Episode 8: Non-Fiction for Children

Apparently it’s not fiction, but then what is it? And why is it such a marginalised, and yet such a lucrative, domain in children’s publishing? In Episode 8 of Kid You Not, we discuss non-fiction for children. And as always, you can download it

(27 min), subscribe to us on iTunes, or play it in the sidebar!

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Two non-fiction editors’ opinions about what it is and what it isn’t and why it’s great, thanks to Lauren’s interviews of Caroline Royd, of Walker Books, and Rachel Cook, of Franklin Watts.


• Clementine’s problems with the assumption that non-fiction teaches children about ‘facts’.


• Fluffy animals, egyptology, horrible histories and dinosaurs.


• How Michael Rosen would like to rename non-fiction, and why The Sad Book is, in fact, non-fiction.

Hope you enjoy the episode! and please forgive us for the slight technical problems with sound that we had on this one.

Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or suggestions!

And here are some of the books or authors we’ll be talking about: