Guest Blog: Charles Butler

... it's interesting to see the ways that changes in technology close down (or open up) the conventional possibilities of children's lit. Computers and virtual reality have obviously generated some possibilities for new plots; but I also remember Philip Pullman (I think it was - sorry if I'm misattributing this, Philip) bemoaning the ubiquity of mobile phones, which make it so much harder to get modern child protagonists alone and incommunicado. Gone are the days when you could have your eleven-year-old stroll unencumbered into adventure: now you have separate them from their parents *and* have them fumble their phone into the grating of a nearby drain before you can get the story properly underway.


Website: www.charlesbutler.co.uk