On 31st March 2022, the Norfolk Education Library will be closing and we’d like to to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our readers who’ve taken time to look over our blog in the last nine years- it has meant so much to us! Our archive of posts and reviews will remain active for all to browse and we hope that you do utilise these in the future as a useful resource. You can also find a copy of our final Book Bites newsletter here (click). For additional information on what Norfolk Libraries offer to children and young people, visit this page (click). For access to the Norfolk Lib ..read more

The longlist for this year’s Yoto Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards were announced last week, with 33 books now in the running to make the final shortlists. 18 of these are in the running for the Carnegie with 15 up for the Kate Greenaway, titles which will be whittled down in three weeks time ahead of the winning announcement on 16th June. We always look forward to these annual awards which celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration, particularly as they have a unique judging panel comprised of children’s librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group who use th ..read more

February is LGBT+ History Month in the UK, a brilliant opportunity to promote equality and diversity. 2022 marks 50 years since the first Pride March took place in the UK and in recognition of this historic milestone, this year’s theme has an art focus, celebrating the many LGBT+ artists whose work was both politically trailblazing and visually pleasing. There are lots of brilliant resources available for primary and secondary on both the Schools Out UK website just here (click) and the Proud Trust’s page just here (click), and below are a few LGBT+ related books we think are worth sharing wit ..read more

We love it when National Storytelling Week rolls around; overseen by the Society for Storytelling, it’s seven days of celebrating the brilliance of sharing stories with children young and old. As always, their website is stacked with lots of great resources to help you to share stories, and we’d definitely suggest taking a look if you’re in need of inspiration: find it here (click). You can also find SfS on twitter: @sfs_uk and all of our other National Storytelling Week posts just here (click). This year’s theme is share your story, which we thought was a brilliant opportunity to share some o ..read more

Taking place annually on January 27th, Holocaust Memorial Day encourages not just a moment of remembrance for those millions of Jews lost during the Second World War, but also those persecuted in other genocides globally around the world. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has a great website full of useful information and suitable resources for primary, secondary and SEND schools (find it here); below are a few books we feel are worth sharing with your young people, and you’ll also find past suggestions just here. Always by Morris Gleitzman This is the seventh and final book in this wonderfu ..read more

The RSPB’s Big Schools Birdwatch (5th January- 21st February) is an annual project which encourages children to look outside, count the birds they see in their school grounds, and send their findings back to the RSPB to help scientists create a picture of how bird life is doing across the whole country. It runs alongside the charity’s national Big Garden Birdwatch and taking part is easy; just register online, request a FREE pack, and get involved! To do so, visit www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch Below are a few bird books we found on our shelves… The Big Book of Birds by Yuval Zommer A very wo ..read more

Christmas Day is tomorrow(!) so below is the final instalment of our annual book advent; the last four weeks have flown by and we really hope you’ve enjoying seeing the different books we’ve shared over the last month. You can find all of this year’s posts just here. The Good Bear by Sarah Lean, illustrated by Fiona Woodcock As the Christmas holidays approach, Thea is looking forward to spending the break with her Father in Norway but when she arrives, things feel strange. While she’s trying to adjust to his new way of life, Thea makes a great discovery in the woods: a bear, who’s just as s ..read more

Just in case you’ve missed the memo: between now and Christmas, we’ll be sharing sixteen books we think you should consider sharing with your young readers over the festive holidays (and beyond!). Week one is here, week two is here and below you’ll find another four books to take a look at- this week, some fabulous children’s fiction! Monster Hunting for Beginners by Ian Mark, illustrated by Louis Ghibault Monster hunting is NOT an easy feat and when an ogre one day appears in jack’s garden and tries eats his aunt(!), he takes matter into his own hands and shows it who’s boss! This heroic a ..read more

Just in case you missed it last week: between now and Christmas, we’ll be sharing sixteen books we think you should consider sharing with your young readers over the festive holidays (and beyond!). You can find the first of this year’s instalments over here and below you’ll find four more to add to your list- this week we have some natty non-fiction! Cats Eyes and Dog Whistles: The Seven Senses of Humans and Other Animals by Cathy Evans, illustrated by Becky Thorns A fascinating look at human and animal senses; how they work, what we share and how things differ between man and bea ..read more

It’s December and the start of the calendar year’s final month can mean only one thing: not festive music or mince pies but the return of our annual book advent! Since 2013, we’ve counted down the four weeks leading to Christmas using our team’s unique knowledge base; not libraries or school but BOOKS! EIGHT(!) long years ago, we shared our very first advent book wreath, followed in 2014 and 2015 by our advent book doors (remember those?). Then in 2016- with the assistance of our graphic designer friend, Liam Drane- we had a makeover, a redesign we’ve continued to use for t ..read more