Peter Bently

I only sent my daughter a link on the perils of tobacco pouches, or “snus”. Autocorrect duly did its worst… 😂

Thank you to leading Irish bookseller @dubraybooks.bsky.social for making DOGDUNNIT by me and #TorFreeman one of your July favourite book choices! @andersenpress.bsky.social 🇮🇪
#kidlituk #ukkidlit #books

Hello #kidlituk_intro I'm Jenny Hawke and am a children’s librarian for GLL Bromley Libraries, passionate about children’s libraries & literature, love being involved with the YLG nationally & regionally.

Excellent journalism, by the way.

Hang on, their whole shtick is a dodgy story about walking and their real name is… Walker. D’oh!

Their lawyers will be in the process of reviewing the terms of the contracts signed by the Walkers/Winns, with a view to possible legal action for breach.

Not only that but apparently his terminal degenerative brain illness actually * vanishes completely * at the end of book three, in total defiance of all medical science. Convenient!

No, that’s Captain Tom’s daughter and son-in-law, surely?

Photo of spines of Alex Wheatle books: Liccle Bit, Crongton Knights, Straight Outta Crongton, In The Ends, The Humiliations of Welton Blake, The Girl with the Red Boots and Kerb-Stain Boys. Text reads: Win for your school library Book Clubs in Schools logo

Alex Wheatle MBE (1963-2025) was our charity's patron.

Thanks to Hachette UK & @barringtonstoke.bsky.social we have 10 sets of seven of Alex's brilliant books to give away to UK school libraries.

To enter, follow us and share this post. Closing date: 18 July.

#ReadingForPleasure #UKKidLit 1/2

So exciting to be at the reopening of West Wickham Library today. Loads of people came along to see the newly renovated library. @peterbently.bsky.social ran a wonderful Storytime & we were joined by some other children’s authors & illustrators! Fantastic day! @marcelafwrites.bsky.social

Thank you for posting and for your lovely review!! #pride

The Princes & the Pea @peterbently.bsky.social is a heartwarming & joyful twist on the classic fairytale — featuring two princes, a royal test, & a story full of love, acceptance, & happily-ever-afters. 🌈📖
Find out more about Peter & his work: authorsalouduk.co.uk/speaker/pete...
#pridemonth

Great to hear more funding for school libraries in the spending review. #libraries

Reading Rights report

The @booktrust.org.uk #ReadingRights report is out today, emphasising the importance of reading to children FROM BIRTH. The first years of a child’s life are critical for
cognitive, emotional & physical development. Link here
williamjoseph.blob.core.windows.net/williamjosep...

Thank you for posting!

Happy Publication Day to THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA, written by @peterbently.bsky.social & beautifully illustrated by Claire Powell 👑

This hilarious rhyming and irresistible retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fable defies traditional fairy tale conventions!

@unicolsm.bsky.social Hi Colin. I’m not hugely active here yet but good to see you!

@bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social

*****OUT TODAY!*****
THE PRINCES AND THE PEA, written by me and hilariously illustrated by the fabulous Claire Powell. It’s a modern take on the classic Hans Andersen tale, with a 🌈 twist!

Am at @harpercollins.bsky.social @farshorebooks.bsky.social Insight into Children's Books.
'Reading for pleasure is collapsing.
Kids think of reading as a chore
Fewer kids are being read to at home
Only 40% of parents enjoy reading to their kid'

Brilliant placards from the authors gathering in Granary Square. 5 authors under a bright blue sky including Sam Blake, Julie Cohen, Bee Rowlett and Nell Leyson. Placards read Make it Write and Get the Zuck off our Books. Authors are holding their books

A fantastic turn out of around 150 book lovers and authors with a host of clever placards gathered in Granary Square. This is a group photo of with bonus daschund!

Sam Blake interviewed by ITN in Granary Square about Meta's theft of copyrighted works to train their Llama AI

Author AJ West led the protesters with SoA CEO Anna Ganley carrying a swag bag containing authors words to deliver to Meta

A fantastic turnout in London today to support the @societyofauthors.bsky.social letter to Meta to protest the use of copyrighted materials to train their AI - OUR BOOKS.

Sign up for the SoA newsletters or join to find out what happens next - we're stronger together

Still from tv

On ITV news, talking about Meta’s theft of our work
#DotheWriteThing
@societyofauthors.bsky.social

Society of Authors to hold protest at Meta's London HQ after 'pirated books used to train AI' Kate Mosse, Tracy Chevalier, Daljit Nagra and other Society of Authors (SoA) members will demonstrate outside Meta HQ after millions of pirated books were allegedly used to train Meta’s artificial int...

👇
www.thebookseller.com/news/society...

Unfortunately I won’t be able to make this protest today but I stand in solidarity with everyone whose work has been ripped off by LibGen to train Meta AI (including ten of mine) in breach of copyright and without recompense.
#MetaBookThieves, #DoTheWriteThing #MakeItFair

@michaelrosenyes.bsky.social Thank you for raising the AI and ©️ issue on @bbcpm.bsky.social tonight. Existing copyright law is perfectly fit for purpose: if you use our work, we require recompense. Simple!

Westminster was my Meeting when I lived in London. Youth Demand were young people meeting peacefully. My heart goes out to Westminster Quakers, the young people arrested, and the two Quaker wardens whose home was invaded. We all have a right to peaceful protest.
www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Happy #WorldBookDay! I’m currently heading to my fourth school of the week for fun and stories! @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Statement on the Trump administration's january 20,2025 EO Targeting Transgender, Intersex, Nonbinary and Gender Non Conforming Americans On January 20, the White House issued an executive order stating that the United States government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, as defined “at conception.” The ripple effect of this order will undoubtedly affect public schools, public libraries, and the literature that is shelved in both. Among the many harms it causes, the order targeting transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming Americans threatens unconstitutional censorship that could have a grave impact on literature for years to come. In dismissing trans, intersex, and nonbinary identities, the order blacklists LGBTQIA+ literature and invites the government to dictate the perspectives, beliefs, and identities that can exist in public forums receiving federal funding, amounting to financial coercion through the arbitrary withholding of funds. This censorship may begin with LGBTQIA+ perspectives, but it will not end there: allowing the government to censor one group erodes the First Amendment rights of all Americans, creating a precedent for silencing dissenting voices.

If allowed to stand, the order will create new funding requirements imposed not only on federal entities, but private citizens and institutions who contract with them. Those requirements can and will be manipulated to dictate speech. The broader chilling effect on literature could be even harder to undo. Writers rely on funding from sources like the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the state-level institutions they fund. Trans, nonbinary, and intersex experience is vastly underrepresented in literature but disproportionately targeted by bans. During the 2022-2023 school year, 30% of books banned included LGBTQIA+ characters or themes. Such censorship robs us of perspectives that enrich the American story. Though the executive order in question tries to paint LGBTQIA+ people and allies as bullies enforcing their perspective on others through “legal and other socially coercive means,” that’s exactly what the order itself does, just as book-banning pressure groups have done since 2020 in school boards and libraries around the country. The fate of trans, intersex, and nonbinary people is not a political ideology, it’s a matter of human rights, civil rights, and freedom of expression. Government erosion of those rights should concern all Americans, regardless of their investment in LGBTQIA+ literature specifically.

This executive order is censorship, pure and simple, and it has no place in a free society. It must be rescinded or stayed as soon as possible, and at the latest, before the earliest implementation deadline, February 19, 2025. Financially blacklisting trans, intersex, and non-binary perspectives will rob us of a vital literature yet to be written while insulting the dignity of LGBTQIA+ people everywhere. This return to McCarthyism by other means is a leap backwards to a grim chapter of American history. Sincerely, the undersigned, • American Booksellers Association • American Booksellers for Free Expression • Andrews McMeel • Annie's Foundation • Audio Publishers Association • Authors Against Book Bans • Berry Powell Press • Cardinal Rule Press • Charlesbridge Publishing • Chestnut Publishing House • Comic Book Legal Defense Fund • Deborah Sloan and Company and Kidsbuzz • Developmental Texts • Empowering Latino Futures • EveryLibrary • Firewater Media Group • Florida Freedom to Read Project • Foreword Reviews • Freedom to Read Project • Gryphon Publishing Consulting, LLC • Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) • IngramSpark • Judging by the Cover: A Bookstore • Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship • Lambda Literary • Latino 247 Media Group • Lee Wind, author • Levine Querido • Library Futures • Livingston Parish Library Alliance • Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship • Macmillan Children's Publishing Group • The National Book Critics Circle • National Coalition Against Censorship

• NorthSouth Books • Nosy Crow • Patagonia • Publishers and Writers of San Diego and Orange County • PEN America • PFLAG Fresno • PubWest • Rattling Good Yarns Press • Read Freely Alabama • Red Comet Press LLC • Rutherford County Library Alliance • Sara Paretsky, Writer • SCBWI • SEAT • SparkPoint Studio • St Tammany Library Alliance • Stone Bridge Press • Texas Freedom to Read Project • Walker Books Group for Candlewick Press, Holiday House Books, and Peachtree Publishing • We Need Diverse Books

AABB stands with our trans members, friends, colleagues, heroes, and the countless trans Americans who will be affected by this needlessly cruel Executive Order from the Trump Administration.

We are proud to do so alongside so many of our comrades in the fight against book bans.

Congratulations Patrice!

www.instagram.com/p/DEstQ_wqDa...