I launched the gab in Spring 2024; it’s a zine that celebrates the second golden age of children’s books – not just the writers and illustrators, but the publishers, too, reviewers and advocates.
It was a collegiate time, long before social media provided a platform to unite colleagues and still everyone found a way to know each other, and talk about books they loved for the sake of their love of these books, and the burgeoning industry as a whole. These endeavours are too important to be forgotten and should, I hope, provide encouragement to our industry today. Quite a few initiatives in the 2020s feel maverick and new but it’s salutary to know that activism in children’s books is far from new – but it needs to be championed, or else gains may be lost once more …
the gab introduces you to wonderful pieces from decades past which might not otherwise be readily available. But there are new features, too, including a series of interviews I conducted with many of the leading movers and shakers of the children’s book world – editors, writers and critics.
The tone of the gab is breezy and bright – I want people to feel as if they’re in a massive room with change-makers of the children’s book world, circa 1966 or 1976 or 1986. A kind of big jamboree with all the energy and conflict and agreeability of any such event. A sense of working together, of sharing enthusiasm, of encouragement.
I produce a limited number of hand-made copies – since we’re dealing with analogue times – but most readers subscribe to the free pdf. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please email me at jonappletonsbooks [at] gmail.com.
AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS FEATURED SO FAR INCLUDE:
Allan Ahlberg, Joan Aiken, Anne Barrett, Nina Bawden, Quentin Blake, Pauline Clarke, Peter Dickinson, Elizabeth Enright, Penelope Farmer, Anne Fine, Jane Gardam, John Gordon, Russell Hoban, Shirley Hughes, Margaret Mahy, Jan Mark, Mary Norton, Jan Ormerod, Philippa Pearce, Ivan Southall, Dodie Smith, Catherine Storr and Barbara Willard.
Issue 9. November 2025
In this issue … Nadia Wheatley tells why A Hundred Million Francs is her ‘desert island’ book – and Stephanie Nettell interviews the author, Paul Berna. We profile editor Jane Nissen, of Puffin/Methuen/Hamish Hamilton/Jane Nissen Books. And there are features on folklorist and author, Neil Philip, author Gillian Cross, author/illustrator Raymond Briggs and a retrospective look at the work of Rosemary Sutcliff.
Issue 8. September 2025
In this issue … Ursula Dubosarsky revisits two 20th century classics: The Dolls’ House and The Borrowers. Authors and illustrators featured: Clive King, Chris Powling, Barbara Sleigh and Pat Hutchins. And we step back to the moment, 40 years ago, when YA fiction came of age in Australia.
Issue 7. July 2025
In this issue: Quentin Blake, Kevin Crossley-Holland, Nicholas Fisk, Penelope Lively, Rosemary Sandberg and Alison Uttley.
Issue 6, May 2025
In this issue:
Nicholas Stuart Gray
Russell Hoban
Shirley Hughes
Robin Morrow
Rosemary Stones
Barbara Willard
Issue 5, March 2025
In this issue:
Liz Attenborough
Nina Bawden
Jane Gardam
Elaine Moss
Pamela Royds
on Philippa Pearce
Dodie Smith
Issue 4, Winter 2024
In this issue:
Brian Alderson
Aidan Chambers
on Margaret Clark
Peter Dickinson
Anne Fine
Jan Ormerod
Catherine Storr
Issue 3, Autumn 2024
In this issue:
The Joan Aiken Centenary
Anne Barrett
Elizabeth Enright
Stephanie Nettell
Helen Oxenbury
Ivan Southall
Issue 2, Summer 2024
In this issue:
Allan Ahlberg
Jan Mark
Mary Norton
David Rees
Enid Stephenson
Issue 1, Spring 2024
In this issue:
Joan Aiken
Pauline Clarke
Judith Elliott
Penelope Farmer
John Gordon
Margaret Mahy
Letters from Robin: A Voyage Around My Author 