While still working as a freelance journalist Leila began to write her many books for kids, for which she first became very well-known. She was already an established full-time professional author when she wrote her books about kids – for adults.
What a collection! Reading and Loving champions a very personal and sensuous approach to developing children’s love of the written word and stories. Look At Kids celebrates pre-school kids’ spirit, spontaneity, individuality and creativity in words and photos. Risinghill:Death of a Comprehensive is a blow-by-blow account of the sad loss of a very special state school in London. Childrens’ Rights, which she edited, has 6 chapters – one by Leila herself, and others by Michael Duane (head of Risinghill), A S Neill (head of Summerhill), Paul Adams MD, Robert Ollendorf MD, and Nan Berger OBE.
Leila re-lives her own childhood in Flickerbook, with her written voice going through many changes as she grows from toddler to young woman. The Train Back , co-written with its subject, is about the abusive childhood of Pat Chapman, a friend whose son was in jail for murder.
The God Stories was Leila’s last book – a very unique re-telling of myths and legends from her own childhood, based on years of research into the foundations of the Old Testament, and in which both God and the first human are male-and-female-together.
Click on the links below for some extracts from, and background for, these books.
Risinghill: Death of a Comprehensive School
(with Neill, Duane, et al)
The Train Back: A Search For Parents
(with Pat Chapman)
The God Stories: A Celebration of Legends