Katherine Rundell · Why children’s books?
I first came across her writing (KR) when I bought her book, The Girl Savage for my better half (Africa, boarding school etc). Then there was Super-Infinite on John Donne. Given the topic, I would never have once imagined that I could be so gripped. Below is some more of her magic from an article in the LRB.
It is the work of a writer for children to do the same for the world itself. Children have not yet built wide hinterlands: to them, the world is still opaque and full of necessary bewilderment. Those who write for children have the chance to point them towards beauty that they do not yet know exists: towards versions of joy that they have not yet imagined possible. [emphasis added]
Her final sentence is as good a definition of real education as you will find anywhere.