Mat Tobin
@mattobin.bsky.social
📚 Lecturer - Primary English & Children's Lit | Co-Author of "Understanding & Teaching Primary English" 📖
Reposted by Mat Tobin
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
August 29, 2025 at 7:32 AM
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
Reposted by Mat Tobin
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!
August 22, 2025 at 11:59 AM
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!
August 22, 2025 at 11:40 AM
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
@robcrossley4.bsky.social
@jonnybid.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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
@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
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
July 30, 2025 at 10:33 AM
"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
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!
July 29, 2025 at 9:58 AM
@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!
Reposted by Mat Tobin
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
July 11, 2025 at 6:41 AM
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.
July 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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
Sangu Mandanna ’s #VanyaandtheWildHunt is a new fantasy that fuses British folklore with Indian mythology
✨ Out now from
@macmillankidsuk.bsky.social
#childrensbooks
July 10, 2025 at 7:00 AM
📚 “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
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.
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.
July 5, 2025 at 7:54 AM
📚✨ 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.
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.
Reposted by Mat Tobin
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
June 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
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
Reposted by Mat Tobin
@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.
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.
June 24, 2025 at 7:18 PM
@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.
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.
Reposted by Mat Tobin
We loved reading the children's varied responses!
@mattobin.bsky.social
@mattobin.bsky.social
June 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
We loved reading the children's varied responses!
@mattobin.bsky.social
@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
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
June 22, 2025 at 10:53 AM
“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
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)
June 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
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?
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?
June 21, 2025 at 3:24 PM
“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?
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
#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
June 21, 2025 at 11:12 AM
@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
#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.
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.
June 21, 2025 at 10:57 AM
🌱 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.
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 !”
June 21, 2025 at 9:46 AM
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
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
June 21, 2025 at 5:58 AM
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
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
Reposted by Mat Tobin
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
June 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
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)
(Meek, 1988)
June 17, 2025 at 1:09 PM
'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)
(Meek, 1988)
Reposted by Mat Tobin
Same child, different comments.
June 17, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Same child, different comments.
Reposted by Mat Tobin
The children are getting more confident with forming their own opinions of, and commenting on, the illustrations too. 🎨
June 17, 2025 at 11:38 AM
The children are getting more confident with forming their own opinions of, and commenting on, the illustrations too. 🎨