FOR more than three decades, Julia Donaldson’s works have enchanted children across the world. Her illustrious career has seen her writing more than 200 books which have sold millions of copies and be

“I was a pony-mad child and thought of very little else but horses and ponies and charging about on them so the Black Beauty stories by Anna Sewell were a childhood favourite of mine. I especially lov

Thanks to the old Sherlock Holmes films that we used to watch on TV every week after the children’s programme Crackerjack had finished, I have known about my family’s “Hollywood relative” since my chi

The literary locations that inspired ten of our favourite festive stories and wintry tales, plus where to stay to enjoy them for yourself

Best books… Richard Holmes The biographer chooses five ...

Piecing together the inspirations and evolution of Mary Shelley’s famous monster