, using both her books and her platform to tackle issues like racism in the criminal justice system and to champion empathy, representation and understanding.
On a personal note, I was fortunate to see Patrice work her magic at the Barnes (now London) Children’s Literature Festival at a schools event. Her wonderful honesty and open nature are matched by her kindness, warmth and passion for making stories and books accessible to all. There is so much to say but rather than have me ramble on and fanning out indefinitely, it’s probably far more interesting to read Patrice’s story in own words!

When you were a child, was there a particular book or story you would read over and over again?
I loved Wind in the Willows. Even now when I pass a riverbank, I imagine animals out boating and sharing picnics. I identified with Mole. Probably because I’m very short sighted and like to burrow myself away. 

(Editor: love this….Wind in The Willows was a special book in my own childhood memory bank. Every time I hear a car beep I think of Mr Toad!)

Is there anything from your childhood that influences your writing now?
I’ve never lived in a ‘traditional’ family, either as a adult or child. My unmarried parents split up before I was born and my mother paid for me to live with a different family in a private fostering arrangement until she’d finished her nurse training and had found somewhere for us to live.* My Italian stepdad helped bring me up from the age of four. I can’t remember reading any childhood books with lone parents or multi-ethnic families. It made me feel a bit of an outsider. So I always have many different type of families in my books. 

Fun Fact! *The actor, Benedict Cumberbatch’s, grandma was my mum’s landlady for a while. I remember her being very kind.

Have you come across any books or authors published in recent years that you think “I would have loved this as a kid?
So many! It’s such a joy to see books where children from a range of backgrounds are main characters. When I was growing up, it never occurred to me that a working class, Black kid like me could be a hero in a published book sold in a bookshop – let alone write books!  So middle grade books by authors like Malorie Blackman and Sharna Jackson would have been like treasure for me. But I also love Patrick Ness’s Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody and Pil Van Martin’s The Spick and Span. They’re both very funny but also touch on real life challenges.

You worked for more than 20 years with charities and not for profit organisations that focus on social justice, children’s rights and family support. Did this work influence the writing you do today and is there a particular story character who embodies that influence? Someone you hope your readers will remember?
I begin writing most books in a state of fury! My rage threads through nearly all of my stories, but most obviously in Needle. Charlene is a 15-year-old Black girl placed in foster care after her mum died. Her younger sister, Kandi, lives with Kandi’s dad. He thinks Charlene is a disruptive influence and doesn’t want Kandi to see her. Charlene is sad and angry. Charlene’s foster mum’s son deliberately unravels the blanket Charlene’s been knitting for Kandi. In a moment of fury, Charlene stabs him with a knitting needle in the web of skin between his thumb and first finger. Charlene refuses to apologise – because she isn’t sorry. She’s arrested and ends up drawn into the criminal justice system…

The book was inspired by being part of a group advising an organisation that was writing an anti-racist guide for lawyers. (Statistics show the Black people, including children, received harsher treatment in the criminal justice system than white people who commit the same offences.) Needle was shortlisted for the Carnegie medal and is used to train lawyers about working with vulnerable children.

There isn’t an age range your books don’t cover!
Everything from picture books like Is That Your Mama and Granny Ting, to early readers, middle grade The Elemental Detectives, historical eg. Granny Came Here On the Empire Windrush and YA such as Orange Boy & Needle. Then next year you even have your first adult book out Wildfire!

How do you juggle between these different age groups and genres in your mind? 
My mind’s always bursting with ideas so it feels natural to jump between genres and different age groups. I also get bored quite easily so it actually helps me to have different books to work on at the same time. (I also have many, many notebooks.)

What moments have stood out as hurdles or highlights in your journey?
Looking back, the time around the publication of Orangeboy was quite a steep learning curve. I was working full time and often writing and editing Indigo Donut, my second young adult book, on the bus and train to work. I was expected to deliver author events in schools, but had no idea what that meant! No author had ever come to my school when I was a child and I had no idea what authors actually did in schools now. But I learned…

It was a joy to win various awards for Orangeboy. They gave me the confidence to become a full time writer. I’ve travelled around the country… England, Scotland, Wales and beyond! Including Ireland, Italy, Hong Kong, America. But best of all, I’ve made some fabulous friends.

The Kids’ Storyworld theme for March is Share A Story. In today’s society, what do you see as the biggest differences or challenges for parents trying to encourage a love of storytelling and reading, compared to when you first started writing? Do you have any guidance for them?
Genuinely… I think it’s stress. We’ve endured a global pandemic, a cost of living crisis and for me, as a person of colour and the child of immigrants, I’ve found some of the public opinions about immigrants and other groups of people both frightening and upsetting. I imagine that many families are struggling to pay bills and keep a hold on their mental wellbeing.

I always saw books and stories as an escape from the real world. Parents and carers can start by making up stories along with children – in the car, on a bus, standing in a queue. Adults can tell stories about their own childhood. And bed time stories can be glorious if they’re not viewed as a chore! I used to find it relaxing for me as well as my child. They’re a moment of shared love.

And just for fun…

Imagine you’re trapped in a dark alley. Which villain or creature from the Elemental Detectives series would you be most afraid to encouter and which one do you think you’d have a chance against?
Ahh! I tried to make them all a bit indestructible! I could possibly defeat a shard beast if I was holding a very large shield made from vibranium. The tithe master with the coat made from living swans would scare me into a faint.

You’re stuck on a train that’s being held indefinitely due to a signal failure.
Which 2 book characters  (1 of yours and 1 from any other children’s author) would you most want sitting in your carriage for company?
I’d love to be with Becks from Eight Pieces of Silver. I gave her most of my fandoms and nerdery. We’d have a great conversation. I’d also like Skrimsli, Nicola Davies’ tiger boat captain. He’d have some great tales to tell…and nobody would bother me if I was sitting next to a tiger!

 

⭐STAR READER QUESTIONS FROM HELENA, AGED 10:
Why did you want to become an author? Is it something you’ve always wanted to be?
I  never thought about becoming an author because I didn’t know that was something you could actually do. I always loved writing stories. It’s something I’d always do whether I was published or not. It’s part of who I am.

What are your favourite ice cream including toppings? 🙂 
We used to go to Italy for the school holidays when I was a child. I was a regular visitor at the village gelateria. My favourite flavour was peach. No toppings unless you count a scoop of hazelnut ice cream on top of that!

Thank you so much for joining us Patrice! Looking forward to reading Wildfire when it comes out next year!