@pftompkins.bsky.social I hate to be one of those guys who @s you with an article I think you should see, but I felt this passage (from Jane Campion's remembrance of Sam Neill) deserved your attention. Apologies if I'm the one millionth person to send it to you.

For anybody who has taken out a hundred candles to put on Mel Brooks’ birthday cake: PUT. THE CANDLES. BACK.

Quite shocked - and a little ticked off - that @theguardian.com with its large book section has had zero coverage of the @carnegiemedals.bsky.social Kids books are a HUGE part of the industry, and the Carnegie is essentially our Booker. What’s up with that, @theguardian.com ?

This is exactly what aliens would write to lure humans into their brain-replacement machines. www.midjourney.com/medical/blog...

If you got AI to write your book you didn’t write your book. Stephen King wrote your book. Octavia Butler wrote your book. Jilly Cooper wrote your book. Dav Pilkey wrote your book. Lisa Jewell wrote your book. I wrote your book. Every author whose work has been digitised wrote your book. You did not

They should build loads of data centers all over the place that contain huge quantities of books that people can borrow for free if they fill out a form to get a data center card and promise to return the books on time and don’t make too much noise in the data center.

Great article on the importance of illustration in children's books, and the delicate dance that has to take place between the text and the art. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

This is the most delightfully nerdy pride flag I've ever seen!

I am super excited that my picture book about the artist Maurizio Cattelan has found a home at Phaidon, one of the world's great publishers of art books! And Sarah Matuszewski is the perfect illustrator; she's got the wild sense of humor that's essential if you're trying to capture Cattelan's work.

Subjectively, I believe that a Greatest Novels list without "Ramona Quimby Age 8" is flawed. Objectively, I know that a Greatest Novels list without ANY literature for children is fatally flawed.

New book deals on the way from @metahatem.bsky.social @dominiqueramseyart.bsky.social @jacobsw.bsky.social + more buff.ly/4mAUnCQ

The limericks that some people say lie flat, like a fallen soufflé. To make them completer, pay heed to the meter, and don't just throw out a bunch of clunky words and claim it's a limerick because the rhyme scheme is AABBA. #limerick

who suffered a terrible curse, It simply could not get much worse. were in the wrong place. for the lines in each case There once was a writer of verse #limerick

One day, as the Queen walked through Leicester Square, she encountered some jeicester who spilled beer on her cheicest. She exclaimed, "I'll be bleicest!" and then hanged him because he distreicester. #poetry #limerick

"It's National Limerick Day! Already again? Man, no way! These things are the best, no one can contest!" — a thing that most people don't say

In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month I’m reading aloud the beautiful picture book “What Rosa Brought” by @jacobsw.bsky.social and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. A meaningful story about family, identity, and the power of love. youtu.be/mE9Tq9vFW3M?... @harpercollins.bsky.social

MC, it's your cousin Marvin. Marvin Escher. You know that new style of graphic art you're looking for? Well, here it is! [HOLDS PHONE UP TO THIS POST]

This is my regular plea to the lovely, wonderful, well-meaning teachers of the world: please do not assign your students books to read over the summer break! You are not inculcating a love of reading. You are just teaching your kids that reading is a chore that messes up their leisure time.

Victo Ngai’s art for QUEEN OF DAY is gorgeous. Bad news: you have to wait until January 12, 2027 to see it in full. Good news: you can feast your eyes on her cover today. #coverreveal #picturebook #queenofday #victongai #illustration #chessgame #childrensbooks #kidlit #bookstagram #newbookrelease

🎶 you know the day destroys the night night divides the day tried to run tried to hide BREAK ON THROUGH TO THE

This very much represents the London I know.

Where the grass is [redacted] and the girls are [redacted].

Orban achieved a level of authoritarian consolidation unthinkable here and they still successfully got rid of him. Never let the doomers have the final say.

This is my favorite download of 2026.

Always good to see scientists replicating previous famous findings.

I feel seen.

Islamophobia and antisemitism go hand-in-hand. The work to dismantle them is inextricably bound. That's what safety in solidarity means.

I keep looking for a central repository of charity auctions of interest to writers and readers, but none seems to exist. So I am going to start tracking them in this thread. Feel free to message need if you know of an auction I should include.

I shared this joke the other day and a lot of people enjoyed it, including a bunch of people who made their own fun jokes in response. These are their stories. *Law & Order chime sound*

This is Wiley. He has never seen snow before and wants to make sure he gets a real good look at it. For science. 12/10 (IG: smileywileydog)

If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle. It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get. www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

Hi all! Excited to be a part of the Book Lovers for Liberation auction to raise money for nonprofit organizations that are providing legal aid for immigrants and protesters, supporting food banks in affected communities, and standing up against the harmful impacts of ICE.

Hemingway was once bet that he couldn’t write the world’s happiest short story in just 5 words. He replied,

Ramadan Mubarak! Kung Hei Fat Choi! Laissez bon temps rouler! Hodesh Adar tov! Y'ALL ⭐

This is another insanely good opportunity— and you’ve got just 24 hours to bid on it.

The Publishing for Minnesota auction is now live! If you want my feedback on your picture book text (or the first 1,000 words of a longer manuscript), you have 24 hours to get your bid in! www.32auctions.com/organization...

Agreed. I wish writers were more honest about the parts of writing that aren't blissful communing with the Muse. Along those lines, I always recommend this article by Ann Bauer. www.salon.com/2015/01/25/s...

This is another insanely good opportunity— and you’ve got just 24 hours to bid on it.

The Publishing for Minnesota auction is now live! If you want my feedback on your picture book text (or the first 1,000 words of a longer manuscript), you have 24 hours to get your bid in! www.32auctions.com/organization...

Jew in Amsterdam here. Please use Anne Frank as a comparison point to explain how state persecution of scapegoats impacts children, that is the point of her example, thanks

The Publishing for Minnesota auction is live. Manuscript critiques! Portfolio reviews! Autographed books! Bid on them all, with proceeds going to worthy organizations that are fighting the good fight. www.32auctions.com/organization...

Honestly, the whole past week from Paintings of London has been non-stop bangers.

I could look at this painting all day. It captures so many of the things that make me love north London.

for example

The best way of describing someone who’s all talk and no action that I’ve ever heard in the UK, by far, is “they’re all wardrobe and no Narnia.” * read on for fun ways of saying “all talk and no action” in other languages (a thread)

I’ve eaten figgy pudding. Trust me: you should go before you get some.

Merry Christmas to my Christian friends and Joyous Isaac Newton’s birthday to my friends who remain at constant velocity unless acted on by an external force.

Here's Jason Kirschner's cover art for my next picture book, which comes out in September 2026. It makes me laugh every time I look at it! You can pre-order it at your local bookstore, or use one of the links here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786426... #kidlit

I am embarrassed to notice that in my pinned tweet about the wonderful cover of my new book... I neglected to credit the brilliant illustrator Jason Kirschner. Mea culpa! Going to fix that right now...