No home, no school, and especially no library should be without this story and this book’ <\/b>– Michael Morpurgo<\/p>\n
‘Original, surprising and compassionate without being earnest… Frank’s book left me enraged, informed and moved’<\/b> – Sathnam Sanghera<\/p>\n
A British Childhood<\/i> is at once a searing account of our failure to look after the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, and a call to arms to all of us to protect the innocence of childhood.<\/b><\/p>\n
During his time as Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce visited schools that had been forced to make permanent homes in temporary buildings, where teachers doubled up as social workers, therapists and nutritionists. He talked to children abandoned within the prison system, seen to have forfeited their right to the second chance a good education might provide. He met families shuttled from one hotel room to another as they awaited the outcome of asylum decisions. And he talked to the extraordinary array of people working to change the fortunes of the young people around them.<\/p>\n
These encounters prompted him to reflect on his own upbringing in Merseyside, the difference literature made to his early years, and how, during his lifetime, childhood in Britain has been transformed. He shows how the connections we make and the sense of community are so vital to our future adult selves, and how, in the twenty-first century, these connections have become increasingly frayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SIGNED HARDBACK PRE-ORDER<\/strong><\/p>\n Signed Hardback Pre-Order | A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now<\/em> by Frank Cottrell-Boyce<\/strong><\/p>\n Pre-order a signed hardback copy of A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now<\/em> by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the award-winning author and former Children\u2019s Laureate. This timely and thoughtful book explores what childhood looks like in Britain today, looking at the realities, pressures and challenges facing children and families.<\/p>\n Published by Picador, this 208-page hardback is an important new release for readers interested in childhood, education, family life, social issues and the future of young people in the UK.<\/p>\n Publication date:<\/strong> 18 June 2026. All signed hardback pre-orders will be dispatched as soon as stock arrives.<\/p>\n Secure your signed copy today from an independent UK bookshop. Carefully packaged to ensure it arrives in excellent condition.<\/p>\n A searing account of our failure to look after the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, and a call to arms to all of us to protect the innocence of childhood.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[142,16428,26102],"product_tag":[1274],"class_list":["post-119772","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-general-non-fiction","product_cat-pre-order-carousel","product_cat-signed-and-special-editions","product_tag-poverty-unemployment","pa_book_author-cottrell-boyce-frank","pa_cover-hardback","pa_dewey-305-2309410905-edition23","pa_imprint-picador","pa_language-english","pa_pages-8388","pa_publisher-picador","pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","first","instock","sold-individually","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"yoast_head":"\n