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About this talk

Real homes, real streets, real lives – writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce tells the moving and often deeply damning story of 21st-century childhoods in Britain. The bestselling children’s author and current Waterstones Children’s Laureate takes us along on the journey of his latest non-fiction work, A British Childhood. Cottrell-Boyce criss-crossed the country, meeting children and young people from a huge range of backgrounds. 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. The author tells the story of what it means to be young in today’s Britain – children who grow up in the shadow of Covid and austerity, children for whom the summer holidays mean an absence of care rather than freedom. Discover this incredibly moving and revealing book, and uncover the country we live in and the steps needed to look after those who shape its future. Cottrell-Boyce appears in conversation with fellow National Year of Reading ambassador Nadia Shireen. About the author Cottrell-Boyce is the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–2026. Managed by BookTrust – the UK’s largest children’s reading charity – and sponsored by Waterstones, the prestigious role is awarded in recognition of exceptional talent, and celebrates creativity and storytelling, and promotes the vital importance of reading and children’s literature.

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