Welcome to this month’s look back at what has been happening in the world of children’s books. It has been another busy few weeks with a focus on school libraries and librarians, awards shortlists, longlists and winners plus events and resources linked to children’s books and reading to catch up with.

What I’m reading…

A new picture book tiger to love, an action packed story of superheroes, a paperback version of an award winning information book and the first in a brand new spooky series have been part of my reading over the last month. You can read my reviews here and I hope that one of the titles included will tempt the young readers in your life. Thanks to Ben Harris suggested read along for January I have read a children’s classic that I had missed out on before. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper was an enjoyable read and I was struck by how the story developed in ways that I wasn’t expecting. The first chapter lulls the reader into thinking it will be a traditional holiday adventure yet the themes of good versus evil gradually came to the fore and this was a book with depth. I do hope I can find the time to read The Dark is Rising, the second book in the sequence.

A quick update on my Christmas present reading that I mentioned last month. I thought that The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman was the best one of the Thursday Murder Club Mysteries so far. Regular readers now know the characters well and this latest instalment was profoundly moving at times and the storyline taking in grief, loss and dementia was treated with great understanding. The elderly gang tackled heroin dealers and murderers with their usual aplomb and the warm humour balances the poignancy throughout. If you have not read this series yet I would recommend reading them in order as the characters and the development of their relationships is key to the enjoyment.

News, articles and resources…

‘School libraries and librarians matter’ – Thursday 8 Feb 2024 – there may still be places available for this free Literacy and Social Justice Centre Research Seminar next week. In this presentation, Loh Chin Ee will share about the various factors that contribute to a successful primary school library, drawing from a case study of one exemplary school library in Singapore. Find out more and book your place via the Open University Reading for Pleasure website above.

Children’s Mental Health Week 2024 – Children’s Mental Health Week will take place next week from 5 to 11 February 2024, with the theme of My Voice Matters. It was set up by children’s mental health charity Place2Be and shines a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. The National Literacy Trust had partnered with Penguin Random House UK and Charlie Mackesy to create KS1/P2-3 and KS2/P4-P7 cross-curricular literacy and PSHE resources to help you mark the event.

Scholastic UK Launches Graphic Novel Prize – The Graphic Novel Prize joins Scholastic’s other competitions such as the Laugh Out Loud Awards and will be awarded in three categories: Graphic Novel for Younger Readers; Graphic Novel for Older Readers; and Graphic Novel for Teens. Representatives from BookTrust will select the longlist and a judging panel will select the shortlist. The final winners will be chosen by children’s votes, using Scholastic’s school channels to promote the titles, create class resources, voting packs and a virtual shortlist showcase.

The Portable Magic Dispenser – this regular newsletter from school librarian Lucas Maxwell always includes excellent tips, ideas and book suggestions. The latest issue highlights, How Dungeons & Dragons Can Help Members of The Neurodivergent Community, a downloadable poster for fans of One of Us Is Lying and How to Spot a Fake News Story.

Adrien Prize 2024 – Shortlist Announced! – The shortlist for the Adrien Prize 2024 was announced on 9th January. Now in its second year, the Adrien Prize was set up by best-selling author Elle McNicoll to celebrate middle grade and YA fiction that provides a positive portrayal of a protagonist with a disability.

Charlotte Hacking: Poetry in Primary – What We Know Works – in this article for the Children’s Poetry Summit website Charlotte Hacking from the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) shares some of what CLPE achieved in The Big Amazing Poetry Project in partnership with Macmillan Children’s Books and the impact of the training on teachers and children.

Inclusive Books for Children Awards 2024 Shortlists Announced – on 15th January Inclusive Books for Children revealed the 13 brilliant books that made it onto the shortlists for their new inclusive children’s book awards. The inaugural Inclusive Books for Children Awards recognise the best new inclusive books published in the UK across three categories: books for babies and toddlers aged one to three, picture books for ages three to seven and children’s fiction for ages five to nine. Do please visit the Inclusive Books for Children website to find out more about the background to the award and browse their great book lists.

Books For Keeps January Issue – a great way to kick off 2024 this online magazine is a brilliant resource for anyone interested in children’s books. In addition to the regular reviews there is the Authorgraph interview with Debi Gliori; Steve Small Windows into Illustration; new Beyond the Secret Garden; Satoshi Kitamura interview; Fabia Turner on Inclusive Books for Children and their new awards plus new year predictions and the childrensbooks to read in 2024. There is a wonderful positivity about this issue that is heartening.

Oxford Children’s Word of the Year – For over a decade lexicographers, publishers and editors from Oxford University Press have been tracking changes in children’s language, vocabulary and self-expression and providing insights into children’s evolving use of language. The word of the year for 2023 is ‘climate change’. You can download the full report on the website above.

Reading Together: BookTrust joins forces with all 12 Children’s Laureates to call for investment in early years reading – on 17th January Book Trust launched the Reading Together campaign highlighting the importance of early years reading. All 12 Waterstones Children’s Laureates have joined the charity a call to make sure no child misses out on reading’s life-changing benefits. Please do read the article linked above and the link to the letter from Book Trust’s CEO to find out more about this important initiative.

Michael Morpurgo backs call to ensure poorer children have access to books – a Guardian article linked to the campaign mentioned above in which former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo highlights the detrimental effect that the closure of libraries has had on children’s access to books and reading.

What to Read After… Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll – Emma Carroll’s historical novels for children are immensely popular in schools and the Book Trust team and Emma herself have put together some great suggestions that young readers may like to try if they have enjoyed her books.

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Reading for Pleasure Resource Bank – Professor Teresa Cremin has created a series of useful articles and downloadable resources to support the development of a Reading for Pleasure culture. These include an introduction, audit guidance, finding suitable books and much more all supported by reliable research.

Annual Indie Champions Awards Winners – these awards recognise the top individuals and organisations that have supported independent bookshops with Bookshop UK in the past year. Children’s Author of the Year is Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures and Innovative use of Bookshop.org is Books For Topics run by Alison Leach. Congratulations to them both.

The Winners of the 2024 Newbery & Caldecott Awards Announced – the John Newbery Award was first awarded in 1922 and this year’s winner is The Eyes and the Impossible written by Dave Eggers and illustrated by Shawn Harris. Started in 1938, the Randolph Caldecott Award is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States in the previous year and the 2024 winner is Big by Vashti Harrison.

The Branford Boase Award Longlist Announced – Founded in 2000, 2024 marks 25 years of this unique award set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase. The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of the year’s outstanding debut novel for children and the longlist of 25 titles announced on 24th January features three verse novels, detective stories, YA romances and contemporary dramas. Exploring the longlist is a great way of keeping up to date with new talent. The shortlist for the Award will be announced on Thursday 25April 2024.  The winner will be announced on Thursday, 11July 2024 at an award ceremony at CLPE in London.

The Reader Teacher: Monthly Must Reads for January – each month Scott Evans selects fiction, picture book and information must reads from books published that month and shares them via a free downloadable poster that you can find on the link above.

Where the Heart Should Be: Sarah Crossan Book Launch – This is a rare opportunity to listen to leading figures in the field of children’s and YA literature discuss Where the Heart Should Be. Sarah Crossan’s new YA novel (published on 14 March 2024) is described as an outstanding novel; thought-provoking and incredibly moving, it explores love and family during The Great Hunger in Ireland. Sarah will talk with Sita Brahmachari and Michael Rosen about how the novel took shape and writing about the Irish famine for a YA readership. 18th March 6:00pm – 8:00pm hosted by the Children’s and YA Literature Research Forum and Centre for Language, Culture and Learning at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Read for Empathy Collections Announced Thursday 8th February – EmpathyLab has produced a Read for Empathy Book Collection, with accompanying Read for Empathy Book Guides, annually since 2017. The eighth collection consists of 65 books for 3-16-year-olds – split between primary (3-11 year olds) and secondary (11-16 year olds). Each title has been chosen by a panel of judges to do a specific empathy-building job. Please look out for the big reveal next week and you can find out more on the website above.

Children’s and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels – A snail in space, dinosaurs on the beach, a fresh take on Jane Eyre, and a kebab-eating incarnation of Otis Redding are among the tempting titles in Imogen Russell Williams recent selection for the Guardian.

Nero Book Award Winners – this week the category winners for the inaugural Nero Book Awards, celebrating outstanding books and writers from the UK and Ireland of the last 12 months across four categories: Children’s Fiction, Debut Fiction, Fiction and Non-Fiction were announced. Many congratulations to all the winners in particular the Children’s Fiction winner – The Swifts by Beth Lincoln (Puffin). Illustrated by Claire Powell.

Live digital broadcast of Michael Rosen’s Big 50 Years Show – are you looking for a wonderful event to mark World Book Day? This may be the answer. Join schools across the country to watch Michael Rosen’s Big 50 Year’s Show live streamed to the whiteboard in your classroom from the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich on World Book Day. This very special show marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Michael Rosen’s first book for children, Mind Your Own Business, and 50 years of Michael inspiring generations of children, teachers and families with his poetry and live performances. Thursday, 7th March Time:1:30 pm Duration: Approx. 1 hour Suitable for Key Stage 2 Tickets:£10 per log in. Booking details on the link above.

Authorfy Free New Author Videos for World Book Day – in partnership with World Book Day, Mel Taylor-Bessent of Authorfy has asked authors and illustrators about their stories, why they love reading, and what books they’d recommend. You can watch the videos and download a free ‘5 Questions With…’ worksheet on the resources page to have a go at answering the questions yourself too.

The Reader Teacher: February 2024 Children’s Books I’m Most Excited About – in this video Scott Evans previews the children’s books being published this month providing a taste of what to expect.

Finally, some book reviews that caught my eye recently…

A Penguin Like Me by Marcus Pfister – I love the sound of this new picture book from the creator of The Rainbow Fish that is published in March. In her helpful review Catherine Friess says “A Penguin Like Me is a fabulous picture book to use in the classroom to introduce the concept of diversity. It can stimulate discussions about how our differences can also be our strengths and that whatever our differences are we are all special.“

Pirate Academy New Kid on Deck by Justin Somper, illustrated by Teo Skaffa – a brand new series from the author of Vampirates is launched with this new book published next month. Veronica Price’s review makes this sound extremely tempting and as she says, “At just over 200 pages, with short chapters broken up with cartoon-style illustrations by Teo Skaffa, I am certain that Pirate Academy New Kid on Deck is destined to be a bit hit with readers of 8+.” I imagine this is going be added to many shopping lists.

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival – author and illustrator Tom Percival’s first middle-grade novel is a sensitive exploration of child poverty. Having already been impressed by Tom’s thoughtful picture books this title due to be published in May by Simon and Schuster was already on my wish list but this review by Tom Griffiths has highlighted how important and valuable this story will be. Please do read Tom’s review to find out more.

That’s everything for this round up and there is quite a lot to get through! I hope you have found something here useful or have been tempted to try one of the books mentioned. This weekend I will be reading Ember Spark and the Thunder of Dragons by Abi Elphinstone which is published in May. I am halfway through the story and I am lifted by the customary hope and enthusiasm always found in Abi’s books. Stories for children are a wonderful way of rekindling that feeling in adults battered by worrying and depressing news from home and abroad. Wishing everyone a happy February.