Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

Reading for pleasure? Start here

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

What is ‘reading for pleasure?’ It’s a fact that reading for pleasure is one of the key indicators of success for children. In other words, children who enjoy reading and…

The monster guide to writing a children’s book: middle grade edition

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

Hi, awesome writer! I’m so glad you’re here. Writing for children is the best job (or hobby) in the world but it’s absolute not the easy option! Children deserve to read…

Birthday flash sale! 39% off everything

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

Happy birthday to me! I turn 39 this week and I wanted to celebrate by giving YOU lovely people a little present because I love you so. From Wednesday 22nd…

What’s a comic and what’s a graphic novel?

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

What’s the difference between a comic and a graphic novel? Are they the same thing? Can children’s books be graphic novels? Comics as an art form In the first post…

My schedule for MCM London Comic Con 2023!

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

Hands up if you’ve been to any comic conventions this year? I try and go to as many as I can, partly because I love comics – as do my…

What are comics?: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud Part 1

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

About 13 years ago I discovered Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, part how-to, part comic, part history book, part academic text. I was gearing up to write my MA dissertation about representations of colour in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and needed to level up my visual literacy and I’d heard that McCloud’s book was the best way to learn about the way pictures and text can work together. I’m SO glad I picked it up because it’s utterly fantastic: a really immersive, compelling read and full of McCloud’s expertise and passion.

I started putting together a blog post discussing definitions of comics and graphic novels and picked up Understanding Comics from my shelf to remind myself of how McCloud uses these terms. Once I started reading I couldn’t stop! So I decided to treat myself and revisit the entire book, and I’m going to discuss it here as I read.

Things to do with children in the library without a library card

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

Found yourself in a library but you either don’t have a library card for this particular library don’t have a library card at all do have a library card but…

What themes and topics should YA focus on?

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

Next up in the YA Fundamentals series is themes and topics. The most important thing to consider when writing YA fiction is whether your teen reader will feel as though…

Discovering children’s books in the library as a parent or teacher (when you don’t know what you’re looking for)

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post called Discovering middle grade and YA books in the library when you don’t know what you’re looking for and it…

Surrounding your child with books in the home for free

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By: Siobhan O'Brien Holmes

I posted recently about my experience of raising my son as a passionate reader. One of the things I did to help foster that love of reading was surround him…