The Bookseller’s Anna Richardson reports that Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, UK forces in literary tastemaking, are planning a one-off children’s book show as part of a new Channel 4 literacy season this autumn. “Richard & Judy’s Best Kids’ Books Ever” will be an hour-long, peak-time special featuring top children’s authors, aimed at encouraging children to read.
The program is part of a Channel 4 season on the state of Britain’s literacy that will run at the end of October. The week-long season will also include “Can’t Read, Can’t Write”, a series that follows a headmistress’ mission to wipe out illiteracy in her primary school with the help of literacy expert Ruth Miskin and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, and a “Dispatches” investigation in which Channel 4 News’ chief correspondent Alex Thompson investigates standards of children’s literacy in Britain and the wider social impact of poor literacy rates.