Features

Chloe Savage, author of The Search for the Giant Artic Jellyfish, winner of the ‘Waterstones Best Illustrated Book 2024’ joined our Schools Team last month to visit two Primary schools. Chloe led a session at each school reading from her book, asking the children questions, demonstrating how to draw a jellyfish and then asking the children to do their own drawings. Chloe signed copies of her books and as a part of The Bookery’s outreach programme we ensured that every … Read more

In the last week of May we held our first ever Working in the Heart of the Community week in The Hub, our coworking space behind the bookshop. One of our aims was to increase the ‘visibility’ of The Hub, as many people are still unaware of its existence! Homeworkers and freelancers could book coworking desks at half price and take advantage of a series of informal lunchtime talks on topics relevant to them: Chris Davy from Devon Work Hubs … Read more

The week of 15th to 22nd June sees Crediton’s award-winning bookshop The Bookery celebrate Independent Bookshop Week (IBW) 2024. IBW is a celebration of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland, highlights the vital role they play in their communities, and encourages booklovers to shop locally and play a part in supporting the High Street. As a non-profit and community owned business, The Bookery’s mission is to create an inclusive environment for all and provide pioneering projects supporting literacy, well-being … Read more

Our volunteer Pauline writes: “In recent weeks, leading up to World Book Day on 7th March, our Schools Team have visited 15 local Primary Schools and spoken to 2,200 children about our Top Titles for 2024. The collection of 24 recently published books includes picture books for the very young, short chapter books for developing readers, longer books for older readers, super readable, dyslexia friendly titles for children between eight and 12 who lack confidence in reading plus a graphic … Read more

Amongst all the Yuletide madness, we wanted to let you know all our important dates for Christmas: Our last day open before Christmas will be Saturday 23rd December . We will stay open until 2pm(ish!) and then we will be closed for the Christmas break, re-opening on Tuesday 2nd January at 10am. For those of you wanting to order books into the shop in time for Christmas, our final day for guaranteeing these will be Tuesday 19th December. For anything that needs posting … Read more

After ten years, two familiar faces at The Bookery, Dee Lalljee and Andrew Davey, will be leaving this autumn to pursue new projects. Both Dee and Andrew have been involved in the growth of the organisation since its inception as a small community bookshop in 2013, through to the purchase of its current high street premises and expansion to create a valued community hub. “I have spent ten extraordinary years at The Bookery and it has been a joy to work with our … Read more

BETRAYAL by Lesley Pearce ‘We’ve all been betrayed at some point,’ says Lesley. We’re having coffee overlooking Meadfoot Beach near her home in Torbay. In such an idyllic setting it feels incongruous to be discussing predatory people, violence, and how trust can be blown to smithereens. This is Lesley at her best. It’s all in seamless context, a story that is gripping and with poignant reflection on the nature of relationships. I asked how she developed the plot. ‘I met … Read more

2023 Nature Month-By-Month: A Children’s Almanac by Anna Wilson I’d like to have consulted my junior helper on this one, but it was past his bedtime. However, I think I know what his reaction would be: ‘Auntie Nette, this book says everything!’ It certainly does. ‘It’s got lists of special dates, food we can cook and how to make a garden in an egg cup!’ I’m quite excited by the scope of the Almanac. It’s a fantastic, fully illustrated delight, … Read more

Browse this years’ 20 Top Titles. The reviews below are written by our schools team, who read hundreds of books and selected these as good reads offering a range of themes and cultural and gender diversity to promote Reading for Pleasure.  Click on the covers to find out more about individual titles and click to buy discounted book bundles from £40.00. Picture Books Ten Delicious Teachers by Ross Montgomery This funny, colourfully illustrated counting book tells the story of 10 … Read more

We’re really proud to be supporting children’s author Clare Helen Welsh with an important new initiative Books That Help, a collection of sharing books to help people through tough times. Clare has collated a list of sharing picture books to open conversations about challenging topics and create emotionally honest spaces where children (and adults) feel able to express their feelings and are supported to navigate them. You can find a range of picture books that offer support through life’s ups … Read more