Reviews & features: Kids, Issue 665

Lauren St John at the Book Festival

Writing for a more honest and passionate reader

Remember those series of books you would read as a child? Remember how, when you discovered a new one, you’d just have to devour it as quickly as possible, gobbling up boarding-school tales of lacrosse and midnight feasts and adventure after adventure…

Dr Bunhead is Volcano Head

Wouldn’t it be great if all science teachers were like Dr Bunhead? Surely there’s room on the new curriculum for setting fire to your head, blowing up vegetables and creating anti-gravity poo. No? Oh well, you’ll have to make do with a brief date with…

Arabian Nights

Tales from old Baghdad

As soon as you walk into the Storytelling Centre, you’re met with the exotic aroma of burning incense. That, and a stage filled with promise – middle eastern and otherwise. Andy Lawrence and his company, Theatre of Widdershins, have built up a…

Wee Willie Gray

Magical adventure for Burns’ wee boy

Robert Burns wasn’t known for writing children’s verse – and even when he did, he was economical with his words. So Foolish Notion (aka Andy Cannon and Wendy Weatherby) had their work cut out turning his six line song Wee Willie Gray into an hour-long…

Potted Panto brings CBBC's Dan and Jeff to Fringe

Aladdin, Mother Goose and Cinderella - in one show

You’ve seen Aladdin, Mother Goose and Cinderella – now see all three, plus four more, squeezed into 70 minutes of dynamic mayhem. Performed by CBBC’s Dan and Jeff, the duo who brought us Potted Potter and Potted Pirates, this fast-paced romp will have…