The greatest French museum you’ve never heard of
Imagine a French museum that’s second only to the Louvre when it comes to paintings, with an eye-watering collection of…
The Catholic Church is absent in Ireland’s abortion referendum
The Irish referendum on abortion takes place in just under three weeks’ time, and while the polls suggest a hefty…
This V&A show, about fashion’s fascination with the natural world, will seduce and appal
One of the prettiest pieces in the V&A exhibition Fashioned from Nature is a man’s cream waistcoat, silk and linen,…
The captivating art, science and politics of hair: Beehives, Bobs and Blow-dries reviewed
One of the best things about Beehives, Bobs and Blow-dries — yep, an exhibition about hairdressing — is the reaction…
Fairy tales for feisty girls
This being the centenary of women’s suffrage, there’s an unmissable feminist aspect to children’s books right now. Stories about strong…
The star of the Winnie-the-Pooh show at V&A is E.H. Shepard
The thing about Winnie-the-Pooh, 91 years old this year, is that he’s the creature of E.H. Shepard, who drew him,…
Is a Princess Meghan really such good news?
‘The thing is,’ said my friend, after the broadcast of the engagement interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, ‘you…
A survey of this year’s children’s books sets the cat among the pigeons
Back in 1990, Roald Dahl wrote a book called The Minpins, which was illustrated by Patrick Benson, a very good…
A chance to see the Moomins’ creator for the genius she really was: Tove Janssons reviewed
Tove Jansson, according to her niece’s husband, was a squirt in size and could rarely be persuaded to eat, preferring…
Is May Morris a feminist cause – a woman of genius unfairly overlooked?
You may think you don’t know May Morris, daughter of William, but you’ll probably have come across her wallpaper. Her…
Pregnant silence
Brian Sewell once wrote an article about abortion headlined: ‘Women, the killers in our midst.’ He got an awful lot…
Three daemons in a boat
Philip Pullman’s new k, the prequel to his Northern Lights series — the one north Oxford academics very much prefer…
Cathedral of creation
Sometimes, it pays to rediscover what’s already under your nose. I’ve been umpteen times to the Natural History Museum but…
Recent children’s books
Martin Stewart’s Riverkeep (Penguin, £7.99) has a list of books and writers on the cover: Moby-Dick, The Wizard of Oz,…
The best children’s authors of 2015 — after David Walliams
The easy way round buying books for children at Christmas is just to get them the latest David Walliams and…
Who isn’t genderfluid?
Sex has always been less binary than it looks – but we’ve never been this boring about it
Children’s summer reading
It’s the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland — cue an explosion of editions of the book, a new biography…
Degrees of bureaucracy
At Oxford and elsewhere, university administration is out of control
No man is an island
Bit of Kant, bit of Kierkegaard, bit of motorcycle maintenance. That’s one take on The World Beyond Your Head, Matthew…
Putting away the fear of childishness
Go to any bookshop — always supposing you’re fortunate enough to have any left in your neck of the woods…
Love them or leave them
My father was handed over a shop counter when he was a day old. His aunt had tried to pass…
Grimmer — and no better
Child murder, domestic slavery, abusive families, cannibalism and intergenerational hatred — what could be better for the festive fireside than…
Children’s books for Christmas
If it’s all right with you, I’d like to launch a campaign please. Right here. You may be wanting me…
The cult of mindfulness
Separating meditation from faith might not be as harmless as it seems
She knows she is right
Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty and omnipresent media personality, is on the cover of her book.…
