I wrote in 2023 about a policy of another academy trust, Astrea, insisting secondary pupils follow text with ruler, posting the instructions to teachers mandating this. Children's laureate Frank Cottrell Boyce responded that England was "intent on eating its own children": x.com/frankcottrel...

📣 Hello Prescot! 📣 We are bringing Children's Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce to Shakespeare North, Prescot, for the first time this autumn. This is the actual setting for his book The Blockbusters and every child will get a free copy. Suitable for years 5 & 6 👉 tinyurl.com/4u4yztnp

We are feeling so inspired after @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social's thought-provoking, inspiring, and optimistic Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate Lecture The Kids Are Not Alright. Will you join us and be part of the #ReadingRights movement? Sign up here 👇 bit.ly/4fkOgp5

THE MACHINES ARE COMING FOR US! THE MACHINES ARE COMING FOR US! . . . . Oh no, it’s okay, they’re just lost again.

I wrote about the Catholic-Sufi mausoleum in Mortlake that houses the bodies of Sir Richard Burton and his wife – newly reopened to the public after seventy years. Link in next post.

Quality interactions and strong relationships are central to children’s development. But not all children have the same opportunity to experience this. In #FosterCareFortnight, find out how shared reading offers a powerful way to nurture these vital connections 👇 https://bit.ly/498HA9V #FCF26

Take one gritty kids book from the 1980s, add a new intro by @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social and kerboom - a modern classic is born. I can’t wait to publish a new edition of Break In the Sun by Bernard Ashley. Sign up to our newsletter at manderleypress.com to hear more, first #booksky

Treat your ears to @chrishaughton.bsky.social talking to @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social and @nadiashireen.bsky.social on the brilliant @islandofbrilliant.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/2uLN...

For you @neiljackman.bsky.social and @eoinlettice.bsky.social an artist's impression of the proposed monument

#OTD 10th May 1976. Impossible to believe it was 50 years ago today that I celebrated my 8th birthday by going with three friends to see the Pistols at the 100 Club. Not many people were there, but everyone who was sang ‘Happy Birthday to You’, led by Johnny Rotten (below). 🎂

Hon the Rossies #Roscommon

Tove Jansson in her studio,1956, Finnish artist and creator of the Moomin book series #womensart #RoomArtWeek

"There's so much going on mentally and neurologically when you read to your child. It's such a powerful tool for bonding and emotional stability." 🔈 Did you hear our Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's Front Row last night?

Thanks to @robinince.bsky.social for sharing his thoughts on our book Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene. The definitive account of the BBC's hauntingly strange Play for Today film, available now from tenacrebooks.co.uk

This week’s Radio 2 Book Club is all about Phoenix Fest! And it is a bit lovely. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Tomorrow is launch day for @humanists.uk's new podcast, 'Unholy Histories'! With history so often told through a single lens, this podcast uncovers the stories of radical reformers and rationalists in the shadows – from ancient atheists to Victorian reformers.

Good morning BBB! This week I’m reading The Kingdom Under the Sea by Joan Aiken as recommended by @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social recently. Jan Pienkowski’s illustrations are delightful. I’m also reading A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, and I’m listening to Katabasis by R. F. Kuang.

Three of my choices for 12-14 year olds #KidsBooksFriday are already very well known, but Outwalkers is little talked about and is a great read. More info in ALT text.

Barbara is coming … and here’s the cover. Out September, available to preorder now. www.amazon.co.uk/Barbara-Cart...

@mcculld.bsky.social If your airline cancels an outbound flight, which results in you having to change your homebound flight they will charge you a huge fee for changing it because *they didn't cancel the homebound flight* aagh (Sent by a person caught in 9th circle of rebooking hell)

Devotions is published next week - here are some of the upcoming UK/Ire tour dates!

Next event, where else but Liverpool? Thur April 16th With Frank Cottrell-Boyce.. www.waterstones.com/events/samir...

"I grew up across the street from a public library, and it was the only place my mom would let me go on my own. It was my second home, and I read everything that I could get." ~ Tracy Chapman Chapman by Nicholas Albrecht #Booksky

I may re-read the children's book COSMIC by Frank Cottrell-Boyce to mark the occasion. www.goodreads.com/book/show/15...

I was just talking to a friend today about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library - new books every month, totally for free, for kids ages 1-5. My son was part of the program - this is a copy of the letter that came with his last book, right after his 5th birthday.

We did a bloody amazing @backlisted.bsky.social on Leonora Carrington. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/246...

Spring is in the air

This is possibly a misreading. I think it says "no catholic mass" - this might be because there is never a catholic mass on Good Friday. And never has been. A service yes of course but not a mass.

If other writers don't feel a degree of imposter syndrome after finishing The Palm House, they have an unrealistically high opinion of their abilities. Good luck, Picador. Don't fuck it up. x

I talked about My Phantoms too much, so this thread will probably be the only thing I post about Gwendoline Riley’s new novel The Palm House. I have read it twice, first in proof and again now the novel is ‘in the shops’. As usual, the style is the substance, and the style is impeccable. >

imo poems about birth & newborns should be considered a genre, like war or love poetry. It’s one of the most important moments in a human life. The idea that these subjects are so ‘well-trodden’ that it’s ’technically hard’ to make them new makes my blood boil! www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...

We're in Knowsley today, enjoying story time with our Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social! He is such a brilliant advocate for the magic of sharing stories and has certainly brought that to life today ✨ Stay tuned for more about our #ReadingRights work in Knowsley soon!

This is such sad news. I only met Glen Baxter once, at a literary festival in Montpellier. (He was hugely popular in France.) I can only say he was one of the funniest, warmest, most charming geniuses I've ever met.

Trigger warning ... I'm going to be popping up on #TodayProgramme #BBCRadio4 To talk about easter reading quite soon

Looking for a great read for the Easter holidays? You can't go wrong with #TheBlockbusters by @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social - grab the @waterstones.bsky.social exclusive edition and Waterstones and Macmillan will donate to BookTrust! 👇 https://bit.ly/4rS4RUc @waterstoneskids.bsky.social#TheBlockbusters

The #art of #annunciation ! www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks...

George Michael was a notorious control freak. When it came to the Faith album this attention to detail extended from arranging, composing and performing the music, to styling, graphic design and even drawing the album artwork himself. Tonight the Music Seems So Loud is out in June. sathnam.com

I wouldn't say my Avanti train ticket is pricey, but I've just had the option to pay for it in three interest-free installments.

On the Today Programme tomorrow morning talking about The Magic Faraway Tree and Eleanor Graham's bonkers classic The Children who Lived in the Barn. Trigger warning for @swanljenn.bsky.social

Keir Starmer's 'Love Actually' moment after insults from Trump. “A lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly to put pressure on me. I understand what is going on. “But I am not going to waver on this. I am the British PM and my job is to be absolutely focused on the national interest."

There are some strong reasons in this thread to buy the Darkwood Trilogy. I will add "BECAUSE I AM YELLING AT YOU TO BUY IT NOW" to them. Found family in a forest!

* Face Palm Sunday

Morning my friends. Been up for ages this morning. Finished reading the brilliant “Millions” by @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social I suspect it’ll be more fun to die in a nuclear holocaust while reading a good book than watching it unfold on here so going to start another book from my bedside pile.

Local Liverpool types! Gwendoline Riley will be talking about her new novel The Palm House at the West Kirby Bookshop on Friday 17th April. Tickets are on sale now. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-palm-h...

📢 There's just one week to go until our #NationalYearOfReading webinar with Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce! Join us to find out more about how we can work together to support families to share stories in the early years: https://bit.ly/4l68Nyv #NationalYearOfReading2026

JUST ANNOUNCED A very special Oxford evening hosted by @blackwells.bsky.social and @waterstones.bsky.social with Children's laureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social at the Sheldonian Theatre Tickets £10 or £22 which includes a copy of the book On sale now

Good. The creative industries in the UK punch waaaaaay above their weight in economic and soft power terms. The government should be supporting not undermining them.

We're saying a big thank you to all the mums today 🩷 When you share stories with your children, you're giving them a wide range of benefits that can last a lifetime. Find out more about why shared reading matters so much 👇 https://bit.ly/3JNgfjT #MothersDay

Parents warned children with no reading experience start school as ‘second-class citizens’ Children’s laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce outlined how almost 50% of children arrive at school without having been read to by their parents © Getty/iStock

Woke up stupidly early over a hour ago. Stayed in bed reading “Millions” by @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social, recommended by @hilarymckay.bsky.social, and it is hilarious and moving and exciting.