Mat Tobin
@mattobin.bsky.social
📚 Lecturer - Primary English & Children's Lit | Co-Author of "Understanding & Teaching Primary English" 📖
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!
📚 “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.
“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
Louise Rosenblatt reminded us that reading is a transaction — not a transfer. The text doesn't hand down meaning; it waits. And in the space between reader and page, meaning is made, shaped by the child’s questions, memories, wonderings. We read with the text, not at it (2/2)
June 22, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Louise Rosenblatt reminded us that reading is a transaction — not a transfer. The text doesn't hand down meaning; it waits. And in the space between reader and page, meaning is made, shaped by the child’s questions, memories, wonderings. We read with the text, not at it (2/2)
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
Lovely idea, Marianne. I'm going to say Natalie Babbitt's 'Tuck Everlasting' (novel) - the first to show me an author who respected the wisdom of a child. I could recommend all day long. I've added a picturebook too - Shirley Hughes 'Alfie' which I adore.
June 20, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Lovely idea, Marianne. I'm going to say Natalie Babbitt's 'Tuck Everlasting' (novel) - the first to show me an author who respected the wisdom of a child. I could recommend all day long. I've added a picturebook too - Shirley Hughes 'Alfie' which I adore.
'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)
I FINALLY got to meet @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social on Saturday. A wonderful, common thread throughout the @englishassociation.bsky.social conference was need to create space for meaningful talk around stories with discussion facilitation by adults.
June 17, 2025 at 7:52 AM
I FINALLY got to meet @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social on Saturday. A wonderful, common thread throughout the @englishassociation.bsky.social conference was need to create space for meaningful talk around stories with discussion facilitation by adults.
Happy to say @neillcameron.bsky.social that my youngest snapped this up at @waterstonesoxf.bsky.social today. I ask him to choose a pin and he went for father and son. Laughter through reading all the way home!
June 7, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Happy to say @neillcameron.bsky.social that my youngest snapped this up at @waterstonesoxf.bsky.social today. I ask him to choose a pin and he went for father and son. Laughter through reading all the way home!
Another lovely, playful addition to the @rocketbirdbooks.bsky.social collection. Lo Cole's Lionel tells a story who doesn't quite fit in until there comes a moment when he's perfect. Enjoyed the playful hole in the book here!
May 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Another lovely, playful addition to the @rocketbirdbooks.bsky.social collection. Lo Cole's Lionel tells a story who doesn't quite fit in until there comes a moment when he's perfect. Enjoyed the playful hole in the book here!
Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Aidan Chambers. His reflections on reading, the environments that nurture it, and the centrality of talk have profoundly shaped the way I understand and teach literature. His influence will remain with me always.
May 14, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Aidan Chambers. His reflections on reading, the environments that nurture it, and the centrality of talk have profoundly shaped the way I understand and teach literature. His influence will remain with me always.
🌟 New Zeki adventure alert! 🌟
Anna McQuinn, Ruth Hearson and Alanna Max share with us a joyful celebration of everyday experiences & early learning. I love the gentle nods to:
🗣️ Language development
🧡 Social connection
🎶 Rhythm and rhyme
🛒 Understanding the world
So clever!
Anna McQuinn, Ruth Hearson and Alanna Max share with us a joyful celebration of everyday experiences & early learning. I love the gentle nods to:
🗣️ Language development
🧡 Social connection
🎶 Rhythm and rhyme
🛒 Understanding the world
So clever!
April 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
🌟 New Zeki adventure alert! 🌟
Anna McQuinn, Ruth Hearson and Alanna Max share with us a joyful celebration of everyday experiences & early learning. I love the gentle nods to:
🗣️ Language development
🧡 Social connection
🎶 Rhythm and rhyme
🛒 Understanding the world
So clever!
Anna McQuinn, Ruth Hearson and Alanna Max share with us a joyful celebration of everyday experiences & early learning. I love the gentle nods to:
🗣️ Language development
🧡 Social connection
🎶 Rhythm and rhyme
🛒 Understanding the world
So clever!
Get your class involved in the #KlausFluggePrize
Enter the #KlausCup to win the full shortlist. 🏆
Guide here 👉https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NDFqXmINg3v5WMSVGGycEPEKLe_rYCs5J7xD0M_KPLA/edit?slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0#slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0
Deadline: 20 June!
Please do share!
Enter the #KlausCup to win the full shortlist. 🏆
Guide here 👉https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NDFqXmINg3v5WMSVGGycEPEKLe_rYCs5J7xD0M_KPLA/edit?slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0#slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0
Deadline: 20 June!
Please do share!
April 26, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Get your class involved in the #KlausFluggePrize
Enter the #KlausCup to win the full shortlist. 🏆
Guide here 👉https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NDFqXmINg3v5WMSVGGycEPEKLe_rYCs5J7xD0M_KPLA/edit?slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0#slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0
Deadline: 20 June!
Please do share!
Enter the #KlausCup to win the full shortlist. 🏆
Guide here 👉https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NDFqXmINg3v5WMSVGGycEPEKLe_rYCs5J7xD0M_KPLA/edit?slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0#slide=id.g2d1563fe524_0_0
Deadline: 20 June!
Please do share!
As I prepare to close down my office, I find these. They remind me of why we the work we do as educators, even amidst the chaos, and why it matters.
April 23, 2025 at 8:56 AM
As I prepare to close down my office, I find these. They remind me of why we the work we do as educators, even amidst the chaos, and why it matters.
Big-hearted, big laughs, big school!
#BestFriendsForever by @lwilliamsonauthor.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social before—but now there’s a creative writing pack to go with it!
Ideal for upper KS2 and early KS3; great for inspiring character-driven writing in schools.
#ReadingForPleasure
#BestFriendsForever by @lwilliamsonauthor.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social before—but now there’s a creative writing pack to go with it!
Ideal for upper KS2 and early KS3; great for inspiring character-driven writing in schools.
#ReadingForPleasure
April 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Big-hearted, big laughs, big school!
#BestFriendsForever by @lwilliamsonauthor.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social before—but now there’s a creative writing pack to go with it!
Ideal for upper KS2 and early KS3; great for inspiring character-driven writing in schools.
#ReadingForPleasure
#BestFriendsForever by @lwilliamsonauthor.bsky.social @guppybooks.bsky.social before—but now there’s a creative writing pack to go with it!
Ideal for upper KS2 and early KS3; great for inspiring character-driven writing in schools.
#ReadingForPleasure