My favourite book as a kid: The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
(The Guardian Books Blog)

Their fantastically detailed illustrations and breathless plots awoke me to books as a child. Today they´re a tonic for `literary´ nonsenseI wasn´t much of a reader as a kid. Books and words required far too much attention; I was much happier laid out dribbling mindlessly on the sofa watching cartoons, gameshows and endlessly flicking channels.As much as my concerned family and frustrated teachers tried to press me into reading, nothing seemed to stick. Thankfully, though, my friends and I became obsessed with one particular series of books: The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. First published in 1998, the illustrated fantasy saga of sky pirates and floating citadels is still being published, currently totalling 18 volumes. I was drawn in by Riddell´s incredibly detailed drawings of bulbous, grotesque goblins and lithe, shifty men, all inhabiting this radical sky-bound universe, then hooked on Stewart´s fast-moving prose and action-packed narratives. Continue reading...