Just Add Children by Julia Jones
Too big June and July have been the Month(s) of the Child as far as I'm concerned. You might expect that with five children of my own plus five grandchildren that every month would be Month of the Child – but that's not necessarily so. The older ones are now too old (youngest will soon be seventeen) and the younger ones are still too young (oldest is not yet six). At the risk of sounding like a grumpy Goldilocks (“too hard” “too soft” “too hot” too cold”) this leaves A Gap. My sailing adventure stories are intended for ten-year olds and up and – while I'm naturally thrilled to discover that nonagenarians enjoy them – if I'm not getting it right for the tens then there's something essential lost. Too small When I wrote first drafts of the three volumes of the Strong Winds Trilogy, my prime reader (Child Number Four ) was aged 10, 11, 12. He and his younger brother were still at the village primary school and our garden, especially in the summer afterno...