A round-up of the best things I've been reading and discovering, including:

A gorgeous middle grade book about mental illness and hope.

A huge list of amazing children's books due out this autumn.

An anti-racist book for Early Years and Key Stage 1.

A trans love story for Young Adults.

A peak at the new Netflix series, 'Ada Twist, Scientist'.

And much, much more...

It's Spread Book Joy's 1st Birthday!

Hello, My Bookish Friend!

It has been a while since my last newsletter, so I hope that all of you managed to enjoy the summer this year and have been able to begin safely seeing family and friends again.

Today marks exactly one year since I launched Spread Book Joy. It has been an amazing year of personal growth, creative endeavours and a huge amount of fun. I have made so many wonderful new friends and had some amazing opportunities as a direct result of starting this little passion project of mine. I would also like to welcome all of the latest subscribers to my website and social media sites. Would you believe that there are now just over 3000 of you? I am completely thrilled with that level of growth and did not expect to be where I am just over a year after starting. None of this would have happened without all of you, so a huge thank you to everyone!

As the new school year starts, here is a round-up of all the latest, notable children's book releases and bookish news:

Some of the books that I'm excited about:

There are so many children's books being released this autumn that to write a small synopsis of each of them would mean a newsletter a mile long. Pictured above are some of my highlights, but do click the link below to see the list in full which includes: 

• Once There was a Bear: a brand new officially commissioned Winnie-the-Pooh book being released in time for the 95th anniversary.
• My Skin, Your Skin by Laura Henry-Allain, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu: a non-fiction picture book for ages 4-7 all about race and racism.
• Julia and the Shark: a stunning middle grade book by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by her artist husband, Tom De Freston. I LOVED this book and have a full review on my YouTube channel and blog.
• The False Rose by Jakob Wegelius: a brand new Sally Jones adventure! The first book in this series, The Murderer's Ape, is one of my favourite middle grade books of all time!
• The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hicks: follow-up to the deliciously spooky middle grade tale, The Haunting of Aveline Jones.
• Aarti and the Blue Gods by Jasbinder Bilan: this is sure to be another beautifully written magical realism tale from one of my favourite children's authors.
• Just One of Those Days by Jill Murphy: the last book featuring the Large family that was published by the late, great Jill Murphy is coming out on paperback.
• The Rapping Princess by Hannah Lee illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan: the author of the hugely successful picture book 'My Hair' is back with a wonderful new character!
• The Queen in the Cave by Julia Sarda: this magical fairy tale looks like an absolutely beautiful picture book full of mesmerising illustrations.
• Between the Lines by Lyndsay Ward: a touching picture book with an important message about our communities during and after lockdown. This is also available as a free Kindle First Read for Amazon Prime members this month.
• There's a Ghost in this House by Oliver Jeffers: the undisputed king of picture books is back with an interactive ghost story, just in time for Halloween!
• How was that Built? by Roma Agrawal, illustrated by Katie Hickey. A beautifully detailed and illustrated look inside some of the world's super structures. Sure to engross adults and children alike!
• Other highlights include: the last ever 'Noughts and Crosses' book by Malorie Blackman; a new take on 'The Railway Children' from Jacqueline Wilson; a picture book version of 'The Christmasaurus' from Tom Fletcher; the new 'Adventures on Trains' book from M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman; an anthology collection of the 'Little People, Big Dreams' books and much, much more! You can find them all in the list below:

You can buy or pre-order any of the titles mentioned in my newsletter directly from my this list* which is hosted on Bookshop.org. You can also find all of my curated book lists there grouped in themes such as Celebrating Diversity, Dealing with Difficult Emotions and more.

*Any commissions received go towards the running of my website and social media and are gratefully received - check out my disclosure policy here 🤍

Books I've been writing about:

Books and bookish things that I've been talking about:

Bookish things that I'm excited about:

'Ada Twist, Scientist' the Netflix TV Show is premiering on the 28th of September. Produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's company, Higher Ground, the adventures of this 8-year-old scientist are sure to be a big hit:

Matt Haig's A Boy Called Christmas will be hitting the big screen this autumn:

And finally...

Life has sped up again in recent months, which has meant that my monthly newsletters have fallen by the wayside this summer. I have recently started teaching in person at an actual school again (so lovely!). It is just for a couple of days a week, as my online tutoring business continues to thrive. I may also be dabbling into another area in education soon, but more on that at another time should it all come to pass!

Given all of these big life changes, I have decided to make some adjustments to my newsletters. I will begin sending automated blog emails out to my mailing list once more,  so that any reviews I post will go straight to your inbox. My newsletters will catch you up on new book releases, video reviews and any additional bookish news or resources that I think may be of interest. Rather than quarterly or monthly, I will send them out when I think there is good cause to. Although newsletters will be sent less often, I hope that you will still find them useful. In the meantime, my curated booklists are always available for inspiration, plus you can catch up with my daily musings on Instagram, the Instagram feed on my website or my weekly YouTube videos.

Until next time, stay safe and well, and please, as always, be kind to yourselves.🤍

Jacqueline x

If you have any questions, suggestions or requests, please reply to this email and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If you have any feedback on this newsletter, it will be gratefully received.