”It was the best of times; it was the worst of times...” Charles Dickens, Victorian novelist born #OTD 1812; George Orwell noted “no English writer has written better about childhood...” Portrait by Daniel Maclise, 1839, National Portrait Gallery, London | Cartoon Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay unveiled yesterday. Axel Scheffler’s green-eyed, grey-furred, blunt-toothed character Gruffalo Granny, with her notebook, pencil, bag and walking stick, from the third Gruffalo collaboration with Julia Donaldson, to be published on 10 September. @panmacmillan.bsky.social

To hear, one must be silent. Ursula Le Guin

I’m supporting #ReadItForward2026! If you buy my books Black Gables, The Midnight House or Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay during February bookshop.org will donate 10% to @booktrust.org.uk and @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social #KidLitUk #supportindiebookshops

In honour of #HolocaustMemorialDay here is an extract from "A Sofa in the Forties" which Heaney read at a memorial service on this day in 2008. The poem is set during WW2 when Heaney and his siblings are playing, and imagining their sofa is a train. Original Post: Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again

I’m supporting #ReadItForward2026! Buy Inspire Me! (by me, from @nosycrow) during February and @bookshop_org_uk will donate 10% to @BookTrust & @scottishbktrust to fund early reading support for disadvantaged UK families. And every sale benefits independent bookshops. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/insp...

Remembering Ann Lovett who tragically died 42 years ago today after giving birth alone in a grotto in Granard. The Statue of the Virgin at Granard Speaks -Paula Meehan "and though she cried out to me in extremis I did not move, I didn’t lift a finger to help her, I didn’t intercede with heaven

Lovely #kidlituk #ukkidlit review roundup to brighten up your January! #yearofreading #kidlit www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

'My childhood from my life is parted, My footstep from the moss which drew Its fairy circle round: anew The garden is deserted.' ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning 🎨Eugène Grasset #BookWormSat

'The old church tower and garden wall Are black with autumn rain, And dreary winds foreboding call The darkness down again.' -Emily Brontë 🎨Júlia Sardà #BookWormSat

Out now, middle grade The Night I Borrowed Time by @ihussainwriter.bsky.social is a brilliant time-travel adventure that also looks at the effects of parental separation and Partition. @puffinbooksuk.bsky.social #KidlitUK #UKKidlit worldssmallestlibrary.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/t...

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Cambridge-based Peruvian illustrator Fatima Ordinola from her picturebook Our Dreams. A cosy bedtime book about sleeping animals. The images, such as these pandas made with chalk pastels, ink & watercolour, induce relaxation. Post Wave 29 Jan @postwavebooks.bsky.social

And here they are in all their glory... Picture Fiction for Early Readers Shortlist 2026! ✨📚🏆 #Spark6Shortlist

I'll be chatting with Phil Errington, expert on John Masefield and author of Opening the Box of Delights, and @pierstorday.bsky.social who adapted the book for the stage. I'll feature the best of your thoughts on the show too, so make sure to give permission when you email your recordings

Breaking news - from the past! There's so much of it & I had the immense privilege of sharing some of it with @deshocks.bsky.social in a mini-series on her fantastic podcast. Here's a flavour of it. Thank you Eoghan O'Sullivan Https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41778443.html

Wishing trees are an Irish tradition, often hawthorn trees on which people hang ribbons or other small offerings in the hopes that their wishes will be answered. Heaney beautifully weaves the imagery of the wishing tree into a moving vision of remembrance.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Pete Williamson from the 8 Jan tie-in edition of Guy Bass’s gothic, Frankenstein-inspired Stitch Head, first published in 2011. The animated movie is out on 13 Feb and looks its best when it most resembles Williamson’s Goreyesque illustrations. @littletigeruk.bsky.social

'I wanted to start a revolution, using art to build the sort of society I myself envisioned' -Yayoi Kusama

The ARC of my new novel is now out on netgalley for any advance readers out there who are interested. Publication date 7th May 26.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 14: There is no *right way* to write a book. There's only the way that's right for you.

Winter Music, Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946).

The Terrible Trio: The Day the Mac ‘n’ Cheese Ran Out is landing in bookshops around the world over the next few weeks starting with the UK TODAY!! If you spot a copy in the wild, let me know! Happy reading, everyone 🦓🐧🦝🦁 #kidlitUK #GNkidlit @scholasticuk.bsky.social

ANNOUNCEMENT: 2026 is the National Year of Reading and that’s why I’m introducing my ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW series. I thought about how I might encourage reading and engage readers and how to make the process more fun. More below: 1/

We are delighted that the first Southword Poetry Podcast of 2026 is out now with Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and is available to listen to on our website - southword.buzzsprout.com/share #podcast

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Axel Scheffler from the board book Love with rhyming text by Sophie Cashell. Love is, for instance, reading together, & it looks fun. Proceeds to charity Three Peas, helping refugees in Europe. Alison Green Bks 15 Jan. @scholasticuk.bsky.social @threepeashelp.bsky.social

I’ve had a lovely day celebrating the release of THE DAD TRAP! I did a virtual event to thousands of kids this morning and then went to my local Waterstones to sign books! There was LOTS of coffee and cake and I treated myself to a fabulous new coat! Tonight is a takeaway and some champagne!

The Haunted Park by Richard Doyle (1824-1883) #PhantomsFriday

Congratulations Jamila Gavin, winner of the 2025 Nero Book Award children's fiction category for MY SOUL, A SHINING TREE @farshorebooks.bsky.social. "An exceptionally powerful story". Find out more in the @nicolettejones.bsky.social interview with Jamila. #KidLitUK #booksky bit.ly/3LyJSq7

Áthas orm an splancscéal 'An Bhean Dhofheicthe' a bheith ar Comhar na míosa seo. comhar.ie/iris/

Beyond excited to share the news that my first poetry collection, Midnight at the Saltmarsh, will be published by @thegallerypress.bsky.social in May 2026! 💫✨

This is exciting! Authors Kelly Yang (Front Desk series) and Kate DiCamillo (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane) are co-hosting a new weekly podcast called StoryKind. The first episode comes out on Monday 19th January and will be available on the usual platforms.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Will Hughes from Small Poems for Big Imaginations, a collection by Neal Zetter. In the Quentin Blake-Tony Ross-David Tazzyman-Tim Archbold school of skilled, casual, lighthearted draughtsmanship that looks spontaneous. Otter-Barry Books 8 Jan @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social

Introducing THE DAD TRAP! Any shares would be amazing! #KidLit #BookSky #LGBTQ #PrimaryEduSky @scholasticuk.bsky.social www.waterstones.com/books/review...

'Saishoin Temple in Snow, Hirosaki' - Kawase Hasui, 1936. #JapaneseArt #shinhanga

The very first episode of our very first TV soap Tolka Row aired on RTE #otd in 1964. It ran for five series. It was based on the play written by Maura Laverty, a woman who had many strings to her bow: screenwriter, editor, novelist, and cookery expert.

Winter Queen's Flowers, Zofia Plewińska-Smidowiczowa (1888-1944).

Remembering Joan Aiken and the stories about her haunted house...some of them she wrote herself... joanaiken.wordpress.com/2026/01/03/r...

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” J.R.R. Tolkien was born #OTD in 1892. 🎨Alan Lee

So thrilled with this NY gift of a first review for Tree Thing - out on the 15th! “Thought-provoking and powerful, ‘Tree Thing’ is a story deeply rooted in the beauty of the natural world. It carries a plea for its protection and bursts with hope for change. It is quite extraordinary.” 🌳🌳🌳

Gerda with the Raven Angela Barrett

Very excited about all of these! #KidsBooksFriday @patricknessbooks.bsky.social @philipreeve.bsky.social @sarapennypacker.bsky.social

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, illustr. Inga Moore, 1945.

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay is back with a hopeful picturebook for the New Year. The Big Green: Everyone can make a difference by Ken Wilson-Max, about the planting that created the Great Green Wall of Africa. Otter-Barry Books 8 Jan. May your 2026 be full of illustration. @otterbarrybooks.bsky.social

‘Reindeer’s Tears’ by Kerry Phippen, contemporary Scottish artist #womensart

Tá Seán Mac Mathúna imithe ar shlí na fírinne. Fear uasal, greannmhear, diabhlaíocht ina chuid cainte agus ina chuid scéalta. Duine de na scríbhneoirí is fearr a bhí againn sa tír seo riamh. Cailliúint ollmhór. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. Grianghraf: Máire Uí Mhaicín.

"They looked towards the hilltop and saw a yellow flame rising against the sky. Too-ticky had lit the bonfire. It wrapped itself in flames at once, from ground to top, it gave a roar like a lion and threw its reflection straight down on the black ice" Moominland #Midwinter, Tove Jansson

Another #Christmas present from us to you! @nicolettejones.bsky.social interviews Jamila Gavin about her #nerobookawards shortlisted MY SOUL A SHINING TREE: it has musical prose and historical facts about a hero who won the Victoria Cross. #KidLitUK @farshorebooks.bsky.social tinyurl.com/y5ry8d8f

'Winter hares in conversation' by UK contemporary printmaker Angela Harding #WomensArt #ArtAdvent

“Once upon a time, on a cold winter’s day, as the snowflakes were falling softly and swiftly, a Queen sat sewing by her window. As she looked out, the snow scene was framed like a picture by the black ebony of the window frame” Artist: EricWinter Writer VeraSouthgate

A perfect poem for these blustery days. 🌬🧥 'Winter Coat' by Rosita Boland, published in Poetry Ireland Review Issue 58, edited by Catherine Phil MacCarthy.