Lyra and Will

Pre-orders for the first book of Philip Pullman's new trilogy, The Book of Dust, have apparently already propelled it to the top of the bestseller lists even though it's not due out until October. His storytelling in and through co-existing worlds is extraordinary so I was very taken with the prospect of this trilogy being not a prequel to His Dark Materials nor a sequel but what he's calling an 'equel': a story with the same characters that takes place at the same time as the earlier books. I assume that at least some of it will take place in his versions of Oxford; when we and our children were reading the first trilogy we felt very lucky to be able to visit the inspiration for some of the places in the books. The year after Amber Spyglass came out I took midsummer's day off work so my daughter and I could sit on Will and Lyra's bench in the Botanic Garden at midday, just in case they came to their own rendezvous.

I used to know a teacher who for a few years taught the class that had just finished a year with Philip Pullman as their class teacher. Each group, she told me, every year, was sparky, alert, and excited at the prospect of learning.

If only the government would listen to him on how education should be.

If you haven't a clue what I'm on about, you've got enough time to read the first three books before October.