Mostly Book Talk

#independentpodcastawards

#KidsLitUK #UKKidsLit

🎉 We’re finalists at the Independent Podcast Awards 2025!

📚 Mostly Book Talk celebrates teachers, librarians & parents who champion children’s & YA reading for pleasure!

#PodcastAwards #ReadingForPleasure #MostlyBookTalk

#KidLitUK #UKKidLit

📙 Episode 36: We chat with Nathanael Lessore, author of Steady for This & King of Nothing, about writing for teens, the power of humour, and his hilarious Superpower series.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!

#NathanaelLessore #YAfiction #MiddleGrade #MostlyBookTalk

Yay! #UKKidLit #KidLitUK

🌍 Fantastic news! @TomPercivalSays our guest from Episode 25 of Mostly Book Talk, has won Children’s Book of the Year: Older Fiction (9–12) at The Week Junior Book Awards for his moving novel The Wrong Shoes.

🎧 Catch up: https://loom.ly/sKiZHe4

#TomPercival #TheWrongShoes

#KidLitUK #UKKidLit

📙 Episode 35: Dr Julie Blake on Poetry By Heart and Ross Montgomery’s Latest Books 🔗 Listen here: https://loom.ly/73Rh2H4

#ChildrensBooks #ChildrensPoetry #Teachers #Schools

We also review the latest two books in @rossmontgomery.bsky.social ‘s prodigious output. A big thumbs up for Small Wonder - pacey adventure with wide appeal - and for his first book for adults, The Murder at World’s End - a devour in one gulp mystery @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social #kidlituk #UKkidlit

*Just* in time to still be National Poetry Day we bring you our latest episode of Mostly Book Talk where we talk to Dr Julie Blake, founder and co-director of Poetry by Heart with lots of information about how schools can get involved #KidLitUK #UKkidLit @poetrybyheart.bsky.social

Great day at Sailfest - really interesting discussions about South Asian children’s books in the UK - their success and wider potential but also the barriers authors face. So nice to put faces to the authors of lots of amazing books too. #kidlitUK #UKkidlit 🌏📚

#kidlitUK #UKkidlit @ashleythorpe.bsky.social

📙 Episode 34: @Ashley__Thorpe on 'The Boy to Beat the Gods' and 'Spirit Warriors' 🔗 Listen here: https://loom.ly/Yu9NQ70 or wherever you get your podcasts!

Very excited to have been shortlisted for The Independent Podcast Awards! Thank you to everyone who listens to us. We will be back from our summer break very soon with some great interviews. independentpodcastawards.com/IPA25/en/pag... #kidlitUK #UKkidlit #readingforpleasure

We really enjoyed our chat with Maisie - find it wherever you get your podcasts. Info about the British Library event she mentions below. #UKkidlit #kidlitUK 🌏📚

events.bl.uk/events/famil...

Book cover for Alex Horne's The Last Pebble. Two children on a beach at sunset.

Book cover for Julia Moscarado's Changing Tides Two children running on a beach with parents in the background and a lighthouse

Book cover for Jarvis' Our Pebbles a boy sitting in the middle of some brightly coloured pebbles

Book cover for Zillah Bethell's Vanishing Edge - a sea shore in blues and pinks with an industrial building in the background

We also have some short reviews of seaside themed books including The Last Pebble by @alexhorne.bsky.social Changing Tides by Julia Moscardo @littletigeruk.bsky.social Our Pebbles by Jarvis @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social and Vanishing Edge by Zillah Bethell @fireflypress.bsky.social #UKkidlit #KidLitUK

HOME | ESEAauthors ESEA Authors discuss diaspora, inclusion and culture at SOAS during ESEA Heritage Month

And this is the wider StoryFeast event www.eseaauthors.co.uk

Family Workshop: ⁠Dynamic Duos | British Library Meet a grumpy cat and a shapeshifting fox, the dynamic duo of Eric Huang's Guardians of the New Moon. Then join Maisie Chan as she introduces you to Nate Y

The British Library event that @maisiechanwrites.bsky.social mentioned can be found here events.bl.uk/events/famil... #KidLitUK #UKkidlit

📙 Episode 33: In this episode of our podcast, award-winning author Maisie Chan joins us to talk about her brand-new children’s novel, Nate Yu’s Blast From the Past. Listen here: https://loom.ly/iXDJhu0

#MaisieChan #ChildrensBooks #Podcast

HOME | ESEAauthors ESEA Authors discuss diaspora, inclusion and culture at SOAS during ESEA Heritage Month

👀 this looks interesting www.eseaauthors.co.uk #kidlituk 🌏📚

Photo of black and white cat called Four White Pawsies

Book cover of Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore. Black cats next to a pile of six bowls

Plus Six Dinner Sid as Katy also has a similarly literally named cat, Four White Pawsies, who eats in most of the houses in the road #teamcat #kidlituk

Book cover of Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd. Black cat on a fence carrying a glove

Photo of a black and white cat called Slinky

Photo of a mainly black cat called Malinki

Should add from team cat Slinky Malinki as Katy has two namesakes #teamcat #kidlituk

So where do you stand in the cats vs dogs debate? At Mostly, Ali is definitely team dog and Katy is team cat. Clearly Alan is King of the Universe, but here are some more team cat book recommendations. Any you would add? #teamcat #readingforpleasure #kidlituk #ukkidlit

For our followers in #australia 🇦🇺 Justin Somper’s Pirate Academy books launch next week. Have a listen to find out more. #kidlit #eduskyau @justinsomper.bsky.social

Book cover of Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson

Book cover The Humiliations of Welton Blake by Alex Wheatle

Book cover of The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Book cover of EchoStar is Always Listening by Melinda Salisbury

Many of the ones already mentioned but also

📙🏴‍☠️Episode 32: Justin Somper - Pirate Academy. In this episode we talk with Justin Somper about the latest book in his Pirate Academy series, Sword Echoes. 🎧Available wherever you get your podcasts!

#PirateAcademy #SwordEchoes #readingforpleasure

#kidlituk #ukkidlit

Love that this is so on genre but will also open the space for who horse stories are about. I haven’t read it yet but can imagine the fun @jprosewriter.bsky.social evidently had writing it will shine through. 🐴