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A secret preview glimpse inside FIVE LITTLE FRIEND A secret preview glimpse inside FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS - a collection of new finger rhymes for under-7's, publishing 3rd July.A book that brings poems and children to life.These ace illustrations are by @fionawoodcock. Fiona managed to do what we dreamed she might. She came up with illustrations that are beautiful and which also - in inviting and inventive ways - show young readers dynamic, playful finger shapes for the poems.Come meet us and get a signed copy of FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS at a launch event at @papercatbooks (25 Half Moon Lane, London SE24 9JU.) 10.30am on Saturday 12th July."A fresh, wonderfully creative, and visually engaging array of rhymes to get kids moving." Kirkus Book Reviews"It’s a singsong volume that gets bodies moving and pages turning."Publishers Weekly"Consider Five Little Friends your new best friend" School Library Journal
Reposted from @zainabkhanpodcast... Welcome to ou Reposted from @zainabkhanpodcast...Welcome to our fourteenth podcast episode, where we have the pleasure of exploring the magic of words, rhythm, and imagination with Sean Taylor. This special episode is a part of the Book Week Series.Join us as we journey through the creative mind of Sean Taylor, a celebrated author whose work has delighted young readers across the globe. From playful picture books to lyrical tales filled with heart and humor, Sean has a remarkable gift for storytelling that captures the wonder of childhood. In this episode, we’ll discover Sean’s path into writing, his unique approach to working with language, and how he brings laughter, depth, and connection into every story he tells. With a background in performance, poetry, and education, Sean draws from a rich well of experience to craft books that engage both children and adults alike. Watch or listen to the podcast on your favorite platform, link in bio.Reposted from @zainabkhanpodcast
Had a breather and made it to Bardsey island – a Had a breather and made it to Bardsey island – a place of pilgrimage for centuries. It sits at the end of the Llŷn peninsula in north Wales and is hard to reach because of the currents in Bardsey sound. (I’d tried twice before and failed because the boat didn’t sail.)This time it was still and foggy. But up the island’s mountain we arrived in sunshine and looked down on a sea of cloud. Around us: birds, sheep, a lighthouse, a few farm buildings, the ruins of a 13th century abbey. And around the abbey it’s said that 20,000 saints are buried.
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A first glimpse of FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS, a lively, A first glimpse of FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS, a lively, interactive collection of finger rhymes. It springs (that’s the word) from many years of performing poems to children under 7. That has taught me how young audiences love to take part in poems using their fingers and hands. At barely a prompt, they’ll join the tricky magic of finding finger shapes. And then delight in repeating.FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS publishes 3rd July and features gorgeous artwork from @fionawoodcock . Working with the wisdom of the @walkerpicturebooks team, Fiona poured beauty and ingenuity into the project in equal measure. And she’s achieved what we dreamed she might – magical illustrations which (in gentle, different ways) show readers finger-shapes for the poems.We’re in an era when even the youngest children spend hours at a time passively watching screens. FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS swims against that tide. It’s an active, dynamic reading experience. So please look out for it later in the year.Tony Mitton: “On the button … these poems won me over.”@raymond_antrobus : “Oh my word! Me and my son (my little reader) love having our hands on this fun, playfully rhymey book!”Shared as a little #worldpoetryday treat!
Young readers ARE GO! My final #worldbook2025 vis Young readers ARE GO!My final #worldbook2025 visit was to Upton St Leonard's Primary in Gloucester. And I'm so glad I went.They do things in style at Upton St Leonard's! With a bit of collective effort (and a voluntary whip-round of £5 per child) they get a whole literary festival going every March.There was participation from (among others) @traceycorderoy and @writerpoetjohn .There was a whopping book fair laid on by the mighty (in a Cotswolds sort of way) @ylbooks .And I even had a jacket potato with cheese and beans at a special 'Lunch With An Author', where I discussed with a group of children... WHAT BOOK DID YOU LOVE BEFORE YOU COULD READ? WHAT IS YOUR PERFECT BOOK, NOW? and DID SOME YOGHURT JUST COME OUT OF DANIEL'S NOSE BECAUSE HE WAS LAUGHING?Other school leadership teams, feel free to take inspiration. Running a current of reading-for-pleasure through school life like they're doing at Upton St Leonard's is very doable and has an effect on a school you can just about reach out and touch. Have a look through the photos from the book fair for a glimpse of what I mean.
Hat raised to all the welcoming staff and the youn Hat raised to all the welcoming staff and the young riddlers, finger-rhymers, poem writers and book readers who’ve helped make it a World Book Day week to remember…Thanks to team @worldbookdaysocial for all the good stuff you do. Also to the parents and carers, booksellers, librarians and fellow authors and illustrators who go the extra mile for reading this week.#worldbookday #worldbookday2025 #WBD25
Hoot Owl is sending a TWIT TWOO to all the other H Hoot Owl is sending a TWIT TWOO to all the other Hoot Owls who've been out and about on World Book Day.Wishing you lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of HAPPY READING!And also success catching pizzas.
An end of year poem gift, with drawing by @meirell An end of year poem gift, with drawing by @meirelles7269, for you.Shared with best of wishes. And here’s to the footprints of 2025.
30 years married today. We celebrated with a vis 30 years married today. We celebrated with a visit to the local lido (not the local Lidl, as our 17-year-old thought he heard...) and a poem:TOGETHERWe’re like two planetsorbiting close,married togetherfor thirty years.We know the touchof the other’s light,and the taste of shadows cast as we turn.We feel the pull of each other’s gravity -wonderfully steadying, frustratingly steadying,confusingly disruptive, beautifully disruptive.Love’s learning leaves us rounded in cycles of togetherness.And what special eclipses we live,what moments of spinning, arcing and wheeling together in the loveliest dance of all!Sean Taylor December 17th 2024
#Reposted from @mac_birmingham... Have you met ou #Reposted from @mac_birmingham...Have you met our wintery wolf yet? ❄️He is getting ever so excited about sharing his drawings with Santa. If you haven't spotted Wolf, simply come back to our Christmas show for your chance to meet him and our other arctic friends. It is a Choose Your Own Adventure story after all and we have plenty of characters for you to meet each show!Discover how letters really get delivered to Santa in our brilliant family show this December brought to you by @littleangeltheatre and @seantstoriesLittle Angel Theatre: Finding Santa | Wed 20 Nov - Sun 29 Dec🔗 Book now using the link in our bio
This morning’s sky over Bristol rooftops, from m This morning’s sky over Bristol rooftops, from my attic writing room.The art of writing is the art of finding ways into deep concentration, and being able to stay there for sustained spells of imagining, feeling and exploring.It’s close to meditation. And like meditation, it’s a mental state made possible by persistent practice - and impossible by persistent interruption... Finding or making peace and space can be key to achieving it, (or not!) So I’m grateful for the peace and space I had this morning. And my gratitude is increased because the peace and space were touched by this beauty.
Reposted from @mac_birmingham ... ❤️We loved Reposted from @mac_birmingham ...❤️We loved seeing you all for the first week of Little Angel Theatre: Finding Santa! This exciting adventure follows the story of two elves, Tatty and Pumpkin, as they embark on an important festive mission: to bring everyone’s letters to Santa on Christmas Eve.🎅Can you help them? During the show, young audiences get to jump in on the action and help decide how the story unfolds. Wed 20 Nov - Sun 29 Dec | Ages 4+ | Book now via our website (link in bio) 📸Will Pace
YOU'RE A POET is among the Books For Keeps BOOKS O YOU'RE A POET is among the Books For Keeps BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2024.It's a project close to my heart. I wrote it to help the youngest writers find ways into writing poetry.In the book are five stories featuring a piglet poet, his mum, dad and best friend Squirrel.Each adventure is followed by a challenge to inspire readers to have a go at writing different kinds of poems."In poems there is freshness.In poems there is song.In poems there's no right.In poems there's no wrong.”#youreapoet #childrensbooks #childrenslit #poetry #youngpoets #childrenwriting #creativewriting #creativewritingforchildren #fortheloveofbooks #portraitoftheartistasayoungpig
What a fruitful author visit to Nutley Primary Sch What a fruitful author visit to Nutley Primary School, this week.In one day every child in the school wrote, or contributed to, a poem. We rounded things off with a whole-school poetry assembly where 20 children read out writing they'd done during the day.And I had a memorable experience, showing my books to the Year 5/6 'Badgers' class.Mrs Shearer gave an audible gasp when I held up my book WHERE THE BUGABOO LIVES, illustrated by @neal_layton and published by @bigpicturebooks ."I can't believe you wrote THAT book!" she said, "My foster son loves it. He didn't want to read anything at all. Then he discovered WHERE THE BUGABOO LIVES and he read it again and again and again and again..."These moments are important for us authors. They give us a sense of belonging (to a tradition of children's literature that means something to people) and belief (that what we do is for the best.)#authorvisit #raisingreaders #fortheloveofbooks
Here's to the variety and vitality of our independ Here's to the variety and vitality of our independent bookshops!They’re community hubs. They host caleidoscopes of events. They find books for readers, and readers for books. They help keep cutting-edge thinking and the imagination alive!Over the weekend @zehrahicks and I were out in independent bookshops, sharing @oscarsbookprize -winning WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH with children and families.On Saturday we were in @mrbsemporium - Bath’s labyrinthine, great-big treasure chest of a bookshop. The place itself visibly lit-up the eyes of the children arriving for our event. (And it seemed to do something good to the eyes and the body-language of the adults they were with, too!)On Sunday we visited Bristol’s destination bookshop @storysmithbooks – an energetic, innovative and welcoming reader-hearted space, along south Bristol’s colourful North Street.It's the independent bookshops and the libraries that have fed my lifelong reading habit.Thank you for having us Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights and Storysmith.Here’s hoping one or two lifelong readers were helped along the route by our visits!#independentbookshop #bookshopevents #childrensbooks #childrensliterature #picturebook #raisingreaders #fortheloveofbooks #dinosaurswithbrainsthesizeofpeanuts
London, last week. Autumn floating by, on the Tham London, last week. Autumn floating by, on the Thames.What is autumn? Why does it happen? What makes these leaves go red, orange and gold? How do plants and animals prepare for the more difficult months ahead? And how does autumn connect to the promise of new life when spring comes?These questions are answered in the final book of our SEASONS IN THE WILD series: AUTUMN FEAST - NATURE'S HARVEST.The series for young readers contains both imaginative narrative and scientific information. It was written in collaboration with @alexmorssauthor, illustrated by @ccinyee and published by @quartokids / @happyyakbooks.As well as AUTUMN FEAST, the SEASONS IN THE WILD series contains WINTER SLEEP (which explores the processes of hibernation), BUSY SPRING (which brings to life the extraordinary, energetic weeks of springtime) and WILD SUMMER (which explains the science of our climate crisis in a way appropriate for young readers.)"Charming words exclaiming and explaining the magic of nature’s most dynamic seasons all against a backdrop of vibrant and detailed illustrations." ― Nick Baker, Naturalist and TV Presenter#childrensbooks #kidsbooks #picturebook #winter #spring #autumn #summer #theseasons #creativescience #scienceforchildren
Reposted from @alexmorssauthor 📚Local newspape Reposted from @alexmorssauthor📚Local newspaper @southbristolvoice has a copy of our new wildlife story book, Autumn Feast, up for grabs in a competition. Scroll right for details. 🔎 It’s nice when children enter these competitions. Easy question for your kids!I used to write for them & I’ve run a lot of local wildlife events & campaigns in Bristol with their support. Thanks to them & their publisher boss @mrsdrurywritesbooks 🙂🐾
Young readers and dinosaur experts of Bristol and Young readers and dinosaur experts of Bristol and Bath! See if you join me and @zehrahicks for the events we’ll be doing on the weekend of 9th and 10th of November.There will be riddles, finger rhymes, dinosaur draw-alongs, a song about a giganotosaurus, and a reading of 2024’s @oscarsbookprize winning picture book WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH!11am Saturday 9th November at @mrbsemporium in Bath. To reserve free places, copy and paste this link:https://mrbsemporium.com/events/2024/10/roar-some-sotry-time-drawalong/10am Sunday 10th November at @storysmithbooks in Bristol. To reserve free places, copy this link:https://storysmithbooks.com/product/zehra-hicks-when-dinosaurs-walked-the-earth-free-event/Hoping you can join the picture book fun!#independentbookshop #authorevent #bathkids #bristolkids #oscarsbookprize #OBP24 #childrensliterature #childrensillustration #kidsbooks #picturebookstagram #childrensbookstagram #fortheloveofbooks #raisingreaders #dinosaurswithbrainsthesizeofapeanut
VIVA POETRY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS! If you VIVA POETRY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS!If you you agree with that, don't just shout back VIVA, have a read of the teachers' notes that @clpe.org.uk are offering to go with my book, YOU'RE A POET.I wrote YOU'RE A POET to help even the youngest writers feel confident about trying their hands at writing poetry. And the teachers' notes offer spot-on suggestions for achieving that.They include tips on warming-up for the poetry challenges in the book, step-by-step guidance on best ways to share YOU'RE A POET with children, and links to some great videos, books and resources in the same vein.Visit CLPE's website for the notes.You'll find a blog post I've written on the site as well - talking about how and why I wrote the book, and my belief in the value of writing poetry for children.Here's to educators helping primary school children realise that THEY ARE POETS!#inspiration #writing #poetry #poetryforchildren #picturebooks #poetrywriting #portraitoftheartistasayoungpig
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Sean Taylor Stories
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© 2025 Sean Taylor | Illustrations by Shirin Adl, Claire Alexander, Kate Hindley, Emily Hughes, Jean Jullien, Neal Layton, Ben Mantle, Kasia Matyjaszek, Dieter Roos, Nick Sharratt and Hannah Shaw Designed and developed by Dreamabstract