Children's library
Deep stuff
Philip Pullman spent his childhood in thrall to the weekly delivery of the Eagle, Wizard and Beano. Now he unveils his own new weekly comic serial, The Adventures Of John Blake
The first instalment of The Adventures Of John Blake
Hazardous choices
Julia Eccleshare introduces the longlist for the 2008 Guardian children's fiction prize
Past futures
Review: The Nostradamus Prophecy by Theresa Breslin
Adèle Geras is transported back to 16th-century France
Fact or fiction?
Philip Ardagh brushes up his ologies with Dugald Steer's Monsterology
The silent bark
Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go is a deftly told tale of a boy's flight, says Frank Cottrell Boyce
Last days
Philip Ardagh on Anthony McGowen's gripping thriller, The Knife that Killed Me
Call it animal magic...
Kate Kellaway on Evil Weasel | Tweedle Dee Dee | Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar | Mr Peek and the Misunderstanding at the Zoo | The Scummage | Necks Out for Adventure!
Sir Nigel and the holy grail
Stephanie Merritt on I, Nigel Dorking | Toby Alone | Jamie and Angus Together | Ugenia Lavender
What teenagers did before rock'n'roll
Geraldine Brennan on Just Henry | The Knife That Killed Me | The Truth About Forever | Flightsend | Sugarcoated | The Ghost's Child
The outsider
Julia Eccleshare salutes an inspired picture book, The Island by Armin Greder
The snarl of history
Diane Samuels follows a young lad on a mission through the mean streets of Elizabethan London in Josh Lacey's Bearkeeper
Every picture tells a story
Adèle Geras on Michelle Magorian's Just Henry, a novel that's as glorious as a Saturday morning show
No fear
Julia Eccleshare on Oliver Who Was Small But Mighty | Look Out, Suzy Goose | The Witch's Children Go to School
Catholics v Cathars
Mary Hoffman is thrilled by KM Grant's Blue Flame, a 13th-century tale of star-crossed lovers
Fowl deeds will rise
Jacques Couvillon's tale of secrets and a piano-playing hen, Chicken Dance, delights Philip Ardagh
