Author, speaker, expert
Author of 100+ books and international authority on adolescent brains, stress and well-being; learning; the reading brain; and effects of screens and social media. Here you can book me to speak, buy my unique teaching materials, find out about my award-winning books or immerse yourself in fascinating human science.
My Areas of expertise
Adolescent brains
and lives
Explaining the changes that define teenage development: biological (sleep, emotion, peer pressure, risk-taking) and external pressures of exams, friends, school and family. Key books: Blame My Brain – The Amazing Teenage Brain Revealed and Positively Teenage.
Wellbeing and
stress management
Bringing you evidence-based understanding of stress management, with intriguing insights into brain bandwidth and multi-tasking. For all ages, for life. Key books: Teenage Guide to Stress, Teenage Guide to Friends and Positively Teenage.
The reading
brain
A former dyslexia expert, I’m passionate and knowledgeable about the science of reading and the different effects of our choices. My special interest is the evidence of the enormous benefits of reading for pleasure and I invented the word “readaxation”.
Life
online
The internet and our always-with-us devices have changed our lives, work, friendships – even sleep. I share the science – negatives and positives – for all ages. With common sense, I promise. Key book: The Teenage Guide to Life Online.
I have written over 100 books for all ages and won many awards. I'm most proud to have won the Scottish Children's Book of the Year twice for my teenage fiction and the School Library Association Award for The Teenage Guide to Stress, winning both the judges' and readers' categories.
BUY Classroom MATERIALS
My popular materials are used in schools all over the world to teach wellbeing and boost learning for life. Perpetual licences make them exceptional value.
Latest news
School libraries and my books
I love it when schools put a display of books together to draw readers to a topic. I’m lucky enough that this happens with my books a lot, because I
Featured Book
The pros and cons of the Digital Age, from the information explosion to the growth of social media. I investigate hot topics like fake news and privacy, multi-tasking and distraction, addiction and over-use, with fascinating, cutting-edge research into how the internet and screen-use affect our lives.
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Nicola's story
Most people look at me, read my books or hear me speak and think I am super-controlled, calm, healthy and confident. Most of that is a façade I’ve learned to display. With a highly-ambitious, perfectionist, over-sensitive and introvert personality, I have experience of stress-related illness, anxiety and failure to deal with pressure.
I am an international speaker and have spoken to audiences in countries including France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Spain, Sweden, the UAE, Malaysia, Brunei, India, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
ARTICLES BY CATEGORY
Body Brilliant – a call for help!
When I announced the Body Brilliant deal recently, I said I’d be calling for help. (I actually said I’d be calling for help the next day, but I’ve edited that
#38 of 52 WAYS to WELL-BEING: Practise Uni-Tasking
We multi-task pretty much all the time. I walk while writing. I think while writing. I cook while thinking. I iron or run while planning a speech. I plan a
Empathy from stories: true AND made-up #EmpathyDay
This is something I feel passionately about. It’s also something I know about, as the science of reading is one of my “things”. In fact, this is a re-posted blog
Life Online – some myths debunked for parents (and others)
I couldn’t agree more with this post from Parenting for a Digital Future. Calm common sense of just the sort I like to think I preach! In it, Sonia Livingstone
My social feeds
