National Book Tokens

Witch way to the bookshop? 🧙👀

Halloween is here, and we're head over heels for these boo-tiful displays! 👻🎃

Pay your local bookshop a visit today and discover the wickedly wonderful treats they have in store 📚

#ChooseBookshops

Quote from Jacqueline Wilson, decorated by colourful illustrations of rainbows, hot air balloons, ghosts, dinosaurs and more. BBC 500 Words logo and National Book Tokens logo featured at the top. Text reads: "It helps enormously to read heaps of books to see how authors write their own stories. Don’t tell, but I think I prefer reading to writing! Have fun doing both!"

The UK's largest children's story writing competition is open for entries #BBC500Words! 🎉

Not sure where to start? We've got a treasure trove of exclusive writing advice from all your favourite children's authors to help inspire the budding young creative in your life ✍🔍

buff.ly/pLESvcc

An orange background with a photo of author Phil Earle, and his book When the Sky Falls. A white text box with dark blue text reads: "My favourite bookshop is The Bookseller Crow on the Hill in Cystal Palace. For twenty-eight years it has been run by Jon and Justine, with help from Karen, and it is a very special place. The support they have offered me has been wonderful. Jon recently passed away, and the Palace won’t be the same again. Our retail landscape is full of online retailers, but you can’t replicate the heart and integrity you find in a bookshop. I love the interactions you have in them. Its alchemy, the ability to love a book so much that you can’t wait to spread the word about it: to push it into someone’s hand and say

We 🧡 bookshops: brimming with heart and integrity...

We’re delighted to have author @philearle.bsky.social join us to share what makes bookshops magical for him 📖✨

#ChooseBookshops

Love this!

Packed with dynamic energy and irresistible characters, our new Manga Heroes National Book Token is sure to thrill manga mega-fans.

We're delighted to give away £50/€60 and an electrifying book bundle of brilliant titles, handpicked by artist @sonialeong.bsky.social.

Enter now: buff.ly/QTxgrlH

A collage of picture books on an orange background. Text reads: 10 empowering children's books that celebrate confidence and creativity.

Discover 10 empowering children's books that celebrate confidence and creativity 📖💪🏾 🎨🌷

Lanisha Butterfield joins us to recommend her favourite books for children; from fun and empowering picture books to fiction that celebrates children's different experiences of belonging 📚

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Irish Book Week may be drawing to a close... but brilliant Irish bookshops are a joy to explore all year round! 📚 🎉

We're sharing just a few photos from our team's recent trip to Ireland, and the treasure trove of bookshop delights that they discovered ✨

How have you celebrated #IrishBookWeek?

A warm cream background with a small photo of author Paddy Donnelly, and the cover of his work Badger Books. A white text box with dark blue text reads: "Bookshops are very special and magical places to me. One of my absolute favourite bookshops to visit is Halfway Up the Stairs in Greystones. I'm always amazing at the personal service their knowledgeable staff give to their customers. I've been there a few times to paint on their front window; I had the pleasure of eavesdropping as their staff chat with both children and grown-ups, and deliver amazingly custom reading recommendations. When you write and illustrate picture books, you usually populate them with little details from your life that are important to you. As Halfway Up the Stairs have been so supportive to me in my career, I managed to slip the bookshop into the background of an illustration in Badger Books."

We 💛 bookshops: special and magical places...

As the #IrishBookWeek festivities continue, we’re delighted to have author Paddy Donnelly join us to share what makes bookshops feel brilliant for him 📖✨

#ChooseBookshops @halfwayupbooks.bsky.social 📚

A collage of books featured in the article on an orange background. Text says "11 moving books about grief, love and loss".

Author @oonaf.bsky.social's This Interim Time (@lilliputpress.bsky.social) is a poignant meditation on memory, family, and the brief windows of life we share with those we love.

This #IrishBookWeek, Oona joins us to share some of her favourite books about grief.

Read now: buff.ly/1wwAtgh

We’ve helped bring the joy of reading back to school libraries! 📚✨

Thousands voted in our big schools prize with @readforgood.bsky.social - and five schools each won £1,000 to #rebuildthelibrary💛

Discover the winners: buff.ly/AnynKIi

Four new National Book Tokens gift card designs featured in a busy bookshop with colourful displays and bunting.

🎉 Our new 2025 gift card range is here 🎉

We’re proud to offer a glorious range of gift cards for every reader, on every occasion… and joining the ranks this year are four fabulous new designs!

✨ Mint and Gold
🦡 Badger Books
🦸🏻 Manga Heroes
💙 And Bluey!

Look out for them in your local bookshop 👀

Yay! 🎉

I can’t wait

A photo of The Dublin Coffee Guide, French press and ground coffee on a cream background covered in an illustration of coffee beans.

The perfect blend: coffee and a good book ☕ 📖

We're giving away a copy of The Dublin Coffee Guide (@lilliputpress.bsky.social), along with a French press and coffee from Bailies Coffee Roasters in Belfast – the perfect treat to enjoy with your new #IrishBookWeek reads.

Enter now: buff.ly/BSnNzUb

The #BlackBritishBookFestival 2025 is in full swing 🎉🙌🏾

We’re proud to be sponsoring the Children’s Zone for another fantastic year of celebrating Black British storytelling excellence ✍🏿✨

Come visit our stall at the bustling Barbican Centre today before 5pm 🤩

blackbritishbookfestival.com

A collage of books, a photo of the hamper, and two National Book Tokens gift cards on a cream background.

This #IrishBookWeek, we're delighted to feature some of Ireland's finest authors and their exceptional books. ✨

Win a bundle of five titles, a Wrights of Howth food hamper, and a €50 National Book Tokens gift card to spend in your favourite bookshops.

Enter now: buff.ly/BSnNzUb

🎉 #IrishBookWeek is here! 🎉

We're celebrating Irish talent by shining the spotlight on incredible Irish authors, poets and illustrators...

...and, of course, the wonderful wealth of Irish books and bookshops! 📚 🙌

Keep your eyes on our feed this week for competitions, reading lists and more ✨

#HiddenBooksGame 👀

We sell Book Tokens now by the way (although I'll have to work out how to actually do that)

We trade in National Book Tokens as well as money (and treasure). Buy them, redeem them, swap them, collect them all! 📜

Such an honour to have Ordinary Saints nominated in two categories in the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards. Winners are decided by readers - you can vote at the link below!

I had fun writing this!!

9 fantastic feminist horror novels to read this Halloween Gemma Amor is the author of the feminist horror novel ITCH!, about the psychological turmoil of a woman who discovers a dead body in the woods infested by a horde of ants that then seem to crawl…

9 feminist horror novels to read this Halloween 📖 👻

Gemma Amor (@manylittlewords.bsky.social), author of the folk horror ITCH!, joins us to share her favourite feminist horror novels to pick up in your local bookshop this Halloween, from modern literary frights to hair-raising classics. 👇

Why your favourite authors love high street bookshops We Love Bookshops – where guest readers share why bookshops are so special to them, and which ones they love to visit – is a popular feature in our National Book Tokens Discover monthly newsletters.…

At National Book Tokens, we love bookshops – and so do your favourite authors! Here are some of the best contributions to our popular #WeLoveBookshops feature to celebrate bookshops being best place to buy books. #BookshopDay

Win a Bookshop Day bundle We're giving away ten bundles, including this year's tote bag and a £20/£25 National Book Tokens gift card to spend in your local bookshop.

Win a Bookshop Day bundle! 🛍️

This year’s #BookshopDay tote bag is designed by illustrator Ashwin Chacko (@whackochacko.bsky.social) – and we've got 10 to give away, each paired with a £20/€25 National Book Token to help you fill your new bag with books from your favourite bookshop. 👇

A yellow border frames an image of The Book Corner Halifax bookshop interior, with busy bookshelves and tables. Text reads: The Book Corner, Bookshop of the Month winner.

Drumroll, please! 🥁

It's #BookshopDay, and there's no better time to announce our October Bookshop of the Month: @bookcornerhx.bsky.social ✨

October is our busy month as they co-run a glorious grassroots festival of music & words with their local indie bar The Grayston Unity! 📚🎶

#ChooseBookshops

Congratulations to:
📚 @childrensbooks.bsky.social
📚 @fiveleavesbooks.bsky.social
📚 Read. in Holmfirth
📚 @bookspacecardiff.bsky.social
📚 Night Owl Books
📚 @quinnsbookshop.bsky.social
📚 The Ivybridge Bookshop
📚 books on the walls
📚 Dulwich Books
📚 @bookcornerhx.bsky.social

A collage of bookshop images. Bookshops featured include Norfolk Children's Book Centre, Five Leaves Bookshop, Read. in Holmfirth, Book Space Cardiff, Night Owl Books, Quinns Bookshop, The Ivybridge Bookshop, books on the walls, Dulwich Books, The Book Corner.

🎉 #BookshopDay is here 🎉

To kickstart the day, we're celebrating all our 2025 National Book Tokens Bookshop of the Month winners!

These brilliant bookshops span from Lothian to London, each offering a glorious range of events for their communities 🤗

Show your local bookshop some love today 📖✨

Ask a Bookseller: Waterstones Sheffield Dawn from Waterstones Sheffield has joined us to answer your questions and share her favourite picks for Bookshop Day, with help from children's bookseller Alexa.

Ahead of #BookshopDay tomorrow, Dawn joins us from @waterstones.bsky.social Sheffield to answer your burning questions. From stories about messy family dynamics to dino-tastic books for children, she's shared her top picks.📚

The Books Are My Bag #ReadersAwards are one of a kind. They're the only book awards with shortlists curated by bookshops, and winners voted for by readers, like you!

Vote for your favourite books for the chance to win a £100/€120 National Book Token.

Vote now: buff.ly/U5ylHv9