It's friday! That means it's time for the weekly good news thread. What's YOUR good news for the week? What's made you smile?

🎉 We are thrilled that Galápagos Islands by Karen Romano Young & Amy Grimes has been longlisted for the 2026 @uklitassociation.bsky.social Book Awards (Information 3–14)! The only national awards judged entirely by teachers 👩‍🏫 👨‍🏫 Get your copy of the book now: whatonearth.pub/4n1Sq6a #UKLA2026 👏

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This book haul made my week!😍 Grabbed a few copies of my lovely friend @honestmum.bsky.social debut #kidlit book Greek Myths, Folktales & Legends from @waterstoneskids.bsky.social and it’s BEAUTIFUL. Illustrations by #Paulazorite are STUNNING ✨ Perfect addition to any home or classroom library 📚

Looking for great class texts for 7-11-year-old children in Key Stage 2? We have some great ideas and choices curated by our team of teachers, including stories by Malorie Blackman, Jacqueline Wilson, Anne Fine & Roald Dahl schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/rea... #kidlit

Off to Richmond today to paint the window at @alligatorsmouth.bsky.social. If you want to come and see my finished handiwork and get your Loki signed, join us on Monday 15th Sept after school, 4pm. Details here! www.thealligatorsmouth.co.uk/event-detail...

We're gearing up for #NationalPoetryDay on 2 October! We have limited #schoolvisit availability, or @poetrydayuk.bsky.social @literacy-trust.bsky.social and children's poetry legend @brianmosespoet.bsky.social have some brilliant resources. The theme this year is play... let the word play begin! 🤩

This competition closes soon! Take your shot! #KidlitUk

1/2 Ahhhhhh isn’t brotherly love adorable? 🫣🤪😆🫣 🎶Listening to Yazz - The Only Way Is Up🎶 10yo: No it isn’t. You can drill right down into the Earth. Me: it’s metaphorical - so she’s saying that things can only get better 10yo: that’s not true. Things can ALWAYS get worse….

Reminder: I'll be doing a signing at the Alligator's Mouth bookshop after school on Sept 15th! Come join me! www.thealligatorsmouth.co.uk/event-detail... @alligatorsmouth.bsky.social @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social #UKKidlit #Edusky

📣 Calling all parents, carers, and young readers! Thinking of restarting my #kidlit blog with focus on reading for pleasure 📚I’d love to hear what you’d like to see - if you’re interested comment or like this post ✨If you’re a children’s author who’d like to be featured -please do get in touch!

This is brilliant! #UKKidlit

In the bookshop this morning: PARENTS: “Okay, we’re leaving now.” CHILD: *pulls another book from the shelf and sits down * CHILD: “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

Today is the final day of my mini musical library tour of Bromley Libraries, turning picture books into musicals. Interactive, inclusive & designed to engage all ages, please get in contact if you'd like to book a visit to your library/school/festival/workplace.

Oh my gosh what have you started with your post @louiestowell.bsky.social ? Was going to do something productive but now husband and I are googling human common shared genes with random animals. Apparently: 95–98% - lions 30-35% - ants 90-95% - llamas 70ish% - Goldfish (explains a lot 😂)

The last time you could read every book in English (not counting multiple copies of the same book) in a lifetime was about 400 years ago.

The toilet on Apollo 10 broke and poo floated around while the astronauts argued about whose it was, based on consistency eg that one's too sticky it's not mine

A day late but VERY VERY excited by this! I was kindly sent a copy for review and LOVED IT! Funny, courageous, adventurous and did I mention FUNNY? A fab sequel to @garypanton.co.uk first book in the series The Not Witches!🧙‍♀️✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨🧙‍♀️ @chickenhousebooks.bsky.social

What a sad day. Thank you for the brilliant books and childhood memories #AllanAhlberg 😢😢😢 www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

Final school visit of the year completed today. Now to work on the edits for my new book, due out Feb 2026. Here's a sneak preview, free on my website: www.joshuaseigal.co.uk/my-poems/def... #BookSky #EduSky #mentalhealth

Reek by Alastair Chisholm is perfect for this. I’ll ask my son if he can recommend any non-fiction I’ve not read as well. I’d also recommend Ink Girls which is more about political power but is a great example of ‘what would you do?’.

Morning! My son is starting to question ethics & morals of larger corporations- are there any books for kids that approach this topic? In the 9-14 age range. Thanks!!! 💕

So these are the recommendations that went out to the schools! Hope Sir Morpurgo can forgive me for my sausage fingers 🫣 But am VERY excited about this list!

Isn’t this incredible? Stuart’s friends at @camdencouncil.bsky.social are dedicating a day to helping raise money for his treatment! 🥰🥳🥰 If you’d like to donate please visit: www.gofundme.com/f/stuart-minty

Isn’t this incredible? Stuart’s friends at @camdencouncil.bsky.social are dedicating a day to helping raise money for his treatment! 🥰🥳🥰 If you’d like to donate please visit: www.gofundme.com/f/stuart-minty

The Magic of Sharing a Story-a post for the Federation of Children’s Book Groups Having read to our boys until they were in their teens we have a lot of favourites so picking just five was a challenge! fcbg.org.uk/the-wood-whe...

Huge news! After a slow couple of weeks, the campaign has reached over £100,000 - just under £20,000 to go! All donations & shares are very welcome. Please help us get this over the line so Stuart can focus on spending more time with his family 🙏 www.gofundme.com/f/stuart-minty

1/2 Good grief. I posted the photos on national wildlife group of (what I thought) was a nice pic of wildlife. How do people jump from a pic of swans to an opportunity to rant about “foreigners” I tried not to respond but my fingers got the better of me…

I totally support the National Year Of Reading initiative. We desperately need a culture of reading for pleasure to replace the culture of constant testing in schools, backed by proper government funding. And we need STORYTIME to be part of the school day, every day! #literacy (Art: Chris Riddell)

Good piece from the @societyofauthors.bsky.social on the Year of Reading: societyofauthors.org/2025/07/07/n... #KidLitUK

I have spent a lovely evening playing an RPG with Andy and can confirm he has the EXACT chops for writing choose your own adventure.

If you’re a teacher in Kent who’s an ally and wants a JAMIE or a KICKFLIP for your classroom, message me and I’ll see what I can do 🤷💛🤍💜🖤

Soooooooo close to £100,000! The next milestone ….then somehow £20,000 in 3weeks🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞😱 www.gofundme.com/f/stuart-minty #cancersucks #givealittlehelpalot

The EPIC, breathtaking conclusion to the FLEMBER series from bestselling author JAMIE SMART @jamiesmart.bsky.social is nearly here! FLEMBER book five 💛 THE GOLDEN HEART 💛 publishes this November! An unforgettable finale with imagination, adventure and heaps of heart! 🌟 🤩 Available to preorder now

Pleased to see this going wide. And by the way, child readers themselves voted Theo Parish’s Homebody, a graphic novel about gender exploration, as winner of this year’s Shadowing Carnegie Medal for Illustration. These are high-quality, award-winning books that literally save lives.

Better late than never - Yesterday was #InternationalPlasticBagFreeDay 🌍 There are so many fantastic books out there to help future generations learn about caring for our planet and cleaning up after themselves! Here are just a handful - if you know of more please share in the comments!

It's friday! That means time for the weekly good news thread. What's YOUR good news from the week? What's made you smile? Mine? I got in the sea!

Wow! TWO of my books have been voted for by kids to be shortlisted for the 2025 Children's Literature Festivals Book Awards! 🤩 Thnx to Ian Morris who illustrated both, to publishers @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social and Man Met Uni & Your Story, and all the children who voted! 🥳🎊✨

🥳 #MintysMiles to raise funds for Stuart treatment done! 108 miles per person (from Bedford to Pompey grounds) by end of June. Minty’s parents smashed it by 11th June! I took a bit longer but managed to complete 127.13miles/204.6km in total. To donate: gofundme.com/f/stuart-minty

Did a live online poetry/comedy performance for 30 classes at once today! Was really pleased to receive this lovely feedback. Do get in touch if you're interested in something similar www.joshuaseigal.co.uk #EduSky #BookSky #poetry #teaching #teachers

Teachers! Sign up to my newsletter before 10am tomorrow to find out how to win a class set of LOKIs for your class! louiestowell.substack.com

Out today!!! My kids LOVE this series @gregjenner.bsky.social 🥳 🥳🥳🥳

BIG NEWS! I’ve written a book about otters 🦦 😃To be precise, about Portly the otter, from The Wind in the Willows. www.mgleonard.com/news/2025/7/...

Food from around the world, part 1 (as featured in the latest #DrawWithRob activity book). Can you name the countries they are from? Order the book here: tinyurl.com/3hdn2kxx

Reading a proof of The Last Bard by @mazevansauthor.bsky.social and she's done it again. No one does comedy that also punches you in the feelings like Maz. Plus all the fun of a riot of shakespearean characters come to life! #KidlitUK

TYGER is released today in the US! It's an extraordinary moment for me to see the book published there - I hope it finds readers, and brings them sparks of hope & light. Dave McKean's incredible art still takes my breath away! @penguinschoollib.bsky.social www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753600...

OMG last 2 days been seeing teens from highschool wandering round in jumpers. Checked with one of the parents. Apparently it’s mandatory for the kids!!! What??? Why???? Not for teachers it’s not though …🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵

Some days more active than others but mission completed!!! 204.6km = 127.13miles. We needed 108miles for June and everyone has smashed it. Stuart’s parents beat the lot of us and completed it by 11th June! www.gofundme.com/f/stuart-minty #MintysMiles #cancersucks #givealittlehelpalot

Hi all - this is a brilliant opportunity! Jevan is a fantastic mentor, really creative and has many years experience behind the camera. Really really talented guy! www.stalbansfilmschool.com