BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. Their mission “is to get children from low-income and vulnerable family backgrounds reading regularly and by choice.”
They believe there is a strong evidence base “which shows that reading with children from the earliest age and establishing a regular reading habit impacts on a wide range of outcomes both in the short term and later in life.”
What we do at BookTrust | BookTrust
S.F. Said is currently The Booktrust’s Writer in Residence. Author of the Varjak Paw books, he has been talking to inspirational teachers and librarians and shares five top tips for making every child a reader (as well as promoting the idea of reading for pleasure).
1. Create a buzz around books
Make books central to everything you do. Make reading central to everything you do.
2. Be a reader yourself
Let kids always see you reading. Read all sorts of stuff. Read children’s books so you can talk with children about what they are reading. But whatever you read, talk to them about what you’re reading. Share your passion. Share your love for books and reading. They will catch on.
3. Have a library
Have a library and a librarian. Take kids to libraries. Give them the biggest possible, widest possible range of books to choose from. Choice is absolutely crucial to becoming a reader. We all need free choice in what we read, and children are no different to us. So let them choose, give them guidance. Expert guidance from librarians whose whole mission in life is to help kids find the right book at the right time.
4. Read aloud to children every single day
This is so powerful. I would describe it as a kind of magic. When you read aloud to kids, even if it’s just for 10 minutes a day, it can change their lives forever. It’s one of the most powerful ways of helping kids fall in love with books and reading.
5. Make time for children to read for pleasure themselves every single day
When I say read for pleasure, I really do mean that. There should be no strings attached to reading for pleasure. It should just be for fun. If there’s a fun test afterwards, that’s not fun. No test is fun. Reading for pleasure is just reading for pleasure.
Never dismiss their choice. Let them read whatever they like. Comics, graphic novels, manga, nonfiction, sports reports. Whatever they find exciting. Let them read that and enjoy it. Then you will very quickly find they begin to recommend reading matter to their friends, and you begin to build a real culture of reading for pleasure. It is so powerful. It is so important.
5 top tips from SF Said on making every child a reader | BookTrust
Ways that we follow these ‘top-tips’…
Creating a Buzz
In the Senior Library, new books are displayed on a pop-up stand and students are eager to take them out as soon as possible (especially the Year 7’s). At the end of Library lessons student have 5 minutes or so to chat about what they are reading and books recommendations.
We hope that there will be a real buzz on World Book Day!
Often when the students are reading – so am I, as it is important for them to see adults read. I recently finished the Dan Brown Da Vinci Code trilogy which prompted discussions about the concept of page turners…
The Senior Library has thousands of resources – both fiction and non-fiction. As S.F. Said says: “Give them the biggest possible, widest possible range of books to choose from. Choice is absolutely crucial to becoming a reader.”
5 top tips from SF Said on making every child a reader | BookTrust
We continue to expand our selection of books and keep a keen eye on book awards such as the Carnegie’s and the Lollies. Students are also eager to make their own recommendations. As a librarian, it is my role to help students find books/genres that they like and to find that one book that may turn reluctant readers into avid ones. Interestingly in Year 9 (holiday reading), Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses is sometimes that book…
Students can bring in books from home, or choose books from the Library. There is no time limit and as long as the books are age appropriate, they can read what they like. We recently acquired a large number of graphic novels which appeal to those who are not in the mood for a long read. They still provide the same benefits in terms of understanding, analysis and vocabulary.
Year 7 students also have the opportunity to do First News Digital for the last 15 minutes of Library Lessons. S.F. Said emphasises the benefits of free choice, with no strings attached. He says: “Then you will very quickly find they begin to recommend reading matter to their friends, and you begin to build a real culture of reading for pleasure. It is so powerful. It is so important. “
