My festive poetry book, A Welly Full of Christmas is out 6 weeks today with @tinytreebooks.bsky.social! 🎉🎄 The most splendiferous @afharrold.com said some lovely things about it. And here's a sneak peek of the contents! Pre-orders available now from all the usual places ❤️🎄#UKKidLit #KidLitUK

This Thursday, Battle Library are hosting a fun-filled activity day to support the Story Garden Summer Reading Challenge, with games, workshops and local poet/author/beardmeister @afharrold.com! All sessions are FREE but best to book in advance - whatsonreading.com/venues/readi...

As Bookbanks new Ambassador I’d like to spread the word about this brilliant charity giving books with food at food banks. Please share and support if you’re able :) www.bookbanks.co.uk

When it's too hot to actively hate one another...

How many editors does it take to screw in a light bulb? Not sure about this wording: it could be read as meaning editors have sex in light bulbs! Also, do we really "screw in" UK light bulbs? Don't we tend to use bayonet caps? Rewrite and bring it back in your own time, OK? Have you finished yet?

"digital asbestos" is fantastic framing.

#poetry #poem I loved reading A.F. Harrold's Pocket Book of #Poems yesterday. It inspired me to write my words. @afharrold.com

We were robbed last night. When it’s our stock or our money that is targeted, there’s insurance and systems in place for this, but when it’s stealing from a charity in an extremely direct way then we just can’t abide it. scottishbooktrust.com/donate @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social

Further adventures in comfortable pillow land. Susan and some Joan Aiken/Quentin Blake loveliness.

Everybody needs a rocking chair for a pillow, everybody needs a rocking chair... Or so Vincent thinks.

Poets'R'Us @afharrold.com

Had a nice visit to Waterstones, Finchley Road, this afternoon. Plenty of signed books left for you all! @bloomsburyed.bsky.social @literaryvegan.bsky.social @waterstones.bsky.social

A.F. Harrold has a whole load of poems that he’d like to share with you!🥳 He’s a word wonder, herding unexpected ideas into unusual shapes! Don't miss his session at the St Austell Festival of Children's Literature on June 14th. Tickets here: bit.ly/3FnXd1s @afharrold.com

My cat. Not my cat. Vincent. Lucifer.

Reading with children changes their lives forever, and EVERY SINGLE CHILD is entitled to this right! That's why I support the #ReadingRights campaign. The full report is out today from @booktrust.org.uk & @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social: please read & share! www.booktrust.org.uk/about-us/rea...

Just read this excellent kids-folk-horror-walk-away-from-Omelas-wickerman-is-a-river-adventure from @darrensimpson44.bsky.social and @pushkinchildrens.bsky.social. Gripping, gruesome, dark and dripping. Beware the woods and the reanimated child corpses... #Thirst out in September. A Good Thing.

It also ties into how people not only view kidlit as something that’s “easy to create” (even tho every time they try it comes out shit)…they also see making children’s books as a way to make a quick and easy buck. I encounter this a lot with people wanting to get into making kidlit.

An island of strangers? Just imagine British children's books without the work of migrants & their children – all of these & more! www.sfsaid.com/2017/02/one-...

The fact that AI generated kid-lit is a thing shows that some people view kids' media as something meant to distract children, and not something that's integral to cognitive development.

Just read this excellent kids-folk-horror-walk-away-from-Omelas-wickerman-is-a-river-adventure from @darrensimpson44.bsky.social and @pushkinchildrens.bsky.social. Gripping, gruesome, dark and dripping. Beware the woods and the reanimated child corpses... #Thirst out in September. A Good Thing.

The view from my desk, this morning!

If we care about the future of our children, we need a library & a librarian in every school, to help every child find the books that will make them readers. Libraries & librarians change children's lives FOREVER - and they're more vital now than ever! #libraries #librarians #literacy

This thread of Bad Panelists is gold but I particularly like this level of BS

Have you got your tail under control? Vincent has.

Pity poor Susan.

Sunday's going well.

I wanted to tell you all about this absolute delight. @afharrold.com @bloomsburybooks.bsky.social

Vincent knows where his tail is. It is his.

And just opposite that, was the poem about Why Dave Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Name Things Any More. Which I’m keeping in my pocket. Because I know it will come in useul.

Then I wanted to read the Ratatouille Poem due to the obvious rhyming challenge...

I’m interested in FOOD, and I love mayonnaise, so I had to look at that one.

But look: AF has carefully organised it in order of poem size, PLUS there is a thematic contents chooser so you can find the stuff you’re interested in.

Look what ariived! It’s the Pocket Book of Pocket Poems by AF Harrold! @afharrold.com Super-useful for if you need a poem and you’re in a hurry, or you need to send a poem, but you only have a small piece of paper to write it on...

55. Pocket Book of Pocket Poems A.F. Harrold & Jack Viant @afharrold.com A lovely range of poetry, from the silly to the very silly, ranging from 1-60 words. Very entertaining and a must-have for KS2 libraries and classrooms.

Vincent knows where his tail is. Do you?

Amazing! @afharrold.com has sent me his whimsically brilliant book AND a photo of his house. Perhaps my favourite part of the book is the thematic contents - absolute bonkers idea which is great fun to use

For any teachers looking for a treat for their class this summer term (or in the autumn), or for anyone else thinking they're bored of the usual tosh that lands on their doormats, why not consider signing up for a handwritten-poems-on-postcards subscription? www.afharroldkids.com/poetry-postc...

This was Vincent, Wednesday evening, in my shed, waiting for folks to arrive for DnD. He was the TPK they never saw coming...

🥳EXCITING NEWS!🎉Pocket Book of Pocket Poems has been selected for the Summer Reading Challenge 2025 book collection, Story Garden!📚🌸 We can't wait for readers to enjoy the magic of poetry this summer!🌞 #SummerReadingChallenge #StoryGarden #PocketPoems @readingagency.bsky.social @afharrold.com

I signed my class up for this postcard subscription from @afharrold.com last term. We all loved receiving a poem on a postcard every week. I can highly recommend. Will definitely do it again in the future.

OK so why are you selling British creatives out to US tech companies

For any teachers looking for a treat for their class this summer term (or in the autumn), or for anyone else thinking they're bored of the usual tosh that lands on their doormats, why not consider signing up for a handwritten-poems-on-postcards subscription? www.afharroldkids.com/poetry-postc...

The UK children's literature market in one picture. #KidLitUK

My book about the history & culture of tabletop games, ACROSS THE BOARD ('The Game Changers' in the UK) is out in the US on May 6th. The subtitle is 'How Games Make Us Human' & it's a good subtitle because that is what the book is about. Preorder here: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/across-the...

Sometimes Vincent doesn't want to think about his feet.

SO enjoying this new book by @afharrold.com that I penned a quick pocket poem of my own (and got lucky with the word count!) 🙂

Said it before, will say it again. Copyright IS the act of saying "I opt out of allowing others to use my work". "Fair use" requires an actual human being (an AI is not a student), and if the end derivation negatively impacts the work/income of the original person, it is not regarded as fair use.

Full report: institute.global/insights/tec... 8/8