My 10yo has been creating his own comic this week. The eagle eyed amongst you may spot the influence of @neillcameron.bsky.social in his artwork. For this week’s #KidsBooksFriday, what books have you found that can help inspire kids to create their own art/writing? #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

That's one of my all-time favourite reviews in a single line. Thanks for picking it up, and I hope you both enjoy the rest of it!

My youngest and I read the opening chapters to @pgbellwriter.bsky.social latest and are HOOKED!

About to play my 10 year old's boardgame! It's taken him several days to make. Looks awesome! #RainbowFriends @robcrossley4.bsky.social @jonnybid.bsky.social

"Would their child become a diviner? A healer? A spirit waker?" In Spirit Warriors, @ashleythorpe.bsky.social conjures a world of ancestral magic, power, and purpose rooted in Jamaican folklore. A cracking opening and concept! Perfect for KS2 readers. Publishing 14 August #Usborne #SpiritWarriors

@umurrayhusted.bsky.social An absolute, absolute, absolute joy! I've just finished #BotticellisApprentice We read and discussed #ACatStory at our #LetsTalkGraphicNovels group a few years back & you kindly showed up. This is just as wonderful. Congratulations - I wish it every possible success!

Following on from this week’s sci-fi chat from @jacquisydney.bsky.social and @pgbellwriter.bsky.social, what are your #KidsBooksFriday sci-fi recommendations? We’re lucky to have the phenomenal @alastairc.com leading the charge and I’ve read a few other brilliant examples lately. #KidLitUK #KidLit

Brilliant as always from Megan.

📚 “Somewhere you’ll be safe. Somewhere you’ll get the answers you want so badly. A magical library…” Sangu Mandanna ’s #VanyaandtheWildHunt is a new fantasy that fuses British folklore with Indian mythology ✨ Out now from @macmillankidsuk.bsky.social #childrensbooks

📚✨ From @theemmapress.bsky.social spellbinding poetry Theis' poems conjure tenderness & tension, & speak to uncertainty, identity & longing. One moment gentle, the next crackling with teeth — perfect for readers on the cusp of everything. Out 18_09 & beautifully illustrated by Kate Lucy Foster.

There are some amazing graphic novels coming out in the next few months, and a lot of them are sequels to very popular texts. Be sure to keep an eye out for these as they're going to be very popular in classes. #kidlit @robcrossley4.bsky.social @mariannedoherty.bsky.social @mattobin.bsky.social

@mattobin.bsky.social Hi Mat, We have loved shadowing the Klaus Flugge prize this year! I have emailed you our photos from across the six classes but our winners were: Slug Life (2 classes), The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods (2 classes), The Cat Who Couldn't Be Bothered and The Christmas Mouse.

We loved reading the children's varied responses! @mattobin.bsky.social

“I wish you were here in this great big meadow, like a sea of lacy clouds…” A sensory-rich, heart-deep picturebook from Kathy Stinson and Ojibwe artist Maya McKibbin. A gentle exploration of longing, love and the wild around us. I do love🌿 #GreystoneKids books #IfYouWereHere

What I’ve always loved about reading with children is the way we invite them to step into the story — to safely test their thoughts like stepping-stones, to linger in ambiguity, to imagine boldly. Whether one-to-one or in chorus, that shared wondering is, for me, where the magic begins (1/2)

“Reading a poem for someone else is like eating their dinner and describing the menu.” –Rosenblatt Many teachers create space for children to experience texts firsthand — to feel, to wonder, to respond. How can we continue to honour that personal encounter in every classroom?

@cressidacowell.bsky.social does it again! #DoomoftheDarkwing is bursting with her trademark humour, sketches, scrawls & chaos. 🗺️ A map to pore over 🔥 Typography that's emotionally charged 🐉 Dragons galore! A brilliant way to hook readers in. @hodderbooks.bsky.social @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

🌱 There’s real poetic joy in I Heard a Bird by @robramsden.bsky.social @scallywagpress.bsky.social Its calm rhythm and sensory attentiveness model how we might slow down, notice, & connect with nature. A gentle prompt to listen & appreciate that “This is me” is just the beginning of the story.

A leaf becomes a violin. A garden becomes a stage. In Hannah and the Violin, Satoshi Kitamura reminds us that the natural world is alive with music—if only we listen. A joyful celebration of play, imagination and being outside. Thank you @scallywagpress.bsky.social !”

Raw and lyrical, #OntheEdge dives into brotherhood, belonging,& a boy’s fight to hold on. Just read the first chapter, @nmgarrard & was struck by the underlying tension in Rhys future already - a liminal life! A YA novel coming this August from @oldbarnbooks.bsky.social #YAlit #OnTheEdge

I reckon we could use some more kids’ book chat on BlueSky, so I thought I might attempt a #KidsBooksFriday chat. Let’s start with… What is one book you’d love every child to get the chance to read? Mine would be @markbradley.bsky.social’s Bumble & Snug and the Angry Pirates. #KidLitUK #KidLit

'The reading experts, for all their understanding about ‘the reading process’, treat all text as the neutral substance on which the process works, as if the reader did the same things with a poem, a timetable, a warning notice.' (Meek, 1988)

Same child, different comments.

The children are getting more confident with forming their own opinions of, and commenting on, the illustrations too. 🎨

Extended to 27_06. A great chance to win some fantastic books. Do pass on the news: @smithsmm.bsky.social @jonnybid.bsky.social @rcharlesworth.bsky.social @mariannedoherty.bsky.social @martingalway.bsky.social @literacy-trust.bsky.social @schoolreadinglist.bsky.social @booksforkeeps.bsky.social

I FINALLY got to meet @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social on Saturday. A wonderful, common thread throughout the @englishassociation.bsky.social conference was need to create space for meaningful talk around stories with discussion facilitation by adults.

Happy to say @neillcameron.bsky.social that my youngest snapped this up at @waterstonesoxf.bsky.social today. I ask him to choose a pin and he went for father and son. Laughter through reading all the way home!

Ordered and then collected these from @forumbooks.bsky.social last week. Already read Candle Island and it is as brilliant as Wolf Hollow. #BookSky 📚💙 “There’s something sad about everyone, Lucy. Don’t ever think otherwise.” @mattobin.bsky.social @sconnor7.bsky.social @smithsmm.bsky.social

Another lovely, playful addition to the @rocketbirdbooks.bsky.social collection. Lo Cole's Lionel tells a story who doesn't quite fit in until there comes a moment when he's perfect. Enjoyed the playful hole in the book here!

'Exceptionally talented new illustrators' The shortlist for the #KlausFluggePrize, awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s picture book #illustration, has been announced. Congratulations to the shortlisted illustrators 💐 booksforkeeps.co.uk/exceptionall...

We are very sad to hear of the death of Aidan Chambers. A full obituary will be published shortly, in the meantime, here's a link to our 2001 Authorgraph in which he discusses his writing with Geoff Fox #KidLit #KidLitUK booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/auth...

Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Aidan Chambers. His reflections on reading, the environments that nurture it, and the centrality of talk have profoundly shaped the way I understand and teach literature. His influence will remain with me always.

Besides my dad, his walks & Reader's Digest books, Attenborough's 'Life on Earth', 'The Living Planet', and 'The Life of Birds' were seminal in inviting me closer into the natural world. It's impossible to explain how much he and the BBC affected my life.

Happy 99th birthday to the man who gave voice to the wild. 🎉 Sir David Attenborough, thank you for a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with wisdom, wonder, and grace. You've inspired generations to fall in love with nature.

Thanks Mat, I really appreciate you taking the time to explore the training- especially as a primary specialist! :-) Learning to read is a marathon, not a sprint.

Just read this excellent, research-led doc on reading in Secondary. Clear, practical, rooted in the SVoR, vocab, background know. & disciplinary literacy. Lovely to see how much it aligns with what we champion in Early Years & Primary. Real sense of continuity. Useful for CPD & cross-phase work! 👏

🌟 New Zeki adventure alert! 🌟 Anna McQuinn, Ruth Hearson and Alanna Max share with us a joyful celebration of everyday experiences & early learning. I love the gentle nods to: 🗣️ Language development 🧡 Social connection 🎶 Rhythm and rhyme 🛒 Understanding the world So clever!

Get your class involved in the #KlausFluggePrize Enter the #KlausCup to win the full shortlist. 🏆 Guide here 👉https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NDFqXmINg3v5WMSVGGycEPEKLe_rYCs5J7xD0M_KPLA/edit?slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0#slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0 Deadline: 20 June! Please do share!

Just going to leave this here incase people are interested: writing4pleasure.com/2025/04/24/e...

Get this book. You’re welcome. 😉

As I prepare to close down my office, I find these. They remind me of why we the work we do as educators, even amidst the chaos, and why it matters.

Big-hearted, big laughs, big school! #BestFriendsForever by @lwilliamsonauthor.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social before—but now there’s a creative writing pack to go with it! Ideal for upper KS2 and early KS3; great for inspiring character-driven writing in schools. #ReadingForPleasure

Please feel free to add anymore that I've missed, as I know there's a lot of great stuff on the way. @louiestowell.bsky.social @mariannedoherty.bsky.social @jonnybid.bsky.social @mattobin.bsky.social @smerchant13.bsky.social @robcrossley4.bsky.social

Since folks seem to be talking about publishing & creating today: THE CARTOONISTS CLUB took @scottmccloud.bsky.social and I about 4 years to make, from idea to turning in final art. We wrote 3 drafts, hired an inker (@cavetoonist.bsky.social!) and still: graphic novels take a long dang time.

Can’t wait to dive in to @chrisriddell50 #MermaidsDiary Looks lovely: lush illustrations, playful language & (a prerequisite for me): a fine map. Out in May! Great to see an illustrated novel celebrated as a rich aesthetic whole. 💭 What’s your favourite Riddell creation?

Next on the @KlausFluggePrize @booksforkeeps.bsky.social Longlist is the illustrative work of Annabel Wright @WBGTrust A highly interactive book that encourages the artist in all of us to blossom, it explores the life and art of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.

Watch out for these reviews and more in our next issue! #kidlit #childrensbooks