On #WorldBookDay2020 a reminder that kidlit folk are the best - This Week's #ReadItTorial

After last week's moanfest about celebrity books, and a real "5 rounds rapid" rant prepared for next week's ReadItTorial I thought it was time to pen something more positive - particularly as today is World Book Day, and the nation's lucky kids get to go to school dressed as their favourite book characters.

Sometimes it's easy to get trapped in an endless loop of seeing the children's publishing industry in a bad light, but kidlit folk are pretty much the best type of folk you could ever hope to meet (though we don't get to meet nearly as many as we'd like - there are still plenty of folk out there that are on our blog 'bucket list' that we'd dearly love to chat to in 'real' life).

This week we've been rapping with one particular author whose book, rather nattily, is published today. An awesome wordsmith who writes just the type of stuff we both really love (you know who you are! I think we've gushed on enough about your books!)

It just struck me that, despite the many things that an author could be negative about (pay, awful celebrity book deals, annoying expectations around promotion of your work etc), you have genuinely nice folk out there using their amazing talents to tell us their stories.

There are of course also folk out there who have an equally amazing talent in illustration, others who excel at making brilliant comics and graphic novels, and in a lot of cases, in mastering the intricacies of face-to-face events where they get to meet their young audiences.

On the rare occasions we've met book folk, particularly those who know who we are (which still amazes us and fills us with joy) and know what we do here on the blog, we've been overwhelmed by people's friendliness and approachability. Sometimes we feel we're probably taking up way too much of their time, but in most cases their enthusiasm and joy in doing what they do is completely infectious and we always come away glad to be a part of that world even in the fairly 'part time' way we currently are.

It goes for other bloggers and fab folk who work in libraries and book stores. Talking about books with lovely folk is almost as addictive and fun as reading the books in the first place.

And then there's Twitter. Again, it's very easy to be negative about the place - after all it does bring out the very worst in some people, but book folk on Twitter form such a strong community - and are brilliant to talk to or get book recommendations to, or share a moan with when the opportunity arises.

I've talked a bit in the past about social anxiety and what it sometimes feels like when you sum up all the courage you can to get to a book launch or an event. It can be really difficult to describe how hard it is for someone like me to have a toe-to-toe fight with my anxiety before I take myself to one side, have a serious word with myself, and go to an event. Even when you're in a room with amazing booky folk and do feel like a fish out of water, you can normally bet someone will come over for a chat - or you'll meet someone you've been chatting to online on Twitter who likes what you do as much as you like and admire what they do.

If you're starting out in book blogging with your own kids, I almost envy you. Even if you feel a bit like me, a bit shy of meeting other people, perhaps petrified of being in a room full of booky folk, pause for a moment and consider this.

Ahead of you is an amazing world of possibilities to share something amazing with your kids - and instil in them a love of books that will pay dividends by the bucketload, not just bonding time over something you mutually love, but all those experiences that emerge from amazing stories and illustrations, or opportunities to see amazing inspirational people talking about their work.

I guarantee you and your kids will remember all those moments too. You may find other interests, experience that strong streak of independence that descends on your kids as they enter their early teens, but you'll never move on from books, books are for life!