They told me they had a particular problem with some of their boys in the 7 to 9 age group.

They needed inspiring.

Despite my reservations about returning to the classroom, and also doubting my ability to have a positive impact on them in that environment, I felt it was almost my duty to answer their call for help.

Since leaving fulltime education I have only been back into schools for playgroups when my child was a pre-schooler and thereafter for parent consultations, school performances and fairs.

I have played chaperone on a few school trips, and a couple of years ago I went into my son’s school to tell the children about a charity walk I made along Hadrian’s Wall so had a tiny insight of what to expect.

Still, the idea of trying to engage with a 30 strong group of Key Stage 2 children, and thus attempt to get them more engaged with literacy was a shade more than daunting.

However, armed with some guidance from friends and folks of the Internet, I set off for my morning at the school.

My idea was to try and convince children, that although literacy is hard work – for some – that the rewards are enormous and virtually limitless.

I started by asking if they enjoyed literacy, and before giving them enough time to answer explained that it wasn’t really something I enjoyed at school.

It wasn’t until I discovered that it’s what you are writing and reading about that creates any interest that my love of language developed.

And that’s what I tried to practically convey in the next 60 minutes or so.  I showed them examples of my writing, specifically that I’ve done reviewing books, toys and days out.

Then I gave each group of children some toys – most of which I’d been sent to review – and asked them to write about them.

Imagine someone who’d never seen these things before, a parent perhaps, and then write an explanation of these toys for them.

What were they?

How had they been made?

What could you do with them?

What improvements would you suggest?

I levelled the playing field for them too.  Expressing that spelling and grammar (in this exercise) was not important, and it was more the language they used and how they expressed themselves and the toys in front of them.

Hopefully so they knew that it wasn’t necessarily the ‘best’ at literacy who was automatically going to come up with work trumping everyone else.

Many seemed to get it, and some of the specific children I was targeting really engaged with trying to put into words how they would describe the toys.

I hope they could see that by working hard in their future literacy lessons that this would be a process they would find easier.

Introducing a bit of healthy competition, specifically with those reluctant boys in mind, I awarded one of their children for their excellent work with a prize.

The prize being a Tidy Books Cabin Puzzle.

But all the children were brilliant, as was my experience of spending time with them on this subject, one that I feel passionately about.

That said I’m not in a rush to repeat this process and don’t envy those in the teaching profession.

Yet I comforted myself in the belief that I made one teacher’s job a tiny bit easier, if only for an hour!

If you’ve volunteered to help out at your children’s school, what’s been your experience?  If it’s something you’ve not done before, is it something you’d consider?  Are you a teacher? What do you think about parents volunteering in the classroom?

You can read more about one scheme to get volunteers into classrooms in London, sponsored by the London Evening Standard through Volunteer Reading Help which operates throughout the UK.  If your young reader and writer is in need of inspiration, you could visit the Ministry of Stories which is inspired by Dave Eggers Pirate Store in the US

Inspiring reluctant readers in the classroom is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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It must be somewhere, it must, it must

It’s not that I’ve lost it – it’s really just

I got it

And then I forgot it

I put it down here, I’m sure I did

It’s not my fault if it’s gone and hid

I got it

And then I forgot it

So it must be somewhere, it has to be

I never lose my things, you see

I got it

And then I forgot it

And if with the ‘got’ you choose to ignore

That small bit in front, that miniscule ‘for’

That means, I reckon, in fact I’m sure

That I’ve only gone and got it some more

(Does that make sense?)

It must be some…what do you suppose?

It was here all along right in front of my nose!

Elli Woollard

Elli Woollard writes poems regularly on her blog.  You can read her biog here

Elli’s work is copyrighted.  Please see her notes on copyright and use here

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On Christmas morning at seven o’clock

Our Gran came downstairs and she got a great shock

As the house was so quiet! So peaceful! So still!

And she said ‘Goodness gracious! Are all those kids ill?’

And she stood there in puzzlement, scratching her head

And she thought to herself ‘Are those kids still in bed?’

She remarked to our Dad ‘My, those kids are so good

They’re behaving themselves like small children all should

You say that they’re naughty, but nobody gets

That they’re such darling angels, they’re such perfect pets

I can’t hear a thing! Not a peep! Not a noise

From their room – they’ve not opened their toys!’

But under our covers we silently laughed

And we thought to ourselves ‘Boy – those grown-ups are daft

Our toys were all opened – we’d ripped into them

By the light of our torches at four a.m.

In fact we’d been partying half the night

Here under our duvets with torches for light

And we were being quiet because (you should try it)

Itsh very, very diffishult to shpeak witsh your moush shtuffed full of schocolate

Elli Woollard

Elli Woollard writes poems regularly on her blog.  You can read her biog here

Elli’s work is copyrighted.  Please see her notes on copyright and use here

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Giving a child a love for reading is a gift that involves more than a story.  The texture, size and turning pages are parts of the experience of reading, and what are in important part of what makes children fall in love with books.   When Geraldine first created her Tidy Books bookcase, she was working on a belief that children should pick up, handle and choose their own books.  So we were fascinated to read this recent article in the New York Times which talks about the digital marketing professionals and other e-book fans who insist on traditional books for their children, saying the experience is an essential part of learning to read.   We hope you find it a revealing article too.

For Their Children, Many E-Book Fans Insist on Paper

Print books may be under siege from the rise of e-books, but they have a tenacious hold on a particular group: children and toddlers. Their parents are insisting this next generation of readers spend their early years with old-fashioned books.

This is the case even with parents who themselves are die-hard downloaders of books onto Kindles, iPads, laptops and phones. They freely acknowledge their digital double standard, saying they want their children to be surrounded by print books, to experience turning physical pages as they learn about shapes, colors and animals.

Parents also say they like cuddling up with their child and a book, and fear that a shiny gadget might get all the attention. Also, if little Joey is going to spit up, a book may be easier to clean than a tablet computer.

“It’s intimacy, the intimacy of reading and touching the world. It’s the wonderment of her reaching for a page with me,” said Leslie Van Every, 41, a loyal Kindle user in San Francisco whose husband, Eric, reads on his iPhone. But for their 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Georgia, dead-tree books, stacked and strewn around the house, are the lone option.

“She reads only print books,” Ms. Van Every said, adding with a laugh that she works for a digital company, CBS Interactive. “Oh, the shame.”

As the adult book world turns digital at a faster rate than publishers expected, sales of e-books for titles aimed at children under 8 have barely budged. They represent less than 5 percent of total annual sales of children’s books, several publishers estimated, compared with more than 25 percent in some categories of adult books.

Many print books are also bought as gifts, since the delights of an Amazon gift card are lost on most 6-year-olds.

Children’s books are also a bright spot for brick-and-mortar bookstores, since parents often want to flip through an entire book before buying it, something they usually cannot do with e-book browsing. A study commissioned by HarperCollins in 2010 found that books bought for 3- to 7-year-olds were frequently discovered at a local bookstore — 38 percent of the time.

And here is a question for a digital-era debate: is anything lost by taking a picture book and converting it to an e-book? Junko Yokota, a professor and director of the Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books at National Louis University in Chicago, thinks the answer is yes, because the shape and size of the book are often part of the reading experience. Wider pages might be used to convey broad landscapes, or a taller format might be chosen for stories about skyscrapers.

Size and shape “become part of the emotional experience, the intellectual experience. There’s a lot you can’t standardize and stick into an electronic format,” said Ms. Yokota, who has lectured on how to decide when a child’s book is best suited for digital or print format.

Publishers say they are gradually increasing the number of print picture books that they are converting to digital format, even though it is time-consuming and expensive, and developers have been busy creating interactive children’s book apps.

While the entry of new tablet devices from Barnes & Noble and Amazon this fall is expected to increase the demand for children’s e-books, several publishers said they suspected that many parents would still prefer the print versions.

“There’s definitely a predisposition to print,” said Jon Yaged, president and publisher of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, which released “The Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen and “On the Night You Were Born” by Nancy Tillman.

“And the parents are the same folks who will have no qualms about buying an e-book for themselves,” he added.

That is the case in the home of Ari Wallach, a tech-obsessed New York entrepreneur who helps companies update their technology. He himself reads on Kindle, iPad and iPhone, but the room of his twin girls is packed with only print books.

“I know I’m a Luddite on this, but there’s something very personal about a book and not one of one thousand files on an iPad, something that’s connected and emotional, something I grew up with and that I want them to grow up with,” he said.

“I recognize that when they are my age, it’ll be difficult to find a ‘dead-tree book,’ ” he added. “That being said, I feel that learning with books is as important a rite of passage as learning to eat with utensils and being potty-trained.”

Some parents do not want to make the switch for even their school-age children. Alexandra Tyler and her husband read on Kindles, but for their son Wolfie, 7, it is print all the way.

“Somehow, I think it’s different,” she said. “When you read a book, a proper kid’s book, it engages all the senses. It’s teaching them to turn the page properly. You get the smell of paper, the touch.”

There are many software programs that profess to help children learn to read by, for example, saying aloud a highlighted word or picture. Not all parents buy in; Matthew Thomson, 38, an executive at Klout, a social media site, has tried such software for Finn, his 5-year-old. But he believes his son will learn to read faster from print. Plus the bells and whistles of an iPad become a distraction.

“When we go to bed and he knows it’s reading time, he says, ‘Let’s play Angry Birds a little bit,’ ” Mr. Thomson said. “If he’s going to pick up the iPad, he’s not going to read, he’s going to want to play a game. So reading concentration goes out the window.”

By MATT RICHTEL and JULIE BOSMAN

Published Nov 20^th 2011

A version of this article appeared in print on November 21, 2011, on page B1 of the New York edition with the headline: To Serve The Young, E-Book Fans Prefer Print.

The ‘dead-tree’ book experience is crucial for building a love of reading in children is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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I have always supported my son’s schoolwork without really making a big fuss about making sure that we do it.

When his sounds came home, we made them together and learnt their actions.  I even bought the Jolly Phonics DVD.

However – now in his third year of school – my son is struggling to reach the reading level of his peers, and I believe it is partly down to him failing to fully grasp his phonics.

His vocabulary is wonderful, as is his clear love for books, but he is getting very frustrated at his lack of reading progress, and after taking a step back from it all, I believe it could be about him not fully understanding the fundamentals of words and their sounds.

I consulted with his teacher, who did say that at this time they do normally revisit phonics, and focus on ensuring children now understand whey they learnt their ‘ch’ ‘th’ and ‘ng’ (I’d be doing their corresponding hand actions too if my fingers weren’t on my keyboard) and how to apply them to words.

So while my son will be revisiting his word sounds, I too am going to be playing with phonics at home, in the hope of going two steps backwards to make three steps forward.

That’s for both my son and I.

It quickly dawned on me playing phonics games that I don’t actually fully grasp the concept either, and it would better help my son if I did.

I completed some of the excellent BBC Bitesize Key Stage 1 games (yes, I know, meant for seven year-olds) ignoring that I knew the words and instead tried to make them from sounds.

Initially I didn’t find it easy.

Why isn’t wear spelt ‘wair’?

Couldn’t fight be spelt ‘fite’?

It did get me thinking, and making sounds and words properly.  I think it is termed effective blending.

Anyway the school has advised that these games, and others you can find online are very useful for children.  But a child can play – and succeed with – these games without really learning.

So I’m mixing in some practical play at home.

Junior Boggle is coming out again.

And I’ve been setting little challenges for my son like putting this right.

It’s been fun, and different, hopefully something we shall continue to enjoy together and at the same time be both improving our literacy skills.

I’m hoping one day I get it.

Probably not before my six year-old though.

What have you found useful in helping your child with learning to read?

Do you know your phonics? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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Elli is mum to three sons, and one daughter, and is a Londoner who’s lived in Thailand for many years, and has now returned to London.  Elli works as a Thai to English translator, and her background in anthropology makes her well qualified to observe the quirks and sheer ridiculousness of life with kids!   We hope you and your children enjoy them.

I’M THE WINNER

I’m the winner

I’m the winner

I’m the winner

Down to dinner

I put out my arm so you couldn’t get past

So I was the first

And you were the last

Don’t tell Mum that I’m a cheat!

The naughty step? But I want to EAT!

I’m all thinner

I’m all thinner

I’m all thinner

Without my dinner

And when my skeleton’s found on the stair

Then you’ll be sorry – IT’S JUST NOT FAIR!

But nobody ever listens even when I shout

Elli Woollard writes poems regularly on her blog.

Elli’s work is copyrighted.  Please see her notes on copyright and use here

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Tidy Books are off on their hols for a couple of weeks now, but before we go, I wanted to share what’s in our pile of books to curl up in a deckchair with.

The seven year old has chosen Dr Proctors Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo, a crazy adventure involving gunpowder, fart powder and space travel, and David Walliam’s Billionaire Boy, reviewed here by Active Dad.  And, finally, there is the ubiquitous, and child centred humour of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney reviewed on Childrens Books.

In the three year old’s holiday reading bag is a classic; Elmer and the Wind by David McKee, and the even more classic The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark reviewed here on Goodreads , which I was a bit dubious about when my three year old pulled it off the shelf until I saw it way by Jill Tomlinson.  And from Playing by the Book’s recommendation, we also splashed out on newly released Thank You For Looking After Our Pets by Tim Hopgood.

I’m hoping that this will keep them quiet enough for me to get further into Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother Series.  Have ploughed through books 1-3 and hooked already.  They are fantastic for children and adults alike, and remind me of Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials Trilogy.

Have a fantastic time with what’s left of the summer.  And we’d love to hear what you’ve all been reading.  Happy reading!

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In our house, the three year old has developed obsessions about the Traffic Club books, which are brilliant at teaching kids road safety, but very dull for the grown up to read again and again.   Other books that top my list of ones to hide are anything by Richard Scarry, and the Topsy and Tim and Berenstain Bears series.

I have to stress that my three year old loves them.  I think the appeal of reading about real life situations is very strong.   I do gather my patience and read them, but I have to admit to hiding them when we’ve read the same one every night for a week!

What books do your kids love, but make you groan (inwardly or outwardly) when they bring them out?  Do you hide them when you can’t take any more?  When you take them out of the kids’ bookcase, where do you hide them?

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Created by the Reading Agency, and rolled out in libraries, the Reading Challenge is great for enthusing sometimes reluctant readers, and not so reluctant readers, aged 4- 11 to keep up their reading out of school.  There is an added incentive of getting your certificate sent to your school, which is given out in assembly.

During the summer, most libraries have events to entice young readers in, and the Circus Stars website you can create your avatar (along the lines of Madison the Intrepid Balancer) , as well as play games, and there’s a place to leave your reading recommendations, and ask questions of the Ringmaster.   The seven year old gave the games a whirl, but wasn’t blown away by them, but that’s not really the point of Circus Stars.

Do your kids get involved with Summer Reading Challenges?  Does it engage them?  You can find your local library here

A quick look around the world on other summer reading projects or programmes has brought up these suggestions if you’re not in the UK, but perhaps you know of a better one?

The Collaborative Summer Reading Program in the US

The Chicago Public Libraries has one called Book Beats

and blogger An Ordinary Mom has some suggestions to find local ones, and one in Barnes and Noble Bookshops

And of course, if you’re in Australia, summer has been and gone.  How was your Reading Challenge?

Happy reading!

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Take flatulence as an example.  The mention of trumping in this house now that my son has ‘matured’ to six-and-a-half years old always raises a smile and a laugh.

However, despite the horrific nature of some of the things my son currently finds hilarious, it has actually lent to him finding new subjects to read about.

I have introduced him to the favourite comics of my childhood, the Beano and Dandy.  For an aspiring reader, with a limited attention span, comics like these are fabulous tools to encourage their reading engagement.

They are full of stories rather than competitions, quizzes and adverts like some children’s magazines.

Both comics are wonderfully illustrated, the dialogues are reasonable, and stories are generally only short, varying over a page or a couple of pages in length.

It’s been great to compare favourite characters, and also for me to return to these comics to see if they are still enjoyable to read, which indeed they are.

Dennis the Menace is still brilliant, and I still enjoy the antics of the Bash Street Kids.  However my son has different favourites.

The Bogies.

Yes, The Bogies.

Each story depicts the daydreams of a boy called ‘Alex’.  Whenever he picks his nose, he thinks of all the adventures his bogies might get into.

These stories feature such charming characters as Evel Knasal, Hot Snot and Gobzilla.

The tales are generally daft, and well planned out, and while the characters in question are all made from mucus, the actual things they get up to are not so disgusting and quite normal really.  Evel Knasal being late for work for example, and having to use his daredevil skills to get there on time.

One week the Dandy came complete with free Bogies stickers, and my son’s excitement was overflowing.

He wanted to make his own cartoons, and even made a montage to take into school and explain to his teacher and classmates what he was doing.

Very charming.

In a way.

And it looks like as he needs more challenging reading material there are books out there that can help.

I’ve been sent some of Steve Cole’s books.  He writes about The Slime Squad who are horrific mutated monsters than have evolved on a rubbish tip.   My favourite of his titles is The Slime Squad Vs The Cyber-Poos.

I am sure that will go down a storm with my son at some point.

But how about you?  Would you encourage your children to read material that you may find disgusting?  And, if so, what are their favourite vile stories?

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The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was released in 1997 when I would have been around 20-years-old.  Not exactly the target audience I suppose, but then that didn’t stop vast swathes of people of all ages and backgrounds falling in love with these incredible books by J.K. Rowling.

Their success was, and still is, astounding.  Dispelling the previous common hold perception that children’s books would never have mass appeal.

I was always left a little confused.  I read the first book out of intrigue but to me it was clearly an excellent children’s book, but really not for me, an adult.

Not that I read very complex novels, Ben Elton was probably my favourite at that time, which says it all really.  But still, the tales of a young wizard were not for me.

But in our household my mother was absolutely gripped by them.  And was a little disappointed that nobody else in her immediate family was that bothered by them.

Skip forward 15 years and my son, now six-years-old, has become very interested in Harry Potter.  I think school pals have introduced him to Potter, and it has lead to lots of role play, and me watching him cast spells across the playground.

Whilst I enjoyed watching his Potter based play, part of me was thinking ‘bugger, I’m going to have to read the books to him.’

He really isn’t at the stage of reading novels himself.

I love reading to my child, but the thought of getting through a complete novel I didn’t like was a little daunting.

Then I remembered Grandma.

That picture was taken during the Easter holidays, where my son sat with his Nan for Harry Potter readings.  She read the first book to him over a week-long period.

Him never losing interest, and asking questions all the time.

They both really enjoyed the process, as did I watching and listening to them.

Only problem is now, he wants me to read the other six.

He may have to spend the summer at Grandma’s house.

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Does it matter?  Do kids enjoy poetry?  For most children, their first experiences of books and speech are nursery rhymes and songs, giving them a sense of enjoyment and fun around words, and helping them to learn to speak.  My own children equate poems with humour, and enjoy Michael Rosen’s poems in particular, and love finding things to ryhme with ‘poo’ and ‘wee’.

There are some great opinion pieces on the importance of poetry: Hunger Mountain’s essay about making children’s poetry important to them by bringing it to them early and regularly, and making it an accessible part of the curriculum, while Poets.org makes the point that all children are natural poets until adolescence

Maybe too, as parents, we need to set the example?  I know that poetry would not necessarily be my own first choice over a novel, but I should try harder! Are parents guilty of imparting the impression that poetry is boring?

So, where to look for ideas for getting hold of funny poems.  Poet John Brassey, has a blog dedicated to short silly funny poems, and Ken Nesbitt also has a huge store of kids poems, book ideas and more.

Finally, Booktrust’s list of ten poetry books for kids to get you started, with favourites such as Michael Rosen, Roald Dahl’s Revolting rhymes and Allen Ahlberg.

What do you think?   Do you think it matters?  If money’s tight, should we concentrate on literature instead?  How do you get your kids interested in poetry?

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I have a distinct memory of being at my parents and discovering some of my old Mr Men books.  Favourites as a child – I even had their wallpaper! – and still favourites today.

Anyway, I remember finding these books again as I immediately wanted to read one to my son.  He was so small, still in need of support with all of his limbs, that positioning him correctly and still being able to hold the book was a very tricky task.

But still, I did it.  And he responded in his own way to the book, by belching or moving an eye-lid.

My point is, that ever since he can remember he has been read to.  We always read at bedtime but more often than not, during the day too.  Especially in the days before his official schooling started.

From what I’d read about children learning to read I surmised this could only be a good thing, and that it would set him up to be reading himself in good time.

I often saw quips in news reports that would say that children that are read to by parents at home, often do better with their own reading once at school.  Studies exist that suggest as such.

However in our experience, Max is now six, things have not panned out that way, and I find myself in the strange position of having a child that loves books, yet is a reluctant reader.

We have a nightly ‘argument’ about how many books we are reading, where I am the one reducing the number we read rather than having to encourage him to want more.

Our nigh-time routine usually incorporates his schoolbook, or something else he actually wants to read himself.  But he much prefers to be the one listening.

By reading to him I know I have increased his vocabulary, he can be very specific with his words and often can use different words to express the same thing.

Which actually can be a hindrance to his reading.  I think he is frustrated that he can’t read books he wants to straight away, and is also turned off by some of the very simple ‘story lines’ in the books sent home in his school bag.

He will often guess the lines in his book by looking at the pictures, or sometimes even from the first letter of each word.  Which is actually quite impressive if he gets to the same meaning of the original sentence, using only words that start with the same letters.

I am very relaxed about it, and perhaps naively am assuming that my son will eventually be a very keen and able reader.

Plus for now it means I still get to read to him a lot, something I hope to enjoy for as long as possible.

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This catch-all term describes children with a range of problems that are commonly faced by parents and teachers today. Reluctant readers can often perform the mechanics of reading, but choose not to. They do not usually have other learning difficulties. With a TV in the bedroom, computer games and social networking sites, our offspring have plenty to keep them engaged and entertained. But computer games and TVs in bedrooms tempt children away from reading, from practising a skill that, once learned, goes on to shape their lives.

Computer and TV screens may not be all that’s keeping them from becoming good readers. Some children are just not interested in reading stories, or in reading anything that’s more than a few sentences long. Even when they are older and have developed their reading skills, some children are still reluctant to read for more than a few minutes. They might skim-read magazines or factual texts, or search for specific information on Web sites – and these abilities do represent important skills – but for children to engage fully with more meaningful content, their curiosity needs to be aroused at an early age, or they will have a handicap that may be difficult to overcome in the later years.

All the latest research confirms that intervening early with young readers who are not attracted to books is essential. It is important for the rest of their lives that they become fluent in reading. Choosing the right books is the key to success with reluctant readers.

There is an incredibly rich choice of children’s literature in a range of genres, from ancient myths to stories of modern life. The key issue is to make the books accessible, and help children find relevance in what they read.

The trick is to pick something that will help them pursue something they are interested in. If they are interested in magic and folklore, dinosaurs and wildlife, space travel or fashion, there are many fascinating and well-illustrated factual books around – all potentially riveting reads.

But they do need to be riveting reads.  Youngsters for whom reading is any kind of hard work are only going to make the effort if they feel the book is worth the effort.

Increasingly popular are book collections specially designed for reluctant readers, which include titles from both mainstream and specialist publishers, with many from authors everyone is likely to recognise. Specialist publishers tend to focus on titles for readers whose reading age is lower than the interest age, which means that if you have a child who finds reading difficult, or one who isn’t yet ready to cope with long books, or even one who simply doesn’t latch on to the concept of books at all, you can try one of these. Each collection is labelled with its reading age and interest age.

Some specialist publishers and authors are past masters at convincing reluctant readers that books can be cool. Typically, their books are short, sharp and intriguing – skilfully written and edited with page turnability uppermost in mind.

Picking the right books that focus on titles that entertain, provide appealing subjects, and have readable, structured texts not only promote and build sustained interest but help improve self confidence in young readers.

Pandora Books has been a supplier of books for schools for over 20 years and provide specially compiled books collections to meet the criteria of the National Curriculum and the National Literacy Strategy.

How to engage reluctant readers is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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But, 153 million adults in Africa cannot read, and are denied access to vital knowledge which could lift them out of poverty.  At Tidy Books, we want to share the gift of reading with disadvantaged children around the world, and as part of our World Book Day celebration, we are very proud to link up with Book Aid International who help children have brighter futures by sending new books to some of the poorest countries in the world.

We’d love you to play a part too, so look out for our competition which starts next week on Monday 21st February.   There’ll be a chance to get involved, and help Tidy Books send books to Africa.  And on World Book Day on March 3rd, there will be a chance to win a Tidy Books Bookcase.

Over the past 56 years, Book Aid International has sent over 25 million carefully chosen and high quality books to sub Saharan Africa.    Much of their work supports the education of girls, enhancing their life prospects, and that of their families.  Book Aid International provides the books for libraries, in schools and community centres for the most disadvantaged people.   Without quality books, it is impossible to get a good education and have the chance to escape poverty.

We are very excited about our work with Book Aid, and we’ll be bringing you news about some of the vital work that Book Aid are doing over the next 3 weeks in the run-up to World Book Day.

Will you help Tidy Books and Book Aid International change someone’s life with a book?

Book Aid International registered charity number 313869

Help us change a life for World Book Day with Book Aid International is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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One primary school as featured on the BBC News website, has embraced social media wholeheartedly, as children video, blog and interview any visitor for inclusion on their website.   A quick tour round that school’s website shows that some of the most popular content is Club Penguin, and a piece on ‘My first day in my new class’.  Their website is hosted by Radiowaves which monitors the content to help keep kids safe online.  Another expert, Professor Steve Heppell, (who also has an interesting mumology project on his website) recommends that teachers use Facebook as a way to connect with kids, allowing them to ask extra questions, at a time that suits them. For blogger The Obvious, banning Facebook for kids is a bit like not allowing them to use the phone (though parents with high phone bills may have other thoughts on this!)

It all sounds interesting, and a great way for kids to connect with other schools, particularly those abroad, but it leaves me with some questions:   Would you be happy to get your 9 year old interacting on Facebook?  If you are a teacher, do you still want to be talking with your classroom kids in the evening?

The Digizen site has useful ideas for parents and teachers about using safe social networking for children and to promote learning.

Is this happening in your local school?  Are your kids excited by it, and is it helping to broaden their learning?

Facebook in schools? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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When a lightsaber fight is heading to being out of control, or when the noise level is such that you feel like you may never actually hear anything else again.

I have a sarcastic catchphrase for such moments, which is: “Why don’t we all recite poetry together?”

This is almost always met with derision, if indeed they even take me seriously, but does often start dialogue towards and more eloquent and tranquil activities.

But perhaps I should be so flippant with poetry, especially when dealing with young boys, I suppose I am lazily using an out-of-date stigma, that poetry is ‘boring’.

I was inspired by some of my own work as an eight-year-old.  My parents were recently having a sort out, and I was presented with this:

Now I am saying this is my own work, but I could have simply copied it from somewhere, and stuck my name to it.  I was not ever very studious.

However it got me thinking how I could expose my child to more poetry, more creativity, more to get him thinking.

A quick Google search for Children’s Poetry, yields a multitude of websites.  The first I click on was the Poetry Archive, which has poems for children, that are not only there to read they are also recorded as audio tracks to listen to.

The Children’s Poetry Book Shelf runs an annual UK contest run around National Poetry Day and if your children are inspired by entering a contest, or by reading other children’s work, then this is a good site to look at.

I also recalled my son, like all children in England, receiving The Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems, sent to him by the Booktime initiative.

So there are loads of resources available, and, for us, it is a case of getting into the habit and introducing poetry to our everyday lives.

Is poetry something your children are interested in?  Or would you like them to be?

Any tips for working with children and poetry would be gratefully received.

Does your child enjoy poetry? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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It seems to be an inevitable part of the trend in adults’ fiction, which saw sales in the UK drop last year, but more than a million e-books were downloaded.

Kids, already used to downloading music, will feel that it is normal to download books too.  And many publishers are responding to the changing dynamic of reading, and will be publishing ebooks alongside their hardcopy version.

What do you think?  Would you let your 4 year old handle your iPad?  Would you buy them their own device?  It sounds like a great way to get kids engaged with reading, who otherwise might not be.  But, what about the joy of handling books, and the tactile learning that kids get from them?

Children’s e-books? Would you? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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The goodies inside included two quality books, some colouring pencils and paper, and some reading ideas for parents.   All for free.  This is part of the national bookgifting scheme Bookstart, run by Booktrust, that gives all babies and children free books to help inspire a love of reading.

My three year old has been delighted with the chest, hanging on to it grimly, in the face of varied attempts by his older brother to take into his possesion, and has been storing other bits of ‘treasure’ in it too.    The books are always welcome, and have been added to our large stack of books at home, which also makes me aware that for other children, these Bookstart books may be some of the few that they own.   Which makes it all the more disappointing/disgraceful that the Bookstart scheme has been scrapped recently, although the recent reaction to this has made the government do a U-turn.  I can only hope that the new bookgifting scheme will be as progressive and civilised in its ambitions.

A box of treasures is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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Here is a list of a few reading initiatives for children.

The National Literacy Trust is a great place to start.   This is a trust that believes that improved literacy can genuinely improve people’s lives.  I would not argue with that.

They operate numerous projects.  Gaining funding from the Department of Education, Early Reading Connects aims to strengthen literacy development in the under fives.

After government figures recorded that boys’ performance was lower than their female peers, Reading Champions was created to increase boys’ enjoyment of their reading.

Reading for Life is also borne of the National Literacy Trust.  And this was set up to encourage everyone to read.  Promoting the benefits of reading to all ages.

Booktrust is an independent UK-wide charity dedicated to encouraging people of all ages to enjoy books.  It operates a large number of specific initiatives and partners with Reading for Life and the Arts Council.

Bookstart is its national programme concerned with encouraging children from the earliest possible age.  One of its main aims is to provide a free pack of books to every baby in the UK.

Booked Up is a similar scheme that aims to give a free book to every child starting secondary school in England.

Booktime concerns itself with the children between these two age brackets.  And my own son was very pleased to receive his free Booktime books and bag during his first school year.

Another independent charity inspiring more people to read is The Reading Agency.  They do a lot of work with public libraries and throughout the summer will again be running its Summer Reading Challenge.

The idea of this initiative is to encourage children to continue reading throughout the lengthy school holidays, and to help kids turn their reading from a chore to a pleasure.

An initiative that they run all the time is Their Reading Future.   Working in partnership with libraries, supporting them to deliver the best possible reader development programmes.

The Scottish Book Trust aims to inspire readers and writers.  And what four year-old would not be delighted with an explorer backpack?

In America Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has really taken off.  The idea of this initiative is that each community provides every child with a free book every month until they turn five.

A project that many communities have bought in to after its initial launch and success in Dolly’s home county in east Tennessee.

It is spreading into Canada, and also parts of the UK.  You can go and see if there is an affiliate near you here.

Another stateside project I have stumbled upon is Reach Out and Read.  This not-for-profit organisation aims to promote school readiness by providing new books to children and advice to parents via America’s network of paediatric exam rooms.

But what wonderful initiatives am I missing?

And I would love to read about any positive impacts reading initiatives have had.

Children’s reading initiatives is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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I would love to know if it is limited as a British colloquialism, but it does very much seem to be a parent-kid-parent cycle here.  Where, eventually we remember our own parents saying those words, to then only repeat the process with our own children.

Granted, it is a phrase I hear used a lot for parents to chastise children for poor behaviour, that just wouldn’t be acceptable in their childhood, and also to encourage children to appreciate the many material things, and opportunities now available to them.

I have yet to fall into this trap, at least I don’t recall citing my own childhood in such a way, mainly as I don’t see it as relevant, and my own childhood was not one of strict rules, routine and in anyway lacking in opportunity or love.

I wonder if I appreciated it at the time?

However, I am guilty of revisiting things I loved in my childhood, using my child as an excuse, or prompt.

When my wife was pregnant with our son, getting towards the end of her pregnancy, I became aware that I had not bought any thing for him, or her, to celebrate their safe arrival.

Not really a surprise, as I am not one for counting eggs before they hatch, nor am I keen to buy things for the sake of them being bought.

But never the less, I became aware that I had not really thought about buying my first child anything.

So, I decided to order a complete set of books, that I loved as a child.  And here’s a video review of the Mr Men Library Bus that I bought.

These excellent books by Roger Hargreaves have always been fondly remembered, and such was my adoration of the series, that I had my bedroom decorated with Mr Men wallpaper.

I wanted to share these books with my child at the earliest possible moment.

And it was something I very much enjoyed doing, even when my son was just a slobbering baby, simply enjoying the pictures and my dulcet tones.

As he has grown the books have stayed relatively popular with him.  They seem to carry favour for a few bedtimes, to then disappear again for a few weeks.

And I have been mindful to not force my son to read them, or anything else for that matter, reading should be his choice, and therefore fun for him, even if his nightly choice is sometimes not to my liking.

It seems many folks agree with this attitude, Susan wrote an excellent post on the Booklights blog, about how it is great to have childhood favourites, but appreciation that these may differ vastly by generation, and using those more familiar with today’s children’s literature for recommendations, are great ideas too.

Then there was the impending report I covered last week, about how it is expected to be reported that well meaning parents can actually harm a child’s love of reading.

Personally I believe it is all about balance, and I think I know my own child well enough to know when telling him what I liked as a child is a good idea, and when it is not.

But how about you?  What books that you loved as a child have you read with your children?  And how, more importantly, do you think this has affected their relationship with books?

Whose childhood is it anyway? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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Books come to me in various forms, recommendations from other people, ‘well if you liked that, you’ll like this’, from picking up the new title of an author I have previously enjoyed reading, and sometimes by reading reviews and descriptions on sites like Amazon, like with the last book I bought for myself.

Blogs are also great for finding book recommendations, and I have purchased a good few children’s books based on things I have read around the web. Including this morning no less, when I ordered Michael Rosen’s Sad Book, based on a post I read on Playing by the Book.

I also hope that the Tidy Books book reviews have been, and continue to be useful for others to base purchasing decisions on.

My purchase this morning was actually one of a very sensitive nature, the book in question is one that deals with grief, and in this particular case how a parent feels when they lose a child.

Not something I can immediately relate to, but I am buying the book fully aware of what to expect, and I intend to read it myself before considering if it would be material relevant to my child, and useful for him to develop his understanding of mortality and grief.

But what if there was no warning, and a character in your child’s book dies?

The youth novel market has been one of immense debate over recent years, and its popularity has spawned incredible successes for many a series of books come films, and if the excellent Bologna Children’s Book Fair summary of my new blog friend David Maybury is to be believed, then publishers are just awaiting the next big thing to appear from this genre.

For books aimed at these older children, when the choice is entirely theirs, and they are basing their decisions via similar means to us old fogies, do we just need a quick cross check to ensure what they are going to read is appropriate?

If you are the parent of a sensitive child, or perhaps one that has suffered certain traumas, for example the loss of a friend or relative, how much would you like to know about a book before it appears in their hands?

We have got very used to the classification guides of films, that come with an overall rating and then indicators to why such a rating has been given, like contains fantasy violence and mild swearing.

Would a similar system benefit books, or would it hinder the mystique of what makes book, and its story, so engaging?

I am in two minds on the subject, I can see how it could prevent regrettable instances such as children being exposed to material that perhaps it was better they weren’t, but I also feel a book could lose some of its allure and effect if we know too much about it beforehand.

But what are your experiences and thoughts?

Should children’s books come with warnings? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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Some 100,000 children, aged between 5 and sixteen were part of a study commissioned by Renaissance Learning, headed by Professor Keith Topping, of the University of Dundee’s school of education.

The overriding positive seen from the study is that of the children studied, boys, in general, read just as much as girls, yet the perceived negative found was that they do not read books that are as challenging.

One of these findings is being largely reported as predictable, in that people expect boys, for whatever reasons, to choose books of a less demanding nature, and within their existing capabilities rather than stretching them.

However a piece in The Independent pointed out that the exact opposite was recorded in a similar report, completed only two years ago.

The more surprising, and encouraging finding, is that of boys reading just as much as girls.  Not one that was wildly anticipated.

However, the gap between reading standards between both the sexes was recorded as being most pronounced between the ages of 13 to 16, just as children are reaching the business end of their high school education.

Availability of desirable reading material for both boys and girls was actually identified as a possible cause for this, with the Twilight series of novels by Stephanie Meyer being cited as an excellent standard of reading for girls in this age group, but with no such obvious series of books for boys of a similar age.

Responding to the findings of the report, Professor Topping called for a closer monitoring of what children are reading, and said; “If they [children] are reading books that are below their independent reading level it may give them enjoyment but it won’t extend their reading ability and literacy rates are at risk of continuing to decline.”

Similarly though, rates could be at a risk of decline if children, and boys in particular in this case, are pushed into reading more standard appropriate books, but that engage them no further than having to read them?

This is certainly an interesting study, and hopefully one that will engage schools, parents and children alike.

For me personally, it may mean a rethink to my limiting-reading-to-encourage-it policy.

But, what do you think?

Do boys need more encouragement than girls? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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But if you do want some science for that argument, you could do a lot worse than start in the National Literacy Trust’s resource section.

As a budding parent, or even as an aspiring one, it just felt important to attempt to encourage any offspring of mine to enjoy reading, right from the very beginning.

When my child was very small, baby to toddlering, we would have the traditional story books, touch and feel types, pop-up classics, sticker books, and some other, perhaps, less traditional reading material.

My little fellow demonstrates that much better in picture, here.

But instilling a love of reading has been very important to me as my son’s parent.

So why would I even think about limiting it?

Well, my argument – which I believe to be especially true when handling boys – is that they will desire something that they get just that little bit too little of, rather than that they get in spades.

It is perhaps a risky strategy, and not for everyone, but at the moment it certainly feels like it is a process that is working.

Bed time is the regular time for us to be reading here, as I am sure it is in other homes, not exclusively confined to this particular time of day, but almost without fail a book of some kind is read shortly before lights out.

However it is the negotiation beforehand that I am going to refer to.

It has been a long time ritual of ours to actually have dialogue about the number of books that are going to be read during bed time.  Rewarding an earlier bed time, or excellent behaviour, with a higher number of books.  And conversely, not rewarding the opposite.

This is a process I have a lot of fun doing, and aids my boy in all sorts of ways, our cheeky nature means that I always start at one, and he always starts at some ridiculous number, from which playful mediation then occurs.

Compromise is always gained, more often than not at two, but my son would sit and listen until his batteries totally run out.

Which, I believe, in part, is due to the fact that I always aim to read one book too few, rather than one book too many.

This process is definitely a fun one for us, which is what reading should be.

But I would love to hear the argument for limitless reading, and experiences of other parents, or from your own childhood memories.

So, would my approach have worked on you, or is this something that you think will back fire?

Is limiting reading a good idea? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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This initiative is in its tenth year, and was set up to promote the ancient art of storytelling, an art that the society believes to be ‘at the root of every artform: we think in story form, make sense of our world in narrative - from something we’ve seen – from last night’s television, to what family and folk stories we remember and retell.’

A statement I would have immense difficulty arguing with.  So I am not going to try.

I love story telling, I suppose as a parent it is something that a lot of us do naturally, but generally to a very small audience – in both a figurative and literal sense.

Children, certainly in my experience, seem to thrive on being read to, well, at the very least, it does often shut them up.

It was quite something to discover, from such an early age, how children will sit and be transfixed at storytelling time, much before logic or reason seems to be applicable.  Even babies with picture, and touch-and-feel books, getting the hump when you actually stop reading the narrative to them.

Storytelling is so rewarding for both teller and listener, on a certain level, I am not enjoying my son learning to read, as it eats into my ‘stage time’ with him, not that I am about to embark on a career as a dramatic storyteller.

I anticipate it will be a long time before I actually cease reading to my five-year-old, if ever, and in fact, I can look forward to him expanding his reading to me.  It is seemingly something much rarely for adults to actually enjoy listening to the art of storytelling.

However the Society for Storytelling has a library of storytellers, people who can provide you with engaging, dramatic readings.

They also list on-line resources, where you can go to listen to stories being told, and only this morning we were directed to the magic library of Mrs P, a wonderful resource of classic stories being retold in a very cosy environment.

One of our new favourite bloggers, The Book Chook has also written an excellent blog post about National Storytelling week, all the way from Australia.  You will find masses of links and information there.

Details of this year’s National Storytelling Week are available here, and we hope that you find something interesting going on by you.

We would love to hear of anything you get up to.

National Storytelling Week is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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A report, we first read on the BBC website grabbed our attention this week.

The education news story was based on a report commissioned by the Booktrust, as part of their Booktime and Booked Up initiatives.

It is an annual report that surveys 3,000 parents, carers and children, aiming to find out about the part books play in each of their lives.

The idea behind both of the Booktrust’s programmes is to generate a real love of reading amongst children, and the report is one way for them to monitor if their work is having the positive effect they intend it to have.

Some of the positives they should take from this year’s survey are that, indeed, reading has become more popular amongst the people quizzed.  They also found a 40% increase in the number of dads reading with their children, compared to the 2008 figures.

Negatives the survey highlighted are that while flexible working practices are supposed to enable a better work-life balance, technology and home entertainment are increasingly eating in to the time allocated for reading.

To that end, children’s bookcases are under threat, especially in households with older children.

Books are losing out to DVDs and computer games, with 34% of parents and carers saying that this is true of their households.   This figure rises to 41% in the homes of 11 to 12 year-olds.

This is a trend that the Booktrust is looking to reverse, and through its Booktime and Booked Up programmes it will be distributing 2 million free books to children, hoping ‘to encourage a life-long love of reading’.

Every 4 to 5 year–old in reception classes all over the country will be receiving a free book through the Booktime this term, and for children in Year 7, aged 11 to 12, Booked Up is gifting 670,000 books.  Children of this age will get to choose a book from a carefully selected dozen.

We hope to see many of these books on your children’s, and our kid’s bookcases.

If you want to read the BBC report we did, you can find it here.

Have you got books or DVDs on your children’s bookcase? is a post from: TidyBooks - The Childrens Storage Solution.

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