Category Archives: News

Newsletter: January 2023

THe January issue of the TeenLibrarian Newsletter is now available

Editorial

After a fairly fallow year in 2022, the TeenLibrarian Newsletter returns and will hopefully be more regular this year!

This newsletter contains a link to the amazing Dark is Rising podcast – a must listen for any fans of Susan Cooper’s phenomenal series and a perfect introduction for anyone who has not yet discovered this amazing work of literature for young readers.

For anyone working in a primary setting there is a link to study looking to explore elementary/primary teachers’ awareness of children’s authors, so if you are one or know of any please pass this on to them as there is also a chance to win a set of books by the award-winning Mini Grey.

America comics fans will be excited to discover that the absolutely amazing weekly comic The Phoenix is now available in the US, speaking personally as a long-time fan (all the way back to The DFC) I am thrilled as I will get to introduce the comics to my daughter who is at just the right age, seriously this comic is as near to perfect for all ages as anything I have yet read!

I have brought back my joke in a mug passive program that went on hiatus for obvious reasons for a few years and am sharing the resources I put together to offer this in my library. Also available is a link to my downloadable calendar of events throughout the year, covering most days with at least one special day that can be used to set up book lists or library displays.

A link to the UK Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for people looking for resources about or around the Holocaust is also included as is a link to my Crafty Scotsman Craft Activity for anyone wanting a light activity for Burns Night.

Lastly there are links for those wishing to put together activities and displays for the UK LGBTQ History Month or the US Black History Month.

For those of you new to this newsletter please do go and check out its parent site http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/ for 16 years worth of news, reviews and library-related resources.


On December 19 2022 the BBC World Service released the first episode of a podcast adaptation of Susan Cooper’s classic novel The Dark is Rising. between December 21st & 31st 11 more episodes covering the entirety of the story were released.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper was adapted by Simon McBurney and Robert Macfarlane for the BBC World Service and can be accessed from wherever you get your podcasts or directly from the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvp7

Broadening the Bookshelf
If you teach primary school students aged 4-11 or work with teachers that do, Teacher-Librarian Chris Baker is looking for people to participate in a study exploring elementary/primary teachers’ awareness of children’s authors.

To find out more information and participate in the survey you can follow this link: bit.ly/3O75qHk
Barrington Stoke Catalogue 2023 
Barrington Stoke is one of my favourite UK publishers and is probably the one I miss the most living and working in the US as I do now.

If you work in the UK or somewhere you can easily order their books then this 2023 catalogue will definitely be of interest:
https://issuu.com/barringtonstoke/docs/2023_complete_catalogue
 

I am pretty sure that most (if not all) of my UK subscribers are aware of the The Phoenix comic but those of you who are based in the US may be interested in finding out more seeing as the Phoenix is now available to subscribers over here!

The Phoenix is a weekly magazine for 7–14 year olds that’s packed with incredible comics, drawing guides, and plenty more that inspires kids to get reading, writing, and drawing!  You can sign up for a six issues for $1 subscription to find out if you or the small people in your life and work would like to sign up for a longer stretch (and trust me you will).

Many of their most popular strips have been collected as graphic novels and are available in US libraries. These include Corpse Talk (also available as an animated web series), Bunny vs MonkeyMega Robo Bros and more!

To find out more you can follow this link: https://thephoenixcomic.com/
Programming Idea: Jokes in a Mug
A passive programme that I have found to be very successful is setting out a mug containing jokes on the service desk.

It has been attracting library patrons of all ages and has a dedicated band of followers who now come in on a regular basis just to pick up a joke.

If you are interested in testing it out, all you need is a mug/cup and a discrete sign advertising hat is on offer. You can collect a range of jokes and reuse them as statistically people would grab a different joke each time.For those of you who may not have the time to hunt down jokes suitable for all ages I have a selection available to download below.
Jokes
Space and science fiction jokes
One Liners
Display Calendar
If anyone is searching for a simple annual calendar of special days and observances I have compiled one that can be downloaded here: https://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2023/01/19/downloadable-display-calendar/
Holocaust Memorial Day 
The UK-based Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has made resources available that can be used to educate library users in schools as well as public libraries about the Holocaust and other genocides that have occurred across the world.
These resources can be accessed here: https://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/
Posters: https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/holocaust-and-genocides-posters/
Burns Night
For those of us who are Scottish (or have Scottish ancestry) Burns night is a celebration of all things Scottish around the life and works of the national poet of Scotland Rabbie Burns.

I put together a Crafty Scotsman Craft Activity for Burns Night or just any time you would like to colour in and dress up a burly Scotsman in a range of exciting outfts: http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2018/12/07/crafty-scotsman-activity/

February Resources
In the UK February is recognized as LGBTQ+ History Month, one of the resources I have available for download on my site is a collection of posters celebrating LGBTQ+ authors. These can be downloaded here: http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2018/01/29/celebrating-british-authors-during-lgbt-history-month/

In the US Black History Month is celebrated, some of the resources I have put together include:
http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2019/01/08/black-history-month-ideas-the-potato-king-of-the-world/
http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2018/12/18/black-history-month-ideas-african-american-spies-from-the-revolution-to-the-cia/
http://teenlibrarian.co.uk/2018/12/18/black-history-month-ideas-the-tuskegee-airmen/
Coda
I hope that 2023 will be kind to us all and remember that even though the world can sometimes feel cold and unfeeling, the work we do is an antidote that for all the people we serve and we can be the same for each other.

You are always welcome to reach out to say hi and/or share whatever you have been working on!

Thank you for reading and I hope you stick around!

Matt

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter and/or read back issues you can do so here:

https://mailchi.mp/f46d7df73a83/teenlibrarian-newsletter

Like Dominoes, the Slow Collapse of Children’s Book Awards

Hot on the heels of the surprise news of the Costa Book Awards being scrapped after 50 years, it was announced today, that after 22 years, the Blue Peter Book Awards have been cancelled.

The 21st Century hast not been kind to book awards that recognize children’s literature.

The first to fall was The Nestlé Smarties Book Prize which ran from 1985 to 2007.

The Booktrust Teenage Prize ran from 2003 to 2010

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize ran from 2008 to 2013.

The Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize ran from 1967 to 2016.

I have been interested in the sponsorship deal for the Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Awards with Yoto that was announced in February and have been poking around finding more information since then. The collapse of the Costa and Blue Peter Awards shows how vital financial security for book awards is to futureproof awards against rising costs and other issues that will inevitable come up.

No matter how worthy and popular book awards are, the simple truth is that they are not cheap, and no matter the good intentions or with the best will in the world, if you cannot fund them adequately then they will fall.

Links

The Yoto Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Awards… what?

When I saw the announcement that the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals had been renamed the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards, my first thought was “What the heck is Yoto?”

So I started poking around.

Yoto is an old idea in 21st century packaging, gone are the books on audiocassette (or even CD or MP3 player) in is a child-friendly smart speaker (set up and monitored by parents via an app) that kids can control using RFID smart cards. The smart cards provide a link to stories on a server run by Yoto, these are downloaded to the player, once this is done parents can disconnect the wifi via the app which can also be used to link “stories, songs and sounds that you record yourself. Or use songs or audiobooks from your own collection – if you have a bunch of MP3s you’d like to make a playlist from. You can also make cards from our curated selection of radio stations and podcasts, so you can play these on your player directly from a card without needing to go via the app.

Yoto also offers a monthly subscription club for £9.99 per month or £99 per year with free shipping 10% discount on all purchases and two cards per month sent to your address. Full details here: https://uk.yotoplay.com/pages/yoto-club

Online response seems to have been overwhelmingly positive:

To quote but a few.

It has been touted that this partnership will reach more people and inspire more children which is of course hard to refute, but only if people can afford to purchase the Yoto Player and all the books to be played on it.

In the UK the basic Yoto Player retails for £79.99 and the portable Yoto Mini goes for £49.99.

Smart card prices start at £1.99 for podcasts, with most books ranging between £4.99 to £11.99 with collections of cards going up to £19.99.

Having been keeping a close eye on news out of the UK and seeing the difficulties many families are having with food costs, travel high energy bills, I fear that these devices and the smart cards may be out of reach for many that may benefit from them.

As Joy has said, this partnership will make the CILIP CKG (actually the Yoto CKG) Awards more financially secure; but in return Yoto gets the implied imprimatur of CILIP and the CKG Awards themselves which have stood for outstanding quality since 1936 (Carnegie) and 1955 (Kate Greenaway).

At this point it is hard to see who would be getting the better end of the deal.

As a former CKG Judge I have strong feelings about the Awards and whenever something crops up concerning them I get concerned. These concerns may be meaningless but I will watch how things develop going forward while hoping for the best.

FInd out more about the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards here: https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/CarnegieGreenaway

Find out more about Yoto Player here: https://uk.yotoplay.com/

Empathy Day 2022

EMPATHY DEFICIT FOR LOCKDOWN GENERATION COUNTERACTED BY POWER OF READING

EmpathyLab launches its 2022 Read for Empathy book collection at a time when empathy has never been needed more. An expert judging panel has selected 60 books for 4-16 year-olds, each chosen to empower an empathy-educated generation.

The primary collection features 35 books for 4-11 year olds; the secondary collection has 25 books for 12-16 year olds. 43% of the collection are by authors of colours, and there are seven illustrators of colour. Many of the books help readers understand the lives of those experiencing tough situations, from becoming homeless, or a refugee. Others help children build their understanding of emotions or inspire positive action towards the climate or animals or people in their community.

Primary list
Secondary list

Free guides for parents & educators here: https://www.empathylab.uk/2022-book-collections-and-guides

The Imperium Is Driven by Hate. Warhammer Is Not.

Imagine having to put out a statement with this title?

Games Workshop has had to do this very thing due to the rise of far-right ideologies among some of its fervent fans:

The Warhammer 40k Community Is Trying to Weed Out Its Far-Right Faction

and:

Games Workshop fights back against fascist hate symbols in the Warhammer 40K community

I understand that in a grimdark future where, to survive against a universe that hates and wants to destroy you, you have to hate harder and destroy more of your foes and own people just in case they don’t hate others enough just to survive you will not find many (or indeed any) sides or factions that are “good” but that does not mean you have to hold the beliefs of the armies you field in the game to actually play it.

Their statement is here:

There are no goodies in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. 

None.

Especially not the Imperium of Man.

Its numberless legions of soldiers and zealots bludgeon their way across the galaxy, delivering death to anyone and anything that doesn’t adhere to their blinkered view of purity. Almost every man and woman toils in misery either on the battlefield – where survival is measured in hours – or in the countless manufactorums and hive slums that fuel the Imperial war machine. All of this in slavish servitude to the living corpse of a God-Emperor whose commandments are at best only half-remembered, twisted by time and the fallibility of Humanity.

Warhammer 40,000 isn’t just grimdark. It’s the grimmest, darkest. 

The Imperium of Man stands as a cautionary tale of what could happen should the very worst of Humanity’s lust for power and extreme, unyielding xenophobia set in. Like so many aspects of Warhammer 40,000, the Imperium of Man is satirical.

For clarity: satire is the use of humour, irony, or exaggeration, displaying people’s vices or a system’s flaws for scorn, derision, and ridicule. Something doesn’t have to be wacky or laugh-out-loud funny to be satire. The derision is in the setting’s amplification of a tyrannical, genocidal regime, turned up to 11. The Imperium is not an aspirational state, outside of the in-universe perspectives of those who are slaves to its systems. It’s a monstrous civilisation, and its monstrousness is plain for all to see.

That said, certain real-world hate groups – and adherents of historical ideologies better left in the past – sometimes seek to claim intellectual properties for their own enjoyment, and to co-opt them for their own agendas.

We’ve said it before, but a reminder about what we believe in:

“We believe in and support a community united by shared values of mutual kindness and respect. Our fantasy settings are grim and dark, but that is not a reflection of who we are or how we feel the real world should be. We will never accept nor condone any form of prejudice, hatred, or abuse in our company, or in the Warhammer hobby.” 

If you come to a Games Workshop event or store and behave to the contrary, including wearing the symbols of real-world hate groups, you will be asked to leave. We won’t let you participate. We don’t want your money. We don’t want you in the Warhammer community.

For those heroes out there running their own Warhammer events, we’d love for you to join us in this stance.

You can find the full post here:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/11/19/the-imperium-is-driven-by-hate-warhammer-is-not/

Games Workshop swings the Ban(War)hammer

Over the past weekend I was dismayed to read that GW is once again running roughshod over fans, followers and just about everyone that is invested in their creation.

It is no secret that they have always been very trigger-happy when it comes to litigating against those perceived to have overstepped the exceedingly narrow boundaries of their intellectual property; even when it came to terms that existed long before Games Workshop was even an idea (I am of course referring to the infamous Space Marines lawsuit saga).

The updates to their terms & conditions now forbid any and all fan created animations:

individuals must not create fan films or animations based on our settings and characters. These are only to be created under licence from Games Workshop.

Fan-made games, fan art, fiction and websites are permitted so long as they’re not-for-profit and make it clear they’re not official works.

The incredibly popular Oculus Imperia will be staying online for as long as possible:

Sadly the If the Emperor had Text to Speech Device by Bruva Alfabusa has officially thrown in the towel:

Other amateur animator fans (apart from those hired by GW) will no doubt start falling over the coming days and weeks.

Culture blog BoingBoing has been covering the GW shenanigans here, as has PCGamer and Vice.

The Reddit  Warhammer 40k meme subreddit /r/Grimdank has been flooded by people furious about Games Workshop’s new policy.

I have been a long-time fan of Warhammer 40K although I have not played since I left my job as a school librarian a few years ago, I still borrow and read the novelizations.

GWs moves while legal still leave a bad taste in the mouth, for decades it has been fans that have created a richer tapestry of the universe created by GW, and now on the eve of the release of Warhammer+ they are trying to stamp out any potential threats to their being able to wring out as much money from fans as possible.

It is very poor form!

Diverse Book Awards Longlist Officially Announced

Introducing the ultimate must-read list of diverse & inclusive children’s, YA and adult fiction books in the UK

London, United Kingdom, 27th July 2021: More than 100 submissions were received for the second year of The Diverse Book Awards, created by writing community The Author School (www.theauthorschool.com). Today, the longlist is officially unveiled, revealing the outstanding diverse and inclusive books published by British/UK-based authors/publishers in the hugely challenging year of 2020. The shortlist will be revealed on 20th September and the winners in each category announced on October 21st 2021.

Abiola Bello, co-founder of The Author School and award-winning author: Through The Diverse Book Awards I have discovered new diverse books and authors that I hadn’t previously been aware of. I hope that the longlist inspires others to discover new talent too. The conversation around diversity in publishing has stepped up a level over recent months, at a time when we were shouting out for submissions to The Diverse Book Awards. The longlist represents the work that has been done already within publishing and showcases that it is truly is possible for diverse and inclusive books to be the ‘norm’ rather than ‘exception’. We hope that encouraging publishers and authors to write more diverse and inclusive books – and enter them into next year’s awards – will be a positive step forward for the publishing industry in this country. Massive thank you to the judges!

The three winners from each category will receive a bundle of prizes including a trophy, a six-month PR and marketing membership of Literally PR’s ‘100 Club’, a feature and virtual event with Back To Books, editorial content in Bad Form and Pen&Inc, the opportunity to be part of two author panel events – hosted by The Author School and the other with Simon & Schuster.

The Children’s winner will have their book featured as part of World Book Day Book Club and a school visit organised by World of Diversity.

The YA winner will be part of Wigtown YA Literary Festival and a school visit organised by World of Diversity.

The Children’s and YA winner will be featured on Tiny Revolution’s website and included in their catalogue of books.

Our YA headline sponsor is Book Clubs In Schools and the YA winner will be part of the National Teen Book Club, a UK wide virtual book club for teens.

The Diverse Book Awards Longlist 2021

Adult Longlist 2021

The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Oneworld)

If I Don’t Have You by Sareeta Domingo (Jacaranda)

A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf (Myriad Editions)

Broadwater by Jac Shreeves-Lee (Fairlight Books)

Ugly Dogs Don’t Cry by DD Armstrong (Jacaranda)

Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud (Faber)

The Street Hawker’s Apprentice by Kabir Kareem-Bello (Jacaranda)

The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley (Atlantic Books)

The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain (HQ)

Truth Be Told by Kia Abdullah (HQ)

Young Adult Longlist 2021

Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books (Hachette)

Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle (Andersen Press)

And The Stars Were Shining Brightly by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)

Boy, Everywhere by A. M. Dassu (Old Barn Books)

Wonderland by Juno Dawson (Quercus Children’s Books (Hachette)

Hideous Beauty by William Hussey (Usborne)

Hijab and Red Lipstick by Yousra Imran (Hashtag Press)

Crown of Crowns by Clara Loveman (Clara Loveman)

Love Frankie by Jacqueline Wilson (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Children’s Longlist 2021

Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah (Scholastic Children’s Books)

Too Small Tola by Atinuke, Onyinye Iwu (Walker Books)

Do You Know Me? by Rebecca Westcott, Libby Scott (Scholastic Children’s Books)

Nothing Ever Happens Here by Sarah Hagger-Holt (Usborne)

Baller Boys by Venessa Taylor, Kenneth Ghann (Hashtag Press)

Zombierella: Fairy Tales Gone Bad by Joseph Coelho, Freya Hartas (Walker Books)

Dragon Mountain by Katie & Kevin Tsang (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)

Clean Up by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, Nathan Bryon (Penguin Random House Children’s)

A Secret of Birds & Bone by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Chicken House)

Little Badman and the Time-Travelling Teacher of Doom by Humza Arshad and Henry White, Aleksei Bitskoff (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Library Books for Palestine

“مطلوب” or “Wanted” is an initiative of the Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP), in partnership with the Tamer Institute.

When you donate the cost of a book and its shipping, they coordinate delivery of the book to the requesting library. Please note that book titles will be purchased as prioritized by the participating libraries.

Palestinian libraries, in addition to limited funding, face unique barriers to access caused by Israeli policies. With this campaign, we hope to raise awareness about these access issues and the context in which Palestinian libraries operate, while at the same time offering material support for the libraries’ collections.

You might notice that the cost of some books on this site is significantly higher than the list price for the title. This is because Palestinian libraries in the West Bank and Gaza cannot simply order a book and expect it to arrive quickly and reliably. Israel’s “enemy state” designation prevents literature from being sent directly to Palestinian libraries and booksellers if it has originated in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and sometimes other countries. This is a particular problem with Lebanon, a major hub of Arabic-language publishing. As a result, Palestinian libraries often contain more books originally written in English, Swedish, and other languages, than in Arabic.

To find out more information about this initiative or to purchase a book for a Palestinian Library please visit:

https://matloub.librarianswithpalestine.org/

Visit Librarians and Archivists with Palestine to find out about past projects they have run as well as current initiatives (like Matloub) that may be of interest.

15 Years of TeenLibrarian

The release of the latest issue of the TeenLibrarian Newsletter marks the 15th anniversary of both newsletter and blog.

You can read the newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/b0566afe1947/teenlibrarian-newsletter-may-2021

I launched this blog 15 years ago (I feel old) to try and provide the library workers in the UK that had a focus on working with teens in libraries a dedicated site to share information, experience and ideas. It turned into a personal blog where I shared ideas, resources, reviews and other things I was working on as well as posts and articles from friends and colleagues I coaxed into writing up things that they had designed, created or worked on with regard to teens in libraries.

I would like to thank everyone that has read the newsletter, browsed through the blog, made use of the resources and provided feedback on improving them THANK YOU!

Also a massive thank you goes out to my co-editor (UK) Caroline Fielding for helping keep the good ship TeenLibrarian afloat over the years; as well as my other friends, colleagues, authors and illustrators who have contributed articles, interviews and ideas. In no particular order they are:

anonymous
Steve Gravener
Paul Fisher
Gail Wright
E.E. Richardson
Lisa Clark
Garth Nix
Emma Vieceli
Sonia Leong
Janet Atkinson
Jerry Hurst
Tabitha Suzuma
Sue Prior
Eileen Brock
Sherry Ashworth
Lucy Kitchener
Peter Hautman
Cathy Hopkins
Ferelith Hordon
Cathy Myers
Elaine Simpson
Mary Byrne
Donna Taylor
Jane McCarthy
Joe Craig
Gabrielle Koenig
Sarah McNicol
J.M. Warwick
Clare Argar
Anthony McGowan
Emma Sherriff
Angela Robinson
John Vincent
Cherry Whytock
Nancy Lockett
Matthew Bernstein
Tim Lott
Liz Rose
Jen Trevisan
Derek Lawrence
Mel Gibson
Amanda Lees
Gemma Malley
Maria Snyder
Jon Hayward
Greg Neri
Cathy Forde
Jonathan Zemsky
Rachel Wright
Phil Bradley
Amanda Deaville
Karen Wenbourn
Celia Rees
Margot Lanagan
Susie Cornfield
Archie Black
Carl Cross
Emily Barwell
James Swallow
Alina Pete
Julie Musslewhite
Craig Simpson
Nicola Cameron
Dawn Stanley Donaghy
Pamela McKee
Sam Enthoven
Pauline Fisk
Gemma Panayi
Graham Marks
Jen Bakewell
Lili Wilkinson
Judy Ottaway
M.G. Harris
Clover Anyon
Rachel Ward
Liz de Jager
N.M. Browne
Ana Grilo
Thea James
Tim Bowler
Josh Lacey
Damian Kelleher
Luisa Plaja
Becca Fitzpatrick
Judith Way
Emily Milroy
Mary Naylus
Bev Humphrey
Marcus Chown
Tamsyn Murray
Darren Hartwell
Alyxandra Harvey
Clare Thompson
Keris Stainton
Jill Keeling
Jim Carrington
Angela Shoosmith
Fiona Hukins
Liz Rose
Jandy Nelson
Nina Simon
Emily Dezurick Badran
P.C. Cast
Nicola Cameron
Rebecca Lee
Jon Mayhew
Paul Stringer
Shaun Kennedy
Karen Horsfield
Colette Townend
Caroline Fielding
Miriam Halahmy
Mal Peet
Sara Grant
Nicky Adkins
Jane Prowse
Savita Kalhan
Paula Rawsthorne
Dave Cousins
Bryony Pearce
Keren David
Katie Dale
Matt Whyman
Zac Harding
Barry Hutchison
Anne Harding
S.A. Partridge
James Kearney
Chris Ould
Dr Matthew Finch
Jeff Norton
Lesley Hurworth
Anna James
Edyth Bulbring
Joanne Macgregor
Ian Johnstone
Andy Robb
Sophie Castle
Sandra Greaves
Andrew Givan
Gill Ward
Marcus Alexander
Helen Robinson
Lucy Powrie
Natasha Desborough
Tracey Hager
Non Pratt
Jenny Hawke
Melanie Chadwick
Amy McKay
Neena Shukla
Valerie Dewhurst
A.J. Steiger
Jaime Dowling
Peter Kalu
Anne Booth
Sam Usher
Lucas Maxwell
Dr Dominic Walliman
Ben Newman
Paul Register
Helen Swinyard
Sarah Alexander
Laura Bennett
Barbara Band

CKG21 Shortlists Announced!

The shortlists of the prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest and best-loved book awards for children and young people, were announced today for 2021.

I’ve still got to read two of the Carnegie shortlist before I think about my personal winner, they’re so varied that I can only imagine the conversations the judges will have trying to pin down a winner, I’ve honestly loved all of those that I’ve read so far.

Again, two books I haven’t seen the inside of on the Greenaway list, but I’ve ordered them to shadow at school, really looking forward to sharing them with students! Fascinating fact on the announcement blog – this is the first shortlist ever that are all author-illustrator creations!

The winners will be announced on Wednesday 16th June, so get reading…