Children’s Literature News June 2026
Children’s book news for June 2026: reading enjoyment rises but gaps widen, with IBC book boxes, Bookstart picks, AI findings, awards, festivals and new inclusive school resources.
Mike Byrne author page
Mike Byrne biography
Mike Byrne is a children’s book illustrator who grew up on the Wirral near Liverpool and studied Illustration at Glyndwr University in Wales. Before illustrating children’s books, he worked as a greetings-card designer and then as a studio manager for a licensed stationery designer.
His picture-book work includes Does a Bear Poo in the Woods?, written by Jonny Leighton and illustrated by Byrne. He illustrated Jack’s Mega Machines: Hypersonic Helicopter, written by Alison Ritchie, a 32-page children’s book published by Simon & Schuster Children’s UK on 1 January 2018.
Biography writer: Joanna Nance-Phillips
Children’s literature expert and primary school teacher with 30+ years of experience running a primary school library, teaching literacy and tutoring in the UK and abroad. Articles and reviews by Joanna Nance-Phillips Bestselling books by Mike Byrne
Browse Mike Byrne books on UK.Bookshop.orgBrowse Mike Byrne books on Waterstones.com
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