thebookseekers

@Literacy_Trust @Lucy_Braidley Yes. Which is why we have lots of graphic novels in our core elibrary for our primary schools - use the book type filter to find them. #elibrariesforschools thebookseekers.com/show/library/1

“Comics are not a diversion from literacy: they are a dynamic and vital part of it.” Our Head of School Libraries, @Lucy_Braidley, reflects on the power of comics and the role of visual literacy in (re)engaging young people with reading. Read more: literacytrust.org.uk/blog/unlocking…

@Literacy_Trust @simonkids_UK Ahead of you - already in our core elibrary #elibrariesforschools thebookseekers.com/show/library/1…

📢 "It's okay to be excited about books." 👏📚 To celebrate #NationalYearOfReading2026, @simonkids_UK will donate 30,000 #Skandar books to our community hubs across the UK! 🎉 These books will go to communities where 1 in 6 children don’t have a book of their own.

@jonnybid This is awesome amazon.co.uk/Drawing-Right-…

I have a pupil in my class (Year 6) who did this in about ten minutes. She's massively talented. Some ideas about how to help her move forward would be very much appreciated. Art isn't really my speciality.

@tompalmerauthor Please can you provide a contact? If I go cold they just ignore me. Thx😀

@thebookseekers Sorry. I don't have control of that. It might be worth asking publishers?

I'm working up a set of ideas and free resources to help schools, libraries and others with the #NationalYearOfReading. Tying in with events like the men's World Cup, summer holidays and Holocaust Memorial Day. It will be updated as we go... tompalmer.co.uk/nyr

What if the real barrier to comprehension isn’t vocabulary or background knowledge, but something even more fundamental: fluency? If a pupil’s working memory is tied up trying to decode each word, it never reaches the meaning. The cognitive load is simply too high. David Paige’s work is really clear on this: fluent reading frees up working memory so it can do what it’s meant to do, make sense of the text. Automaticity isn’t a shortcut; it’s the foundation that comprehension rests on. This matters for teaching. We sometimes expect pupils to analyse, infer and interpret before they can read with ease. That’s the wrong way round. Build accurate decoding. Build automatic word recognition. Build fluency through repeated practice and expressive reading. Once the mechanics are automatic, comprehension finally has room to breathe.

@dnleslie @hmcmenamingmai1 @JenniferS8043 In concln, the literature on e vs. paper reading provides diverse findings, indicating that the “impact” of reading mode on comprehension and related factors is nuanced and context-dependent. The evidence does not unequivocally support the superiority of one mode over the other

@hmcmenamingmai1 @JenniferS8043 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10… pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC82… journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00…

Schools should be low tech, high text. Not because tech is bad, but because literacy is the multiplier. Screens split attention; deep reading builds knowledge and comprehension. Books should do the heavy lifting.

@dnleslie @JenniferS8043 Re 'We’ve got a solid body of evidence...' . Please point me to this research as the research I've seen does not support this.

I’m completely with you. We’ve got a solid body of evidence now showing that reading from paper tends to support deeper comprehension, reduced cognitive load, and better recall compared with screens. The same goes for writing by hand; it strengthens processing, memory, and conceptual understanding in ways typing doesn’t fully replicate. So moving everything online without providing devices, and without offering books as an option, feels like a step in the wrong direction. A balanced model that protects access and keeps books at the centre would almost certainly serve pupils far better.

@jonnybid Or search 'ocean' and use the filters thebookseekers.com/book-search/?q…

I've got lots of amazing picturebooks about the oceans but now looking for a couple more. Any recommendations gratefully received!

@jonnybid thebookseekers.com/book/dr-nicola…

@jonnybid thebookseekers.com/book/steve-jen…

@bphillipsonMP And books to read? elibrariesforschools.org

The Tories' policy of an endless cycle of resits consigned young people to the scrapheap. White working class pupils are twice as likely to need to resit. Labour is putting better support in place to give them the vital English & maths skills they need. telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/1…

@UKLabour Yes and when they've filled their tummies they need stuff to read elibrariesforschools.org

Labour is rolling out free breakfast clubs, helping children start the day ready to learn and saving parents up to £450 a year.

@bphillipsonMP We need a digital library for schools elibrariesforschools.org

The Tories left our schools to RAAC and ruin. The next generation will inherit RAAC-free schools from Labour, with rebuilds done in under a decade and all other schools cleared of RAAC by the end of this Parliament. That's national renewal. mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

@frankcottrell_b thebookseekers.com/book/derrick-b…

What's the best children's book about life in primary school? Or starting primary school?

The algorithm isn't helping me, so if you could share about this upcoming sale, I would really appreciate it! Income from selling the original illustrations is a significant part of what keeps me able to keep making these books x

@JamesLucasIT And where Stardust was filmed imdb.com/title/tt048665…

This is not Sora 2 It's Castle Combe, an actual village in England

This oak door in Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been crowned since 1066, is Britain’s oldest door. Although the abbey was rebuilt 750 years ago, the door dates back to Edward the Confessor’s original abbey in the 1060s, making it nearly a thousand years old.

@PaddyBriggs @UKLabour @guse_guse Better solution is access to a National School Digital Library. Centralised resourcing allows wider choice for the same investment. It levels the playing field, giving all kids access to the same resources. And it's quick. elibrariesforschools.org/the-solution/

@UKLabour @guse_guse Creating physical libraries in primary schools that don’t have them already would be extremely expensive. Why not give every child a Kindle pre-loaded with a large number of books similar to those chosen for a physical library ?

A library in every single primary school in England. That is what this Labour government will deliver.

@RachelReevesMP Define 'library'. How many books and who chooses them? A librarian? What about digital? What about schools with existing libraries that are inadequate? elibrariesforschools.org/the-solution/

Today I am promising a library in every single primary school in England by the end of this parliament.   That’s a statement of my values.   That’s a statement of the value this Labour Government places on all our children’s futures. theguardian.com/politics/2025/…