We’re in a Golden Age of children’s literature. “What does it mean to call a specific period of literary endeavour ‘golden’, without it being mere hype? What it doesn’t necessarily mean is a golden age as accountants might understand the term. Publishers mutter gloomily that while there are a huge number of children’s books out there, there hasn’t actually been a rise in the number of authors selling books. The market share for children’s literature is stuck at 15%. What is happening is that a few (a very few) children’s authors are selling loads; the names you know already – JK Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson, Philip Pullman.”