Overview

In A British Childhood Frank Cottrell-Boyce tells the story of what it means to be young in Britain today and the consequences of growing up at the sharp end of two major crises - the pandemic and austerity. During his time as Children's Laureate he 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. 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 are increasingly frayed. A British Childhood 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.

Full Product Details

9781035080755

Table of Contents

Reviews

Young readers could not have a better advocate than Frank Cottrell-Boyce * The Guardian * Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Waterstones Children's Laureate, 2024 - 2026) is an absolute genius -- BookTrust Frank Cottrell-Boyce is an enchanter * New Statesman * Frank Cottrell Boyce is truly a great champion for children and childhood. His book is a truth-telling, shameful tale of neglect, and yet it is also an anthem of hope and faith that that says we can and must put things right for all our children. No home, no school, and especially no library should be without this story and this book -- Michael Morpurgo

Young readers could not have a better advocate than Frank Cottrell-Boyce * The Guardian * Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Waterstones Children's Laureate, 2024 - 2026) is an absolute genius -- BookTrust Frank Cottrell-Boyce is an enchanter * New Statesman *

Author Information

Frank Cottrell Boyce, father of seven, is an established British screenwriter whose film credits include Welcome to Sarajevo, Hilary and Jackie and 24 Hour Party People. He lives in Merseyside with his family. Frank's first book, Millions won the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2004 and was shortlisted for a number of awards including the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2004. Millions was also been made into a movie directed by Danny Boyle and was chosen as the Liverpool Reads book for September 2005. Framed, was published in September 2005. In his own words: ""Shortly after leaving university, I had a radio play broadcast and it led to a job at Thames Television (Education Department), where I met Michael Winterbottom who was an editor at the time. We planned to make movies. At the time everyone in England had given up on films. It was after the Goldcrest debacle so it was like saying you wanted to do door-to-door roof thatching or scrimshaw work - a lost art. I supported myself by writing for Coronation Street - wonderful fun and the nearest I've ever got to a proper job. Then we made Welcome to Sarajevo and we've made several films since. Other screenplays that I have written include: The Stranger (nominated for a BAFTA) Butterfly Kiss, Welcome to Sarajevo, Hilary and Jackie (also nominated for a BAFTA), Pandemonium, 24 Hour Party People, The Claim, Code 46 and Millions. When I met my wife-to-be, she was planning on becoming a nun. Luckily I managed to persuade her to marry me instead. We now have 7 children, ranging from two to twenty years old and we live in Liverpool. Everyone seems to have had a good English teacher at some point. Mine was Mr Biggs who moonlighted as a Punch and Judy man and managed to persuade me to be his assistant. Throughout my sixth form I spent weekends doing children's parties and parish fetes with him and his dog (the dog used to pass the hat around). After school I took a year off and did it myself. I earned a fortune entirely in small change. Maybe that's where I first got interested in the problems created by user-unfriendly cash!""

Tab Content 6

Countries Available