Whilst our shortlist is hopefully keeping your pupils busy, there is always time to snuggle up in front of the tree with a Christmas classic. We have selected our top five awesome Christmas books from Bookshop to get children into the festive spirit this year; the perfect stocking fillers to keep imaginations running wild over […]
December’s Author of the Month: A M Howell
Where did you write The Garden of Lost Secrets? I wrote it at my kitchen table after work and at weekends. What inspired you to write your book? The story is set in the kitchen gardens of a real country estate called Ickworth Park, now run by the National Trust. I read about the discovery […]
A Librarian’s Lockdown Reflection
It was with a mixture of trepidation and excitement that I returned to School in September this year following our enforced extended time away. I had missed the contact with the children so much; the crowded break times with pupils vying to be the first to read the latest edition of The Beano, the groups of […]
November’s Author of the Month: Thomas Taylor
Where did you write Malamander? On my desktop computer, in my work room, in my house by the sea, on the south coast of England. But it started with daydreaming on beach walks. What inspired you to write your book? Moving to a seaside town and living there all year round, and discovering that these […]
Book Review Competition Winners 2020
We have loved reading all of the fantastic, creative and inspiring book reviews sent to us this year! Thank you to each and every one of you for continuing to send them in to us. We have now had the chance to review them all and have chosen our winners! Congratulations to the following pupils, who […]
Awesome Book Awards 2020: Event Plans
Dear Readers With a heavy heart we are writing this post to tell you that this year’s Awesome Book Awards event on April 30th has been cancelled. Like your pupils we are really disappointed but the uncertainty around school closures and illness following the Easter break leaves us with no option. At such a time […]
March’s Author of the Month: P. G. Bell
Where did you write The Train to Impossible Places? I wrote it in a local coffee shop (where fellow children’s author Claire Fayers and I still get together to write every week), and at work in Cardiff University’s physics and engineering library. I was a part time library assistant there, and in the evenings after […]
Book Club Blog: Third Instalment
When I asked a pupil recently why they had selected a particular book, they replied: “because my friend told me it was good.” I was struck by the power of a peer-to-peer book recommendation, which can have a far greater impact than the suggestions of teachers, parents and librarians. The annual Awesome Book Awards Book […]
February’s Author of the Month: Sophie Anderson
Where did you write The House with Chicken Legs? I carry a notebook everywhere, to scribble thoughts and ideas, so small parts of the book were written in all kinds of places — waiting rooms, bus stops, picnic spots. But mostly, the book was written at home, in my living room, with family chaos going […]
Book Club Blog: Second Instalment
A new year, a new term and some new faces in my Awesome Book Club. Admittedly I have also lost some pupils to other activities but I am now at 21 in the group which is a healthy number. Of the new additions, some have already read some of the shortlist and some have yet […]