The book of hopes: words and pictures to comfort, inspire and entertain

In difficult times, what children really need is hope. And in that spirit, Katherine Rundell emailed some of the children's writers and artists whose work she loved most. I asked them to write something very short, fiction or non-fiction, or draw something that would make the children reading it feel like possibility-ists: something that would make them laugh or wonder or snort or smile. The response was magnificent, which shouldn't have surprised me, because children's writers and illustrators are professional hunters of hope. I hope that the imagination can be a place of shelter for children and that this book might be useful in that, even if only a little. This collection, packed with short stories, poems and pictures from the very best children's authors and illustrators, aims to provide just that. Within its pages you'll find animal friends from insects to elephants, high-flying grandmas, a homesick sprite, the tooth fairy, and even extra-terrestrial life.