EPISODE 7 Episode 7 already? Unbelievable. But what a week. To say that our guest this week is a legend is a little bit of an understatement. Author of Orangeboy, Needle, Our Story Starts in Africa and of course the Elemental Detectives series, Patrice Lawrence is one of the most powerful authors in UK Children's literature. A former journalist, Patrice has numerous accolades including winning the Waterstones book prize & the Bookseller Prize in 2017 & being elected as a fellow to the Royal Soicety of Literature in 2023. Patrice chooses some fabulous titles and lets us peep behind the curtain of her early reading experiences, growing up in Brighton in the 60's and 70's.  Miranda McKearney, formerly of the Reading Agency and co-founder of EmpathyLab discusses her choice(s) from the Read for Empathy collection and our teacher guest, Jennifer Young manages to pick out our first double of the series.  Blyton clearly still holds a place in people's hearts! BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE Paul - The Conker as Hard as a Diamond by Chris Powling Miranda - The Grand Hotel of Feelings by Lydia Brankovic and The Cat who Couldn't be Bothered by Jack Kurland Patrice - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, The Wishing Chair by Enid Blyton and The Didakoi by Rumer Godden. Jennifer - The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton USEFUL LINKS Patrice Lawrence WEB: www.goodreads.com/author/show/646810.Patrice_Lawrence INSTA: @lawrencepatrice EmpathyLab WEB: www.empathylab.uk INSTA: @empathylabuk Paul Jenkins WEB: www.pauljenkinspoet.co.uk INSTA: @teacherwriterPJ   For any enquiries about the podcast contact Paul on pauljenkinspoet@gmail.com