Upbringing

For 20 years the New York Children’s International Film Festival (NYICFF) has been dedicated to showcasing the best in children’s films. This year, the festival continues its push to encourage children to think critically and creatively with a lineup of nearly 100 films ranging from documentary to animation to live …

have spent a lot of time over the past few years reading picture books. As a mother of a three-year-old and working in children’s publishing, sometimes it feels like reading picture books is the most important thing I do. Books about faces, colours, numbers, dreams, dogs, journeys and jobs. Books …

We can book cabs, choose a restaurant or book a holiday through social media. But surely, some things are too important to seek online? Apparently not. These days, many parents are entrusting their babies to strangers via babysitting apps such as Bambino, Bubble and UrbanSitter. Many do not have a family …

As the ‘syndrome’ would have us believe, middle children are unambitious, lack social skills and feel neglected. Typically, firstborns are overachievers, the youngest child is most looked-after as the baby of the family, and where does that leave the middle child? Nowhere, that’s where. “In short, [middle child syndrome] is …

An Italian restaurateur fed up with his customers’ lunches being interrupted by rowdy children has come up with a novel solution: a discount for well-behaved families. Antonio Ferrari, who owns a wine bar in the northern city of Padua that caters to families on Sundays, came up with the idea …

The shadow education secretary, Angela Rayner, has warned that parents on zero-hours contracts could miss out on the government’s election pledge of 30 hours a week of free childcare, as it emerged that fewer than half the families who receive the existing 15 free hours will qualify. David Cameron made …

Last year, my wife and I found ourselves without a foster placement, when a supervising social worker with our local council called to check in on us. We expressed surprise that we hadn’t been contacted recently about any placements and declared an interest in fostering unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, given that …