Definitely the Hatchet series. Great books.

The Year of Reading – April As Spring is well and truly sprung in ‘The Year of Reading’ for 2026 and a great time to reflect on how the first quarter of the year has gone so far. At school, we have worked hard to …

#SundayMorningBookChat for April. On my blog in honour of the Year of Reading I explored the genre of Adventure! What are your favourite adventure stories or series tomsbookcorner.wordpress.com/2026/04/18/t...

Book cover for Beegu by Alexis Deacon

Book cover for Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Gabriela Epstein

Book cover for Bumble & Snug and the Jealous Giants by Mark Bradley

Book cover for Just Jamie by Terri Libenson

I’m hoping #Bluesky will be in more robust health for this today. 🤞

It’s been a bit of a week, made brighter with pockets of immense kindness.

So for #KidsBooksFriday this week, I thought we could celebrate books that highlight the importance of kindness.

#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit #Kindness

This year's CLiPPA shortlist is absolutely sensational! The judges have a tricky task ahead.

If you haven't already, do make sure you sign your school up to take part in the shadowing scheme. It's a great way to get children celebrating poetry together.

r1.dotdigital-pages.com/p/1RW5-1LFF/...

POEM 1
Things That Should Be in a Poem.
As promised, I’ll be sharing 2 poem videos every week that will form 2 collections on my YouTube channel, @rumblecoral - 14 poems from Things That Should Be in a Poem (4+yrs) & 14 from Riding a Lion (7+yrs). I hope this will be useful.

As it's the start of a new school term, it feels like a good time to reshare my picturebook assembly overview, which has a focus on empathy and inclusion. All the selections are books I've used and loved as a teacher. Feel free to download, use and adapt.

padlet.com/Jon_Biddle/r...

Bookshop Blurb by Jennifer Claessen - The Little Fox Bookshop, Whitby The Little Fox Bookshop of Whitby has a dark blue ceiling swirling with handpainted stars. It has bunting in the windows, framed posters o...

I run an occasional blog series where people get the chance to celebrate their favourite children's bookshop. The latest post spotlights The Little Fox Bookshop in Whitby, a place that holds special meaning for author Jennifer Claessen.

childrenreadingforpleasure.blogspot.com/2026/04/book...

Huge congratulations to @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social, who was announced as the winner of the prestigious 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing during today's IBBY Annual Press Conference at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. Fully deserved!

Today's Read to the Beat! recommendations are The Adventures of Rap Kid and The Adventures of Rap Kid: The GOAT by MC Grammar

Funny, thought-provoking, and fantastic for reading aloud to a class, these books are absolutely full of energy. Perfect for upper KS2.

My latest Read to the Beat! recommendation is Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion, by Shannon Stocker and Devon Holzwarth. It's a story of challenge, perseverance, and the importance of pursuing your dreams, whatever they may be. An inspirational book.

Book cover for Fake by Ele Fountain.

Book cover for Away with Words by Sophie Cameron.

Book cover for Unraveller by Frances Hardinge.

Book cover for Buzzing my Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman.

For #KidsBooksFriday this week I wanted to highlight books that are perfect for the chronically underserved 12-14 age group.

What great books would you encourage kids to seek out at this age?

#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

Today's Read to the Beat! recommendation is a book that never fails to move a class.

Birdsong, written by Katya Balen and illustrated by Richard Johnson, is really special. Published by @barringtonstoke.bsky.social, it's a triumph. Not a word is wasted. It's lyrical, empathetic and heartbreaking.

Today's Read to the Beat! recommendations are Once Upon a Tune and A Symphony of Stories, both from the talented James Mayhew. They both explore six tales from around the world, each one inspiring a major orchestral work, and are fantastic to share with a class.

If you haven't read his non-fiction book, Musical Truth (illustrated by Ngadi Smart), I'd strongly recommend tracking down a copy. It's a fascinating look at Black music and culture in Britain from the 1950s onwards, with each chapter built around a different song.

Today's Read to the Beat! recommendations are the fantastic Kofi trilogy, written by Jeffrey Boakye and illustrated by Beth Suzanna.

They dive into 90s music culture, exploring rap battles and pirate radio stations. Essential reading for music fans of all ages.

Band Nerd, by Sarah Clawson Willis and Emma Cormarie, follows flautist Lucy as she navigates the impact of addiction on a wide range of people.

Finding My Voice, by Aoife Dooley, explores the world of Frankie, who is desperate to take part in the local Battle of the Bands competition until someone new arrives at the school and causes major disruption.

Today's Read to the Beat! recommendations are a trio of graphic novels, all suitable for the upper end of KS2.

Speak Up!, by Rebecca Burgess, is about 12-year-old Mia, who likes to express her feelings by singing and songwriting, and goes viral online as the performer Elle-Q.

It's a text that can be used in so many curriculum areas, including geography, music and RSHE, as well as an inspirational book to share with a class or in an assembly.

The illustrator's use of light, shade and colour across the pages is amazing and really draws you into the book. There's a section at the end where the author explains the real events behind it, alongside a photograph of the children holding their instruments.

Today's Read to the Beat! recommendation is Ada's Violin, written by Susan Hood and illustrated by Sally Wern Comport. It tells the engaging and heartwarming story of Ada Ríos, who learns to play a violin made from discarded oil cans and joins the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay.

We're delighted to welcome internationally acclaimed author and political thinker Ece Temelkuran to Norwich, the City of Sanctuary, to discuss her prescient new book, 'Nation of Strangers'.

Sat 23 May, 3pm, NCW. Presented by NCW and Norfolk & Norwich Festival.

Book your tickets: buff.ly/CTVyPS5

Whenever I share it in school, it always leads to a fascinating discussion about different styles of music and how they influence wider culture. Highly recommended for KS2.

DJ Kool Herc is sometimes forgotten when the story of hip hop is told, despite creating the sound that started it all. The book explores his childhood in Jamaica and The Bronx, as well as showing how the scene often transformed rival gangs into competing hip hop crews.

With this year's Summer Reading Challenge theme, Read to the Beat!, I'm going to be sharing lots of music-related books over the next few weeks. When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop, by Laban Carrick Hill and Theodore Taylor III, is a standout choice.

On Thursday 21st May, the fantastic Richard Ruddick and I will be delivering an after-school online session on using graphic novels in the primary classroom. There will be lots of practical ideas and book recommendations, as well as time for questions.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/graphic-no...

Book cover for The Lost Robot by Joe Todd-Stanton. Image shows a broken robot standing by a rubbish dump looking into a puddle. In the puddle he sees a happy, colourful version of himself surrounded by a luscious green landscape.

Book cover for AdventureMice: Mermouse Mystery by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre. Image shows a yellow submarine being driven by a brown mouse with glasses. A white mouse with a brown patch round his eye, wear in a yellow mac, pops his head out of the top. Around them swim mermice (half mermaid, half mice).

Book cover for Crazy About Cats by Owen Davey. Image shows stylised illustrations of various cat species including a striking looking tiger, accompanied by a pair of binoculars and a safari car driving along a road.

Book cover of The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Cover appears in the style of a battered old notebook. Image in sepia tones shows a man in a suit with a hat and a briefcase bending down to speak to an unusual looking creature with a large mouth, pointy ears, a short body and a long tail.

Last week I treated myself to Joe Todd Stanton’s newest picture book which is just gorgeous. 😍

It got me thinking we need a #KidsBooksFriday celebrating illustrators.

Which illustrators do you love? And which of their books show of the best of their style?

#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

The most popular reading material in class this term has been this collection of song lyrics. With volitional reading in decline, we need to start paying attention to what children are telling us about their reading preferences and valuing the texts they're already drawn to.

Frank the Monster by Mats Strandberg, illustrated by Sofia Falkenhem and translated by Julia Marshall, is a charmingly quirky story about Frank Steen, a 9yo boy who accidentally gets turned into a werewolf. Lots of fun and exactly the right level of spooky for Y2/3 readers. @geckopress.bsky.social

The Year of Reading – March ‘The Year of Reading’ for 2026 is well underway by now and I felt compelled to add something (hopefully of value) to the conversation each month. A mixture of recommendations, genre foc…

Morning all and time for a #SundayMorningBookChat in honour of #TheYearOfReading I am writing a monthly blog with recommendations, teacher tips and genre spotlight. This month its fantasy… what are your favourites? Heres the blog to check out. tomsbookcorner.wordpress.com/2026/03/21/t...