John Craven

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Headlines and Hedgerows

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Magical memoirs. A BBC legend. A broadcasting icon. The best bits from cub reporter to Countryfile . . . his early career sounds like a riot

From his Yorkshire childhood to his television career from Newsround to Countryfile, the presenter tells his story

In this heart-warming and entertaining memoir Craven, now regarded as somewhat of a national treasure, recounts the high and low points of his career and the people, family and animals that have shaped his life

Five hundred and eighty two minutes worth of pure heaven await in this down-to-earth first memoir of journalist, broadcaster and national treasure John Craven

The much-loved Newsround and Countryfile presenter in his own words for the first time

Amusing and insightful. Thoroughly enjoyable

A Memoir

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, John was, to children and parents alike, a friendly guide to the big wide world as the presenter of the world's first news programme for children, Newsround. And then, for a new audience, in 1989, John hosted the first episode of Countryfile - a show that he's now presented for almost three decades. 
 
In this funny, moving and unique first memoir, John recounts his childhood, the high points and low points of one of the longest entertaining careers in history, and the people, family and animals in his own life that have shaped it.

Take a trip down memory lane with the memoir from national TV treasure John Craven, as he recounts both the highs and lows of one of the longest entertaining careers in history, and the people and animals that have helped to shape it. 
 
'Magical memoirs. A BBC legend. A broadcasting icon. The best bits from cub reporter to Countryfile' Daily Mail 
 
He began by reading the front page of the evening newspaper in the kitchen to his mother and aunt. 
 
Since then, he's spoken to the nation on the BBC almost every week for more than half a century and is one of the most-beloved broadcasters of our time. 
 
Presenter of treasured programmes Newsround, Countryfile and Swap Shop, John brought us the headlines and breaking news of our childhood and later helped us discover the magic and wonder of the British countryside. 
 
Now, in his first ever autobiography, he recounts a life in news, his childhood, the great impact that the absence of his father - held prisoner for three and a half years while fighting for his country - had on him. He writes too about the people, the major events - and, of course, the animals - that have shaped his life. 
 
This is John Craven. And this is the story behind the man so many of us grew up watching on our television screens. 
 
'A cracking read' Chris Evans

John Craven was born in Leeds and started his journalistic career as a junior reporter on the Harrogate Advertiser. 
 
In 1972 he launched the world's first television news bulletin for children, John Craven's Newsround. In 1989, after 3,000 episodes, John left to present the steadfast television institution that is Countryfile and has brought the glorious British countryside to our television screens ever since.

Headlines and Hedgerows

A Memoir

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