Sign in

Jake Hayes

@tygertale.bsky.social
662 followers 662 following 155 posts

Writer, bookseller, audio describer | Children's books blog tygertale.com | Bath Spa #MAWYP grad | Dr Who | pop music | theatre | #TygertaleVintage books www.etsy.com/uk/shop/tygertale

PostsRepliesMedia
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Finishing a long running series is a tricky thing. I go in search of the perfect ending to a popular series, looking at finales by Philip Pullman, C.S. Lewis, Tove Jansson and SF Said. What are your favourite (and least favourite) concluding chapters #KidLitUK? tygertale.com/2026/04/18/t...
483
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Eddie Robson @eddierobson.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
I highly recommend this drama by @paulmagrs.bsky.social which puts a magical spin on a true story about an encounter with David Bowie in the 1980s: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
Drama on 4 - The Goblin King and Me - BBC Sounds
A story about a real-life encounter with David Bowie, marking ten years since his passing.
33112
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
Pick up a Puffin with 25% off (along with everything else) in the #TygertaleVintage January sale. www.etsy.com/uk/shop/tyge... #ukkidlit #booksky
060
Reposted by Jake Hayes
SF Said @whatsfsaid.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
And if you're looking for new children's books, @tygertale.bsky.social has just updated his crowd-sourced list of the Best Children's Books of the 21st Century. It's a wonderful list that shows this really is a golden age - just have a look! tygertale.com/2025/11/28/t...
tygertale.com
The 100 Best Children’s Books of the 21st Century
In September the Guardian published the 100 books of the 21st Century. It contained only five children’s books, two of which were published in the year 2000 – wrong century – and featur…
0108
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Dom Conlon @domconlon.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
When there’s an article about reading, the author often focuses on the C20th as if they too don’t understand the link between not reading and not feeling represented. Thankfully, @tygertale.bsky.social put this list together Tell me what you agree/disagree with tygertale.com/2025/11/28/t...
tygertale.com
The 100 Best Children’s Books of the 21st Century
In September the Guardian published the 100 books of the 21st Century. It contained only five children’s books, two of which were published in the year 2000 – wrong century – and featur…
4156
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
I'm looking for the best children's books of the 21st century. There are so many amazing graphic novels, fantasy, historical, picture books, contemporary, non-fiction and funny books that didn't make my original crowd sourced list - please tell me yours! tygertale.com/2019/10/09/t... #kidlituk
1106
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Sad to hear about the passing of Rosemary Sandberg, co-founder of the Puffin Club with Kaye Webb and later editor of Collins' rival to Puffin, Lions and Picture Lions. I interviewed Rosemary about her fascinating career in 2017, you can read the piece here: tygertale.com/2017/03/28/r...
tygertale.com
Rosemary Sandberg – From the Puffin Club to Picture Lions
Last week saw the 50th anniversary of the hugely influential Puffin Club, the children’s book group that brought a generation of readers together with each other and their favourite authors. By coi…
0208
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Louie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
The pressure to publish more and faster was one of the most frustrating things about working in publishing. If I could say ONE thing to the publishing industry about how to make things better, it would be this: do not publish anything you are not going to support well with marketing.
1626651
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Yes please
040
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Dr. Uncle Beard 🦊 🌈 @unclebeard1978.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
A lovely illustration ❤️
A Web of Fear illustration
2201
Reposted by Jake Hayes
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 02/02/2025
‘Children’s writing is by far the work I find hardest, because it has its own urgent imperatives, and its own laws, and those laws are both the laws of writing and the laws of childhood: laws that must be taken seriously.’ Katherine Rundell: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Katherine Rundell · Why children’s books?
Children’s books, to a great extent because they are written for those who cannot participate in the market, can offer...
112434
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
jonronson.substack.com/p/a-conversa...
jonronson.substack.com
A conversation with Rachel Johnson
About Neil Gaiman, and the differences in the storytelling between her podcast The Master and the subsequent viral New York article.
021
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Really interesting reading. I was shocked by how this story was ignored last year (and the story itself, obvs).
000
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Rachel Delahaye @racheldelahaye.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Months ago, I meant to send a list of books to @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social @restispolitics.bsky.social and @sueatkins.bsky.social for children and teens that look overtly or otherwise at politics and regimes. I lost that list, so am curating recs that inform + champion critical thinking. Pls add.
593
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Pick up a Picture Puffin with 25% off (along with everything else) in the #TygertaleVintage January sale. tygertale.etsy.com
010
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Sniffup! I'm having a little January sale in the #TygertaleVintage children's bookshop. 25% off everything (including hundreds of Puffin books) until Monday. Spotera! tygertale.etsy.com
012
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Entering my black and white era
020
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Sniffup! I'm having a little January sale in the #TygertaleVintage children's bookshop. 25% off everything (including hundreds of Puffin books) until Monday. Spotera! tygertale.etsy.com
012
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Clare Pollard @poetclare.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Some very happy news! Delighted that my children’s novel THE UNTAMEABLES, illustrated by @reenamakwana.bsky.social has been long listed for the Branford Boase Award, especially as it also recognises editor extraordinaire Emma Dai’an Wright @theemmapress.bsky.social
4316
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Sarah Currie Dyer @sarahcurriedyer.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
My BSU MA for Writing for Young People 2024 cohort revealed our cover for our Inkland Anthology. Cover art and design is by illustrator Ellie Sandall and is utterly gorgeous 🤩 More on our IG. #MAWfYP #MAWYP #ukkidlit #kidlituk
Illustrated by Ellie Sandall our 2024 BSU MA Anthology cover: Inkland
194
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Lucy Bannerman @timeslucy.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
The Times children's book of the week is... 'People Like Stars' by Patrice Lawrence. A mystery that respects the emotional intelligence of teenage boys. @lawrencepatrice.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/1602...
thetimes.com
Hurrah, a story that remembers that teenage boys exist
People Like Stars by Patrice Lawrence, a former winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, features three teenagers connected by one big secret
12612
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Paul Tobin @paultobin.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Actual pro tip: the best way to break into any creative profession is by helping to support and advance other creators. Your peers are not your adversaries. They are your support group.
84120693408
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Louie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
@leafjournal.bsky.social Hi, nice to see you on here. I've been enjoying the Leaf archives lately! In a quest to read more analysis on children's books (beyond market stuff, about the actual nuts and bolts of the texts)
2103
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Daniel Benneworth-Gray @danielgray.com · 09/01/2025
Shot for The Guardian Weekend, to accompany Kathy Acker’s interview with the girls, which is basically just a whirlwind of tangents. At one point Geri starts talking about The Killing Fields for some reason. www.theguardian.com/music/2018/f...
2101
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Love this book, even more than the Dark is Rising
140
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Louie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
I'm keen to read more in-depth articles on children's books and I'd love your recommendations - there are sites like Leaf and School Library Journal that I've found great stuff on but there's so much. I'm particularly interested in fantasy, comedy, middle grade/8-12 books (any combo) #KidLitUK
206917
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
"The snow lay thin and apologetic over the world… All the broad sky was grey, full of more snow that refused to fall." The Dark is Rising opens on December 21st, the shortest day. Our hero Will Stanton is waiting for his eleventh birthday and the snow that will just not fall.
51811
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Abie Longstaff @abielongstaff.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
LOVED this MG book from @lawrencepatrice.bsky.social Modern mystery of family secrets, told from 3 points of view. It's beautiful writing & I completely devoured it. The 3 voices are so strong and each is properly distinctive. I'm certain it will be on all the best lists next year! 👏👏🌟
People like Stars book
1114
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
One day Mog woke up and nothing was right in her house. Christmas arrives in the Thomas household, bringing with it jolly uncles, aunts on tippy-toe and a walking tree. Judith Kerr's Mog's Christmas, available in the #TygertaleVintage bookshop. tygertale.etsy.com/listing/1245... #TygertaleAdvent
161
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Sarah Dempster @dempster2000.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
There’s an antiques emporium in Norwich of such unfathomable strangeness every visit produces fresh gasps of bewilderment and terror. Recent finds: 1. Mounted photo print of depressed steam train driver (£1)
56891248
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
A Christmas Treasury - a beautiful Tomie dePaola collection of stories, poems, carols (including music), and even a play celebrating the diversity of Christmas traditions around the world. #TygertaleAdvent Find a copy in the #tygertalevintage children's bookshop tygertale.etsy.com/listing/1829...
121
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
What Ron Grainer's theme tune for Doctor Who might have sounded like if not for Delia Derbyshire. www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1SZ...
youtube.com
Doctor Who - The Theme Tune (as Ron Grainer intended)
YouTube video by Seb Patrick
243
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
The Snow Queen. Exquisite adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, retold by Naomi Lewis and illustrated by Errol Le Cain. #TygertaleAdvent 1988 Picture Puffins edition for sale in the #TygertaleVintage children's bookshop tygertale.etsy.com/listing/1133...
1176
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
The Snow Day by Komako Sakai is a rare winter themed picture book set in an urban environment, the most famous example of which is Ezra Jack Keats’s similarly titled The Snowy Day. 1/5 #TygertaleAdvent
282
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Sniffup! Raymond Briggs was good friends with the legendary Puffin Books editor Kaye Webb. Despite his reputation for being more grumpy than Father Christmas he found himself sucked into Kaye’s world of Puffin Club outings and general merriment 1/2 #TygertaleAdvent
12110
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Eloise at Christmastime by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. The wild young resident of the Plaza hotel takes a break from terrorising staff and guests to share a tender moment with her absolutely best friend Nanny, looking out over snow bound Central Park.
Six year old Eloise in her suite at the Plaza hotel sharing a tender moment with her absolutely best friend Nanny, looking out over snow bound Central Park.
1105
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Great cover
120
Reposted by Jake Hayes
waltydunlop @waltydunlop.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Starting on Christmas Eve, a week of Kenny Everett celebrations of 4 Extra. Repeated documentaries (the BBC Local Radio Years and Happy Birthday, Maurice Cole) and excitingly, 3 shows from BBC Radio Bristol done in 1971 after his Radio 1 firing (12th Jun, 3rd July).
1229
Reposted by Jake Hayes
A.F. Harrold @afharrold.com · 08/12/2024
If you're looking for a family film this winter, why not stick the Japanese adaptation of #TheImaginary (book by me and #EmilyGravett!) in your eyes and hearts. It's all hand-drawn animation and is a big snowball of heart and sadness and spookiness and imagination... www.netflix.com/search?q=the...
netflix.com
Watch The Imaginary | Netflix Official Site
Amanda and her imaginary friend Rudger go on thrilling make-believe adventures. But when Rudger finds himself alone, he faces a mysterious threat.
35620
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Claire Lomas @clairelomas.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
The wolves are running! Feeling so festive and wintery watching the real snow scenes in the 40th anniversary showing of John Masefield's 'The Box of Delights' on BBC4 - what a treat! #TheBoxofDelights #UKKidlt www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
bbc.co.uk
The Box of Delights
Can the wonders of Christmas be saved? Entrusted with an ancient magical box, a child goes on a thrilling journey in time and space. The much-loved, groundbreaking festive classic.
162
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
I’ve written about so many Christmas books over the years that I somehow forgot I interviewed Emily Sutton about The Christmas Eve Tree. It’s the story of a fir that finds itself unsold at Christmas time and is rescued from a department store’s bin by a homeless boy. tygertale.com/2015/12/05/t...
172
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Issue #1 of Shelf magazine is here. Excellent new magazine about picture books. A big reviews section and features about favourites including Laura Carlin, Mac Barnett and Chris Haughton. Exciting!
142
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
In Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas, Santa moves through a slowly waking world. Whether he's travelling by plane, motorbike or climbing mountains, artist John Burningham fills each spread wit splashes of colour & light #TygertaleAdvent Find a copy in my bookshop: tygertale.etsy.com/listing/1118...
151
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Had a super nice Christmas lunch and book swap with friends from the Bath Spa Uni MA in writing for young people yesterday. We all took a book and selected one at random. I got this beautiful edition of The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by P.J. Lynch. Perfect for #TygertaleAdvent
1100
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
One of the many pleasures of reading classic Christmas books is the way they open a window to the past. The best of them highlight the small details and forgotten language of Christmas and few books do this more delightfully than The Box of Delights. #TygertaleAdvent tygertale.com/2018/12/03/t...
Four lions pull a woman in a sleigh through the snow in this illustration by Sara Ogilvie from John Masefield's The Box of Delight featured in  the Folio Society edition.
5359
Jake Hayes @tygertale.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Published in 1974, The Silver Christmas Tree is a sequel to The Surprise Party, the first in a series of books about a group of animals friends, Squirrel, Rabbit, Duck, Mouse and Fox – a kinder version of the character from Rosie’s Walk. #TygertaleAdvent #BookSky tygertale.etsy.com/listing/1118...
251
Reposted by Jake Hayes
🎃 Andy Lambert 🎃 @and-e-roo.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
With apologies to @pipmadeley.bsky.social
58211
Reposted by Jake Hayes
Anne Booth (@Bridgeanne) @bridgeanne.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
www.timwarnes.com/blog/2021/12... I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the bad things in the world I can't do anything about, so I want to share the @nosycrow.bsky.social book I did with Sam Usher as it feels like this HAS done good, both in raising money for, but also raising awareness of refugees.
timwarnes.com
Refuge: an important retelling of the Nativity — Tim Warnes
Refuge was highlighted by former Children’s Laureate, Chris Ridell, as “an important Christmas book”. Full of hope, it honours the Biblical account while portraying the vulnerability of the most famo...
181