Sam Evans

Sometimes the historical dictionary offers solace through the existence of an obsolete word that is sorely needed now. One of them is ‘respair’, recorded just once, in the 15th century. It means fresh hope, and a recovery from despair.

Thanks all. So far, the lists of school visit authors are:
Primary go.bsky.app/5u2ArqX
Secondary go.bsky.app/EDt42ua
I will keep adding to them :)

Wonderful to see three @oxfordchildrens.bsky.social titles on this @wainwrightprize.bsky.social longlist of beautiful picture books!
🪁 The Colour of the Sky by Layn Marlow
❄️ Flow with the Snow by @bobtregoning.bsky.social & Oliver Averil
🌳 The Wild by Yuval Zommer
#UKKidLit #KidLitUK #UKEd #EduSky

I would like to think that Ozzy, Prince, George Michael, and David Bowie are performing one hell of a phenomenal gig right now in the afterlife.

a man with an umbrella is walking through a puddle Alt: Gene Kelly holding an umbrella and dancing in a puddle from Singing in the Rain

You can tell it's the end of term... kids finished school at lunchtime and it's POURING with rain this afternoon! #EduSky #UKEd

What happens when my daughters & I join forces to find beach treasure at Old Hunstanton. Please note the middle finger pebble bottom right. Apart from that very special find we left this treasure on the beach.

THE ROCK FAMILY BAND: An interview with Robert Tregoning - The Reading Realm I’m so pleased to be able to welcome one of my favourite authors into The Reading Realm! Robert Tregoning is an Indie Book Award-winning and Polari Prize shortlisted author. He studied at the Glasgow ...

I’m so pleased to be able to welcome @bobtregoning.bsky.social into The Reading Realm to talk about his new book THE ROCK FAMILY BAND!
#KidLit #PrimaryEduSky #BookSky #LGBTQ
thereadingrealm.co.uk/2025/06/05/t...

✨🐦 KERFUFFLE BIRD is out this week!!! 🐦✨
Illustrated by Gwen Millward @oxfordchildrens.bsky.social

Huge thanks to Gerry Smith for the FAB Kerfuffle Bird song 🎵 & to @imogencarter.bsky.social @familyofbeasts.bsky.social @marcelafwrites.bsky.social for the reviews 💗💛💚

Available to pre-order now! 😍

We used Numicon to explore different ways of making 10! 🔟 We’re working on our number bonds to become more confident and say them as quickly as we say our name. Quick recall helps us become super mathematicians! ➕🧠

Word of the day is ‘forwallowed’ (15th century): extremely weary from tossing and turning all night.

The world may be quite turbulent at the moment, but we can take at least some solace in the fact that bakeries, libraries, cafés, bookstores, museums, and Oxford commas exist.

VIVA GLASTONBURY!

A close-up of the pencils showing the scrape marks from the knife. The pencils are all the sort that used to be the staple (no pun intended) of pencil cases in the 1960s and 70s

Beautiful everyday Ladybird things.
Knife-sharpened pencils

Artist: Harry Wingfield, Second Picture Book, 1970
(And yes, it is a painting)

1. Cruel Summer - Bananarama
2. Heat Waves - Glass Animals
3. Sun is Shining - Bob Marley & The Wailers
4. Summertime - Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
5. Hot Hot Hot - Arrow

#FridayFive ☀️🥵

A glass bowl with vibrant, multicolored patterns including blue, orange, yellow, green, and white. The design features bold, angular lines and intricate textures, and the bowl is illuminated , enhancing the colors and creating a glowing effect against a light background.

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: A magnificent #Roman striped mosaic bowl, made of preformed rods and canes fused on or in mold. Timeless beauty!

Dating late 1st BC–early 1st AD, found in Cuora, Cavarzere, Italy
Photo: Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria

🏺

Oh my goodness, that is stunning!

Two books on a shelf. One is the book of Bambi and the other is Lamb by Bernard MacLaverty, so it reads Bambi Lamb.

Whoa Black Betty

It would be amazing to get this message to Hook Norton Primary and maybe even to Mrs Padbury. Go on Bluesky - you can do this!

At the end of the day, don’t we all just want to read books in a seaside cottage during a thunderstorm whilst enjoying a plate of emotional support scones?

Has there ever existed a person who has a “to read” pile who has actually finished that pile before adding to it? Or is it the case that if you have such a pile, it is prohibited by some law of nature for it to ever go down to zero?

A simple toy made of wood in the shape of a horse on four wheels. The horse figure is flat and stylized with minimal details, featuring a small round eye and faded red painted patterns on its body.

Children loved to play with toys in #Roman times too: a painted wooden toy #horse on wheels. The head is pierced at the eye for a pull-string. I can still remember my pull along dog and how I used to take him for walks in the yard.
From Karanis, #Egypt, 1st- 4th c. AD.

📷Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

Someone just cancelled plans on me for this evening. I’m wondering if I should send them a thank you card.

ChatGPT is down but The Museum of English Rural Life still stands, proving once again that Silicon Valley cannot compete with the history of rural England and its people.

You are your own little plant. Water yourself, speak to yourself nicely and bloom 🪴

Image: www.instagram.com/mordenstation

The 2025-2026 YEAR GROUP Recommended Read lists have launched today!

Browse the new lists here:
➡️➡️ www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/re...

🎉 New selections of 50 recommended books for each primary year group
🎉 Updated printable posters & checklists
🎉 New authors and illustrators added

Entries from Collins Nature Guide to the Seashore. The entries are: Fan-bristled Robber Fly, Calcareous Tube Worm, Yellow-plumed Sea Slug, Dune Chafer, Great Scallop, Stinking Iris, Thick-lipped Dog Whelk and Sea Potato

Remembering that time we catalogued a Collins Nature Guide to the seashore and found all the new insults we could ever need.

That dahlia is just gorgeous! 🩷

Looks amazing!!

Reggie Rabbit: Robbery at the Masqued Ball Reggie Rabbit: Robbery at the Masqued BallSwapna Reddy and Becka MoorOxford Children’s Books A warm welcome back to a young detective duo intent on keeping their city safe. Young detectives Reggie …

#ReggieRabbit returns with a third case to solve #RobberyattheMasquedBall @swapnahaddow.bsky.social illust. Becka Moor @oxfordchildrens.bsky.social - with its blend of graphic novel and fiction it’s #RedReadingHub’s #kidlit #fiction book of the day reviewed on the blog wp.me/p11DI5-deJ

A well-preserved Roman leather shoe displayed in a museum setting. The shoe features an intricate lattice-like pattern with small, repeated triangular cutouts across the upper section. The toe is rounded and the sole appears worn and cracked with age. The top has a series of slits likely used for lacing. The leather is darkened from time and exposure, giving it a textured, weathered appearance.

A very stylish #Roman enclosed boot with a highly decorative and intricate cut-out design that would have shown off the wearer’s socks.

Found in London, dating c. 75-125 AD.

From the collections at the Museum of London.

📸 me

🏺 #archaeology