We’ve teamed up with super children’s authors Greg James and Chris Smith to launch a new ‘Author of the week’ series of exclusive videos, activities and free digital books for children.
The series will be hosted on our new Family Zone website, which was launched to support families during school closures.
In an exclusive video, Greg James and Chris Smith have set children a challenge to write their own superhero story, based on the duo’s brand new book, Kid Normal and the Final Five: Kid Normal 4 (Bloomsbury Children’s Books). There are also free reading activities and an audiobook of Kid Normal (the first book in the series) available with the feature on Family Zone.
Kicking-off with Greg James and Chris Smith, our new ‘Author of the week’ series will spotlight different well-loved authors every week through exclusive videos, activities and free ebooks and audiobooks to help families discover new stories together.
Developed in partnership with publishers, authors and illustrators who have been supporting children to continue to read and share stories whilst at home, the series will feature celebrated names, including internationally-acclaimed illustrator Axel Scheffler and award-winning author Katherine Rundell.
“We’re delighted to be stepping in as everyone’s temporary teachers. Sit up straight! Stop humming! Spit that gum into the bin! We’ve put a little activity together that will hopefully get everyone’s imaginations buzzing and take some of the pressure off any slightly stressed parents out there.”
Greg James and Chris Smith, award-winning authors and broadcasters
The series will be hosted on our Family Zone, a free website we launched last month in response to school closures across the UK. It provides parents with a range of ideas and activities that will engage children at home, whilst also benefiting their reading, writing and language development.
Families can also access reading and writing activities, book lists, videos, audiobooks, competitions and reading challenges, curated for early years to early teens, with new activities and resources being added regularly.