Wonderlands

1 x 60 mins for BBC Radio 4

Long ago, in a land not far away, children's books were a neglected corner of the book world - marginalised, unimportant, an afterthought. Today, one in every three books sold in the UK is a children's book. We're spending more money on children's books than ever before and an increasing number of adults turned to children's fiction for comfort reading in lockdown. In this Archive on 4, writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce explores how and why books for children have become central to our reading culture. It’s a Cinderella story - a tale of humble beginnings, unexpected transformations and glittering success.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce explores the wonderlands that children's books take us to.