helen

A ship at sea during a storm at night. Sailors pray to a robed St. Nicholas, who flies over them, giving his blessing. A mermaid swims away on the left.

Celebrate St. Nicholas Day with one of my favourite @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social paintings, St Nicholas of Bari banishing the Storm [Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452)]

I agree. The big sell from AI is often to make your life easy, but building understanding, structuring your thoughts, is meant to be hard, and that is what changes you. i.e. if the product you care about is you and your brain, do the work.

4 Yes I have finally removed a few lurking Easter decorations. More wins than losses today! Although number 2 was quite bad!

On the left, wonky advent candle: white wax with numbers 1-24 running down it and decorated with a leaf design. On the right, terracotta phone holder made by my daughter (a character from Spirited Away) with a mouthful of silver baubles.

Wins & losses
1 Found an advent candle, only slightly dinted! Better get burning, it’s already the 6th.
2 Which I had forgotten, so nobody put out their shoes for the Sint last night. This morning: scenes.
3 Needn’t fret that I haven’t taken down last year’s decs any more! Like these silver baubles.

Beautiful words, beautiful photograph.

Oooooh I love Gobbolino! That’s such a nice description. His longing for a home really spoke to me as a child.

But YOU will know! x

My hand holding a battered and well-loved copy of A Choice of Magic, by Ruth Manning-Sanders, illustrated by Robin Jacques. The cover illustration shows a giant with white beard and pointy ears, holding above his head a plate on which are clustered various fairy-tale characters: a witch and wizards by a cauldron, a king and queen, a spirit, mermaids, a dragon, devils/fauns, a tiny man, some card-players. I love this collection of fairy tales because many of them are unusual and they come from all over the world. RMS tells them in a way that makes them lively and individual, but easy to read. She published many collections which I borrowed constantly from the library and which revealed to me lots of stories ranging far beyond Grimm and Andersen and really fostered my love for these stories. The illustrations are wonderful too, you can get an idea from the cover.

Every Wednesday, I’m going to post a children’s book I’ve enjoyed.

If you’ve read it too, or you want to share another book, join in.

A Choice of Magic, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.

A favourite from long ago & far away, when I was a child.

Why do I like it? Read the alt text!

#ukkidlit #kidlituk

Calling British short science-fiction writers who have had stories published this year - window closing soon for Best of British Science Fiction 2025. Get your story in under the door!

Thank you! Sold!

I’m a massive fan of her short stories. If you go to her website there’s a page of links to where you can read some of them free, to see if they’re your cup of tea.

Photograph of Letters from an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss on a William Morris cloth. The cover illustration shows an elegant lady in white gloves and a green dress reading a book but the book is transparent.

Hello! Letters from an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss has just arrived & although it was ahem a Christmas present to myself I couldn’t resist… Fantastical short stories.

It looks fab! Maybe a tricky question, but do you think it would be interesting for a 15-year-old?

I am not surprised! It is so good!

Look how beautiful!

What an enchanting piece of work! How clever you are!

Read the whole thread, it's fascinating & beautiful.

Thank you for this wonderful research. Now all of us will carry that moment of myth onwards...

Technology should exist to solve problems. Writing a novel isn't a problem. It's joy.

YouTube video by Rolo Tomasi Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 1990

Someone found a YT link, so here you go:

Oh! That looks great and I know someone who will love it. Thanks!

However, an unexpected pleasure of the not-great landscapes was seeing what this part of the Kempen looked like a hundred years ago. It is unrecognisable now.

Illustrated map of the fictional world of Narnia, showing notable locations such as Cair Paravel, Lantern Waste, and the Wild Lands of the North, with annotations and directional compass.

Born #OTD in 1898: C. S. Lewis, creator of Narnia!

This hand-drawn map is his own sketch, later redrafted by Pauline Baynes for Prince Caspian.

Spot Aslan’s How, Cair Paravel and Lantern Waste on the map. 🦁

Shelfmark: MS. Eng. lett. c. 220/1, fol. 160

Phil Gentry @pmgentry A professor of mine went to go hear Derrida speak once. The entire talk was about cows; everyone was flummoxed but listened carefully, and took notes about...cows. There was a short break, and when Derrida came back, he was like, "I'm told it is pronounced 'chaos. 11:28 AM • 4/5/21 from Philadelphia, PA • Twitter for iPhone

This path leads to chaos.

Portrait of a Young Girl by J.B. Stessens, 1885. A girl in profile, in a black dress against a dark greenish background, with long fair hair pulled back from her face. Her expression is ruminative, maybe slightly sulky?

Woman with Child, by J.B. Stessens, 1885? A woman in a long dark dress sits with a little girl on her knee. The child wears a red pinafore over a brown dress and cuddles close to the woman. The woman is almost resting her cheek on the child’s head. There is an air of intimacy, sorrow and comfort.

Some of the portraits & still-lifes in particular were good. But there was also some really poor stuff. I suppose it’s interesting to see how variable someone’s output can be, but I felt a bit sorry for him.

J.B. Stessens, Self-portrait with Beret, 1889? A painting of a bearded man in black, with a high forehead. He wears a large white ruff and a grey beret, and holds in front of him a small glass of reddish liquid

Have just been to see the exhibition ‘The World of J.B. Stessens’ in Geel. He was a local artist & teacher. Truly a curate’s egg of an exhibition…

Graphic showing the covers of all 4 books by SF Said - Varjak Paw, The Outlaw Varjak Paw, Phoenix and Tyger - all illustrated by Dave McKean

BOOK GIVEAWAY!!! I'm not on social media much at the moment, working hard on my new book, which I feel sure will be my best one yet when it's done! In the meantime, I'm giving away signed copies of all my books so far. Follow & repost to enter, and say which book you'd like & why. Closes Dec 5!

Our Power of Reading project offers unique insights into what makes reading teaching successful in primary schools. This free booklet shares what teachers say is needed to foster a lifelong love of reading. Download now: https://clpe.org.uk/research/reading-pleasure-what-we-know-works

Representation in kids’ books partially bounces back in 2024 following stark drop

Nearly one in four children’s books published in 2024 featured racially minoritised characters, a rebound from the sharp decline of the previous year 👇 #BookSky

Looks fabulous!