“I just wanted to let you know this is currently being reviewed as this isn’t a query we get everyday in the insurance industry.” An email I’ve just had replying to my request to insure my dinosaur.

I finish @questingvole’s The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading. The title is perfectly chosen: it does indeed take the reader back into worlds of mystery & wonder. It is deeply learned, gloriously entertaining, and out - I think - in the autumn. I enjoyed it so much!

The Story of Ferdinand - about a bull that refuses to fight in the bull-ring, but just sits in the middle of the bull-ring, “enjoying the scent of the ladies’ flowers” - was apparently adored by Gandhi, banned by Franco, and burned by the Nazis.

“In China, Rowling shared a publisher with Chairman Mao; the 600,000 boxed sets they produced of the first 3 books in translation was the biggest first printing there since the Revolution.” @questingvole’s glorious history of children’s literature reaches @jk_rowling…

Wiltshire looking very beautiful tonight