After the craziness of last week (SATs and Ofsted!), I almost missed being featured in this month’s @openuni-rfp.bsky.social newsletter! Lovely to be featured next to @amygreatrex.bsky.social too 🧺📚 Link to read my report of last year’s #LeafLitFest here: ourfp.org/eop/the-leaf...

✨ Another fantasy I have loved getting lost in this Easter! I know I’m late to the party but if you haven’t read The Land of Roar series by @jennymclachlan.bsky.social illustrated by @benmantle.bsky.social, climb aboard a dragon now..!✨ Full review here: www.instagram.com/p/DIoQalqKDG...

Finally had time to reflect on the busiest term ever! Check out my insta to see a round-up of the Leaf Literature Festival - a festival between 17 primary schools in Bristol celebrating reading! 📚🌿 #LiteratureFestival #authorvisits #readingforpleasure www.instagram.com/p/DIePPIrqyQ...

My letter to the @theguardian.com on the META theft of our work. Will be in the physical paper tomorrow. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Really enjoyed escaping into this fantasy epic ✨ I love how Katherine Rundell always ‘writes up’ for children, this doesn’t disappoint! Thanks @claireridsdale.bsky.social for lending it to me! Review here: www.instagram.com/p/DIMR5xjq5y... @kidsbloomsbury.bsky.social

Last term was so full on so I’m enjoying taking things a little more slowly now it’s the Easter Holidays. Had myself a little ‘booknic’ to make the most of the sun! ☀️ What are you all reading this Easter?

A very belated but absolute humongous thank you to @peters-books.bsky.social for this award-winning collection of nonfiction for our school library 😍

2000 kids?! WOW!! What a wonderful event organised by brilliant book-loving people! #KidLit #BookSky #PrimaryEduSky

Absolute honour to host @ianeagletonauthor.bsky.social for our Leaf Literature Festival virtual author visit today! All of our EY and KS1 classes from our 17 schools joined to hear #NenandtheLonelyFisherman and learn some sea-themed BSL too! Thank you Ian!! 📚🧜‍♂️📔 #LeafLitFest

To all the librarians, teachers, TAs, authors and illustrators up and down the country who are putting their all into making this #WorldBookDay special - even if you only encourage one child to pick up a book today, you’ve made the world a better place ❤️ (illustration by me 🖍️)

We launched our Leaf Literature Festival on Monday morning and what a line up we have this year! Big thank you to the Leaf Trust for my beautiful flowers and the Year 4 girl who handmade these gorgeous book earrings - it’s so appreciated! 📚🍃 #readingforpleasure #LeafLitFest

Here is a poem for #WorldBookDay. It’s one of my most popular, and is available for FREE on my website www.joshuaseigal.co.uk, along with many other poems! #BookSky #EduSky #KidLit

A cartoon for #worldbookday (coming on Thursday 6th) for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

There will be a time where the #LeafLitFest won’t take over my life (or my living room) but I am VERY excited to be launching our trust of school’s festival on Monday and can’t wait to talk about all the amazing authors and illustrators we have joining us too! 📚🍃📚🍃📚🍃📚

Huge thank you to Storysmith Bookshop who have sponsored our #LeafLitFest Bookmark Design and Writing competitions for all our schools. Can’t wait for these to be announced next week and send out book tokens to all the winners! 🙌✨

One week to go until The Leaf Literature Festival 2025 begins! Huge thank you in advance to all the school’s Reading Leads and our amazing line-up of visiting authors and illustrators who are making this happen! 🍃📚 #LeafLitFest

This year’s Leaf Literature Festival is drawing close - a festival celebrating reading across 14+ primary schools in our trust 🍃📚 I’ll share more soon but my round-up of how I planned last year’s on the Open University’s #RfP website - go check it out! ourfp.org/eop/the-leaf...

KS2 were absolutely buzzing after meeting Tom Percival last week. He treated us to not just a reading from his new book #SquirrelandDuck, but also a sing along, lots of games and live illustration. Big thanks to Tom, @kidsbloomsbury.bsky.social and Storysmith Bookshop for organising! 🐿️🦆

Last week EY and KS1 had a visit from Mevan Babakar to talk to us about her new book The Bicycle - one girl said “This is the best time of my life” 😍 Author visits make such an impact! Thank you to @maxminervas.bsky.social for organising! 📚🚲

Big thank you to @whatsfsaid.bsky.social for my copy of Safiyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan. I’ve heard lots of great things about it so can’t wait to read it and then share in my school’s library! 📚💙

Do not mess with librarians. They let complete strangers borrow their books. For a living. Even the hardcovers. They are so much stronger than you know.

SAVE THE DATES 2025: Libraries Week: Libraries Change Lives will take place in June and  Green Libraries Week in October. Through a new campaign approach & schedule, CILIP will lead two separate annual campaigns with partners. Read more: cilip.org.uk/news/693446/...

Quote of the day: “Holy smokes! That’s ridiculous! That’s amazing!” I’ve been sharing the news of our author visits for the #LeafLitFest25 in library lessons this week. Fair to say that the reaction has been great! @louiestowell.bsky.social

Read Barbara Throws a Wobbler by @nadiashireen.bsky.social to all of the Reception classes today and a couple of them said “This is the best book you’ve ever read to us” 🥹 #Children’sMentalHealthWeek

✨ It’s #Children’sMentalHealthWeek! ✨ In the #library we’re celebrating books which can help us to understand our emotions and empathise with others. Which books are you reading this week?

I enjoy reading children's books and choose to do so. Not all school staff have the time or inclination but they do need to know about them. Having a couple of staff meetings each year with time to explore picturebooks, poetry and graphic novels could make a world of difference in the classroom.

January was all about encouraging our children to find new things to read and set their own challenges based on the kind of readers they are. I couldn’t resist sharing this #readingresolution from a Year 6 the other week - isn’t it wonderful?! 😍 #librarylessons #greatschoollibraries

Exciting that two of our #LeafLitFest authors are mentioned in @waterstones.bsky.social children’s book round up this month! 🌿📚 @clairehatchersmith.bsky.social @tommclaughlin.bsky.social

Listened to this on my commute today. Really interesting discussion about librarian pay scales and progression (or lack of!), as well as how wonderfully resourceful librarians are when they’re often the only ones doing the job! 💪 #greatschoollibraries #schoollibrarian

Enjoyed talking all things graphic novels and comics with my Teachers’ Reading Group yesterday. Bought along some fave picture books and fiction this week too! 📚📚📚 #readingforpleasure #TRG @teresacremin.bsky.social @debbiethomas.bsky.social

🌟 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🌟 To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, All Brains Are Wonderful, I’m giving away one copy! 🏆 To enter: 🔁 Repost this post 🧠 For an extra entry, reply with a brain emoji! ✨ Winners will be chosen on publication day, 3rd February. Good luck! 🎉 #AllBrainsAreWonderful

My favourite children's book of the year: SAFIYYAH'S WAR by Hiba Noor Khan. Absolutely beautiful & brilliant; every school & library should have a copy. To which end, I am giving away FREE COPIES TO SCHOOLS & LIBRARIES! Repost & follow to enter; closes 25th Jan 2025! #BooksOfTheYear #books #giveaway

A boy in Year 2 gave me this certificate today for being “The best librarian ever” = day made 🥹😍 #greatschoollibraries

Read this yesterday to Reception and it went down a treat! Their guesses as to what the beetle might like to eat and the end were very amusing! 🐻🐰🍐 By @pippagoodhart.bsky.social and Anna Doherty

Great #TRG session this evening! Lovely to hear Lucy Strange talk about her books and so passionately about how @barringtonstoke.bsky.social books can give young readers so much confidence 🙌

Hello BlueSky, nice to meet you 👋 I’m Verity, a primary librarian passionate about encouraging children’s #readingforpleasure 📚 I also work for an English Hub, coordinate a trust-wide literature festival and I’m an illustrator too (when I can!)🖍️ Looking forward to talking books with you all!