Dinosaur Books Ltd

UKLA Book Awards - UK Literacy Association UKLA Book Awards 2026: The Longlists for the 2026 UKLA Book Awards are now live! Find out which titles have been selected by the

📚 Longlisted!

We’re thrilled to share that Black History for Every Day of the Year by @davidolusoga.bsky.social, Yinka Olusoga & Kemi Olusoga has been longlisted for the 2026 UKLA Book Awards in the Information Books category!✨

ukla.org/ukla-book-aw...

**"I'll be turning 95 this coming Monday. In my younger years, I was often filled with worry - worry that I wasn't quite good enough, that no one would cast me again, that I wouldn't live up to my mother's hopes. But these days begin in peace, and end in gratitude."** My life didn't quite take shape until my forties. I had worked steadily - on provincial stages, in radio plays, in West End productions - but I often felt adrift, as though I was searching for a home within myself that I hadn't quite found. At 50, I accepted a television role that many would later associate me with - Hyacinth Bucket, of Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would be a small part in a little series. I never imagined that it would take me into people's living rooms and hearts around the world. And truthfully, that role taught me to accept my own quirks. It healed something in me. At 60, I began learning Italian - not for work, but so l could sing opera in its native language. I also learned how to live alone without feeling lonely. I read poetry aloud each evening, not to perfect my diction, but to quiet my soul. At 70, I returned to the Shakespearean stage - something I once believed I had aged out of. But this time, I had nothing to prove. I stood on those boards with stillness, and audiences felt that. I was no longer performing. I was simply being. At 80, I took up watercolor painting. I painted flowers from my garden, old hats from my youth, and faces I remembered from the London Underground. Each painting was a quiet memory made visible. Now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I'm learning to bake rye bread. I still breathe deeply every morning. I still adore laughter - though I no longer try to make anyone laugh. I love the quiet more than ever. **I'm writing this to tell you something simple:** **Growing older is not the closing act. It can be the most exquisite chapter - if you let yourself bloom again.** Let these years ahead be your *treasure years*. You don't need to be famous. Y…

Given today’s news, I was recently introduced to this piece by Patricia Routledge, and i always found it really moving.

Man in a straw hat crouching down in undergrowth with a carved wooden life size dinosaur or crocodile head

Book cover of a boy running with two troodons next to him and a T Rex in the background

Planning for UK #WorldBookDay in the UK? For #KS1 or #KS2 dinosaur-themed talks, the Dinoteks author, NS Blackman is a good shout! #EduPrimary - contactanauthor.co.uk/author/167/n...

Good news! Because *every* UK primary should have a funded school library #EduSky #EduSkyPrimary

Poetry Salon: Indie Press Network — Dialect Join us for an afternoon of readings as the Indie Press Network brings together acclaimed poets from across the UK’s vibrant small press landscape.

Saturday 04/10/2026
2-4pm
IPN Poetry Salon at Museum in the Park, Stroud, Hannah Hull is reading from Home is a place that visits me alongside Afonydd poets Des Mannay & Iris Anne Lewis, plus poets from other member publisers.
Free tix www.dialect.org.uk/coursesworks...

Stop the freelance rip-off All freelances in the UK should respond to government's consultation on late payments and poor payment practices. It's time for urgent change.

Journalist friends, please respond to the UK government's consultation on late payments and poor practices. The NUJ has responses to help your submission. This is an important opportunity for every freelance journalist. #StopTheFreelanceRipOff: nuj.org.uk/resource/stop-the-freelance-rip-off.html

Very much looking forward to the @empathylabuk.bsky.social conference in November. It's a superb line-up of speakers including @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social, @teresacremin.bsky.social and authors @amdassu.bsky.social and @lawrencepatrice.bsky.social. An important day! empathylab.uk/raising-gene...

The richest man on earth owns X.

The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.

The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.

See the problem here?

Have an idea you would like to develop into an academic book?

Applications to the Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship are open until Oct. 1st to Black, Asian or Ethnically Diverse early career scholars (UK only).

More info: https://bit.ly/4mHlgcn

Ursula K. Le Guin's poetry collection So Far So Good: Final Poems 2014-2018, the cover of which shows a river in the foreground, with golden, rugged hills in the background.

AUTUMN gold of amber red of ember brown of umber all September

"Autumn" is the first part of "Six Quatrains," which appears in So Far So Good (Copper Canyon Press, 2018).

Wonderful to see you here!

The #LittleRebelsAward is an award for UK radical children’s fiction, run by @letterboxlibrary.bsky.social & @housmansbookshop.bsky.social on behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers.

And we’ve just announced our:
2025 Little Rebels Award Shortlist!

Storybooks online - free videos of children's and YA books Storybooks online - video online stories read by authors including Cressida Cowell, David Walliams, Malorie Blackman, Michael Rosen and more.

Online storybooks, author read-alouds, book trailers & compelling YouTube channels - our collection of useful video resources to help children get excited about picking a new book. schoolreadinglist.co.uk/resources/st... #booktwitter

Two young women loking at books in a bookshop

Happy International Women's Day 💜

#IWD #IWD2025

Author Cheryl Diane Parkinson holding a copy of her book Last Girl In

Author Nigel Blackman holding two of his books - the Dinoteks and Undercover Alien

Happy World Book Day to all authors taking part! #ReadingForPleasure

A boy and a girl riding horses on a middle grade children's fiction book about the Anglo-Saxons called Freedom for Bron

Our Anglo-Saxon story is pretty popular with KS2 teachers ... and now the same author is thinking about his next #HistoricalFiction for children. So we'd like to know, what do you *like* and *not like* to see in curriculum-linked #HistoricalFiction adventures? #EduSky #EduLib

Graphic advertising the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition and its invitation to be inspired by Branford Boase Award winner Nathanael Lessore, also pictured. It features logos of ALCS and Walker Books who support the Branford Boase Award.

The 2025 Henrietta Branford Writing Competition is open 📖

All young writers 8 - 18 can enter, with a story, poem or lyrics that - inspired by #BranfordBoaseAward winner Nathanael Lessore - will make the judges laugh!

Find out more and get #Writing!

booksforkeeps.co.uk/make-em-laug...

Don't miss @nessowen.bsky.social reading from her latest #poetry collection, Naming the Trees, at Pen'rallt gallery bookshop, #Machynlleth on #publicationday this Thursday 27th Feb 6pm for 6.30 £5 includes refreshments and local poets @ontheoutbreath.bsky.social and suzanne iuppa

Can TikTok and diversity address 'historic low' in reading? The National literacy Trust say less than one in three children are regular readers.

Can TikTok and diversity address 'historic low' in reading? www.bbc.com/news/article... Interesting read .. time and again we learn that it’s important for children see themselves reflected

Book cover titled: Children of the Benin Kingdom. Shows two silhouetted children surrounded by leaves and cowrie shells

Looking for #BlackHistoryMonth ideas? Or inspiration and enrichment for the KS2 Benin topic? The West African historical Kingdom of Benin is rightly covered by many primary teachers. An amazing civilisation - that excelled in art - a fantastic way to explore Black History! #BHM #EduSky

Book cover showing two silhouetted children surrounded by leaves and cowrie shells. The title is Children of the Benin Kingdom

Absolutely no wrong time learn! We publish Children of the Benin Kingdom - a historical fiction set in the amazing 12th century West African Kingdom of Benin. Middle grade fiction - and perfect for the KS2 Benin topic. #EduSkyPrimary #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM

5 ways to celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth (cause the fed govt doesn’t run your house)

1. Find out what Sojourner Truth REALLY said
2. Buy a Black horror, scifi or fantasy book
3. Listen to “Naima” by John Coltrane
4. Send the victims of the LA fires in Altadena a few coins
5. Get a library card

Writing residency for older writers!

Please share!

Looking forward to attending this tomorrow and meeting up with fellow @inpressbooks.bsky.social publishers

Please , if you are able , support Independent publishers who are doing most of the heavy lifting in finding great new writers!

@littletollerbooks.bsky.social
@saraband-books.bsky.social
@influxpress.bsky.social
@galleybeggars.bsky.social
@peepaltreepress.bsky.social

And many more

Oh my god, thank you Amanda from last year for packing all the Christmas decorations away so neatly and by category

🔊 Our 7th annual #ReflectingRealities report is out now! This year’s report shows a significant drop in the presence of racially minoritised characters in books published for children in 2023 in the UK.

Map of the world with pins where indie bookshops are

Leading up to Christmas is a time that indie businesses make the majority of their income for the whole year

If you want to support indie bookshops there's a growing list/directory at www.indiebookshops.com

Best children's books - Diverse & Inclusive Books for Upper KS2 Discover our recommended booklist - Diverse & Inclusive Books for Upper KS2 - with the best books and quality texts for primary ages and topics, reviewed and selected by experts.

Thanks you @booksfortopics.bsky.social for including "Last Girl In" (featuring a multi-generational Black Caribbean family) on your list of Diverse and Inclusive Books for Upper KS2 www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/to... #KidLitUK

Thank you! So helpful