104-year-old Kuttiyamma from Kottayam has scored 89/100 in the Kerala State Literacy Mission’s test. Age is no barrier to enter the world of knowledge. With utmost respect and love, I wish Kuttiyamma and all other new learners the best. #Literacy

Very excited and proud to have two pieces of work done a while back published in the just released JPP.

My 9yo told me there's a new 6yo Afghan boy at school who doesn't speak much English and he (my son) has been designated his reading buddy. My son read him a story and the boy repeated words he recognised like 'cat' and 'dog'. When they finished the story, he hugged my son.

Amazing variety in sophistication here living up to the fact that in The CBCA picture books can be for any age, going way back to Junko Morimoto's 'Kojuro and the Bears'. Our congrats to this fascinating range!

Chairing an inquiry into Children Affected by Parental Incarceration. It has been fascinating and heartbreaking. We've met with parents in prison who often had parents in prison. We must do better or we just keep spending billions on prisons #springst parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/articl…

Thank you for this - just what I needed!

I start my next #prison #inspection tomorrow. Three days in a Cat B Local. I'm looking forward to it - it feels a little easier than the first inspection. I wrote about that here: insidetime.org/going-back-and…

Victorian era Reading Nook, 1890s

Last week myself and Focal president Denise Jepson spoke at the Inquiry into children affected by parental incarceration Parliament of Victoria The children are often the forgotten ones when it comes to incarceration - hopefully this Inquiry will give them a voice.

Coming August 2022...

I collected my PhD yesterday.. so I guess Dr Nic is now fully official. "Ex-offender" to Dr in 12 years. Time to make some change on the world! But first, alot of thankyous..

Just did this poem in today's Shared Reading session in the women's prison. They took it as a message of hope. poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine…

Storytime that helps explain to kids what's going on when their parent is in prison. Very moving. youtu.be/lrbdzFGc91c

Children belong in classrooms and playgrounds, not in handcuffs, courtrooms, or prison cells. Join the call to #RaiseTheAge of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14. Sign the petition here raisetheage.org.au

Loving the free audio books from the ACLF - this month's it is the beautiful My Place by Sally Morgan. childrenslaureate.org.au/audio-books

This book is becoming popular in prison - so good for a number of situations. youtube.com/watch?v=WlUxXe…

Why read books? Because books let us see the world through other eyes. They are the greatest EMPATHY ENGINES ever invented. #literacy (Art: chris riddell)

what's your favourite CHILDREN's book of the year?

insidetime.org/christmas-in-p… Interesting article re Christmas in a UK prison

prisonreadinggroups.org.uk/finding-a-good… PrisonReadingGroups Great list! ❤️ The Grinch that Stole Christmas is always a hit for Read Along Dads!