Reading by Right : Successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed 9781783302116, 9781783302109

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Reading by Right

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Every purchase of a Facet book helps to fund CILIP’s advocacy, awareness and accreditation programmes for information professionals.

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Reading by Right Successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed

Edited by

Joy Court

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© This compilation: Joy Court 2017 The chapters: the contributors 2017 Published by Facet Publishing, 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE www.facetpublishing.co.uk Facet Publishing is wholly owned by CILIP: the Library and Information Association. The editor and authors of the individual chapters assert their moral right to be identified as such in accordance with the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Except as otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, with the prior permission of the publisher, or, in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of a licence issued by The Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to Facet Publishing, 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright material reproduced in this text, and thanks are due to them for permission to reproduce the material indicated. If there are any queries please contact the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-78330-209-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-78330-210-9 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-78330-211-6 (e-book) First published 2017 Text printed on FSC accredited material.

Cover design by Kathryn Beecroft Typeset from editors’ files by Flagholme Publishing Services in 10/14pt Palatino Linotype and Frutiger. Printed and made in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY.

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Dedicated to four much loved little people just beginning their reading journeys and to many more opportunities for us to share our love of books. For Eve, Rhuiradh, Annie and Aoife

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Contents

List of figures, boxes, case studies and appendices

ix

Foreword by Chris Riddell

xi

Contributors

xiii

Introduction Joy Court

xix

1 Supporting every child to read Alexandra Strick and Wendy Cooling

1

2 Listening to their voices: what research tells us about readers Teri S. Lesesne

17

3 Becoming a reluctant reader Prue Goodwin

33

4 Reading Club: a case study from Finland Mervi Heikkilä and Sara Tuisku

51

5 Trained reading helpers: Beanstalk’s magic ingredient Ginny Lunn and Hilary Mason

67

6 Let all children experience the joy of reading: promoting children’s reading in Korea Yeojoo Lim

87

7 Reflecting readers: ensuring that no one is excluded Jake Hope

107

8 Pulling in reluctant readers: strategies for school librarians Alison Brumwell

127

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9 Not just for the avid reader: inclusive Carnegie and Kate Greenaway shadowing Amy McKay and Joy Court

143

10 Listen up! How audiobooks support literacy Rose Brock

169

11 Reading the future Jake Hope

189

Index

209

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List of figures, boxes, case studies and appendices

Figures 2.1 2.2 2.3 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 7.1 9.1 9.2 11.1 11.2

Kids & Family Reading report (5th edition) U.S edition, p. 47 Kids & Family Reading report (5th edition) U.S edition, p. 56 The Nerdy Book Club logo Lukusukellus Loiskis – the Reading Club diploma Beanstalk logo A typical Beanstalk Book Box Our Theory of Change Help2read.org/impact Letter from Grace to her Reading Helper Education and Art at Heynsham Library Perceived contrasts between reading in English lessons and reading in extracurricular shadowing groups Year 8 reluctant reader Jake reading to Year 4 students Lancashire County Council Newsletter-report of project with poet Lemn Sissay Promotional flyer for World Book Day event

27 27 29 58 67 70 75 83 85 121 148 157 203 204

Boxes 2.1 2.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 10.1

Writing your reading autobiography Reading just 15 minutes a day An example of a (cloze) story with gaps The feedback questions for club members A typical Beanstalk Book Box Children enjoying Reading Together with the Library Contents of the Book Bundle Circulation project workbook LGBT History Month booklist Equality and diversity Sample audiobook-focused classroom activities

19 25 60 62 70 97 99 111 117 178

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Case studies 4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 8.1 8.2 8.3

The Marttila School Reading Club Meet some of our Beanstalk children Trained reading helpers Working with libraries in Kent and Medway A globally transferable strategy Increase in students’ reading in Daegu The positive effects of Morning Reading Janetta Otter-Barry: a publishing case study Diverse Voices: 50 of the best children’s books Thornhill Community Academy Kirklees Engage 400 project Parklands Girls’ High School

60 71 77 79 82 91 93 112 118 129 133 137

Parent and teacher feedback Winners of the Marsh award for Children’s Literature in Translation

61 113

Tables 4.1 7.1

Appendices 1.1 8.1 9.1 9.2 10.1 10.2 11.1

x

Twelve inclusive books to look out for Engage 400 visual literacy reading list Looked after children Greenaway shadowing proposal Two sample book-specific activity suggestions from Carnegie and Kate Greenaway website Audiobook awards Audiobook publishers Lancashire County Council: Picture a Story

14 140 162 164 182 184 207

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Foreword

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Contributors

Rose Brock Dr Rose Brock is an assistant professor in the College of Education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Her passion and research interests focus on how audiobooks for youth are powerful tools for literacy. In addition to publishing her dissertation research on audiobooks, Dr Brock helped develop the Audio Publishers Association’s Sound Learning Literacy Toolkit (http://soundlearningapa.org). Rose also serves as an advisor to the national literacy initiative, Guys Listen, part of the Guys Read programme (www.guyslisten.com). In September 2015 Dr Brock was selected by the Dallas Observer for its ‘10 Brilliant Women’ series. (www.dallasobserver.com/ arts/10brilliant-dallas-women-dr-rose-brock-educator-and-literacy-advocate7565999). Dr Brock is a member of the United States Board on Books for Young People, American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, International Literacy Association, National Council of Teachers of English, Texas Library Association and serves as a Project Advisor for the International Literacy Association’s Young Adult Choices Project. Alison Brumwell Alison Brumwell is a freelance education and literacy consultant based in Leeds. Prior to this she was School Project Officer and Librarian for Kirklees Council’s schools library service, a secondary school librarian in Leeds and a librarian for Leeds Library and Information Service. Alison has a keen interest in children’s and young adults’ reader development and was a judge on the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal jury from 2011 to 2014. She was also Artistic Director of Morley Literature Festival in 2014. An active CILIP member, Alison currently sits on Youth Library Group’s (YLG) national committee and is a regional member (Yorkshire and the Humber) on YLG and Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians (ASCEL) committees. Prior to re-locating to the UK, she worked for Macmillan Canada publishers.

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Wendy Cooling Wendy Cooling taught English in London schools for 20 years before moving to become head of the children’s section of BookTrust, a charity working to promote reading. There she set up Bookstart which aims to encourage parents and carers to read to their babies from birth. Wendy now works freelance on a variety of book/reading-related projects. She was made an MBE in 2009 for services to children’s literature. Joy Court Joy Court is Reviews Editor for The School Librarian and Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. Previously she managed the Schools Library Service in Coventry, where she established the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards and the Literally Coventry Book Festival, but now she just concentrates on books and libraries as a freelance consultant. She has chaired and spoken on panels at festivals and conferences around the UK. She is also a trustee and member of the National Council of the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA), where she sits on the selection panel for the UKLA Book Awards, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the English Association. Joy is editor of Read to Succeed: strategies to engage children and young people in reading for pleasure (Facet, 2011) and author of several Riveting Reads annotated booklists for the School Library Association, most recently, with Daniel Hahn, Riveting Reads – a world of books in translation (2017). Prue Goodwin Prue Goodwin is a freelance lecturer in literacy and children’s books who works chiefly for schools, universities, libraries and publishers. Prue has edited several books on children’s books and learning to read, her most recent being the third edition of The Literate Classroom (Routledge, 2011) and Understanding Children’s Books: a guide for education professionals (SAGE, 2008). She gives keynote talks at conferences all over the UK and abroad as well as regularly returning to classrooms to encourage children to become voracious readers. Mervi Heikkilä Mervi Heikkilä is Director of Libraries in Seinäjoki, Finland. She is also a writer of books for children and young adults. Her special interest is problems with reading and one of her books has been written specifically for struggling readers. Mervi is Master of Arts. She studied at Jyväskylä University and wrote her master´s thesis about Margaret Mahy’s book The Changeover. xiv

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Jake Hope Jake Hope is a reading development and children’s book consultant. Named as one of ten top librarians of the future in the United Kingdom’s nationwide Love Libraries Campaign, Jake has been the reading and learning development manager for Lancashire County Council, one of the largest library authorities in the United Kingdom and was responsible for designing and developing the strategic reading and learning offers across 74 library sites. Jake has co-ordinated the prestigious Lancashire Book of the Year award, the longest-running and most well-known regional book award in the United Kingdom. Jake was also responsible for developing the Lancashire Reading Trail, a scheme aimed at fostering an awareness of local geography and culture while challenging and encouraging children to read 50 books. Jake is passionate about children’s books and reading and regularly reviews and comments on children’s books for a variety of publications and websites including leading United Kingdom trade magazine The Bookseller and the children’s book journal, Books for Keeps. Jake has lectured on psychoanalytical approaches to children’s literature, visual literacy, library provision and publishing. He has judged the prestigious Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals and has trained judges for both awards. Jake has been a jury member on the International Bologna Ragazzi award and has spoken on and chaired panels at conferences and festivals across the United Kingdom. Teri S. Lesesne Teri Lesesne is a professor in the Department of Library Science at Sam Houston State University in Texas, where she teaches classes in literature for children and young adults. She is the author of three professional books, numerous book chapters and articles about books and reading and literacy. Former Executive Director of ALAN (the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English), she is the recipient of the 2007 ALAN Award for her contributions to the field of young adult literature. Yeojoo Lim Yeojoo Lim is an adjunct faculty member at Hansung University in South Korea. She received her doctoral degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research interests include library services for under-served populations, reading engagement, media literacy, children’s and young adult literature and youth services librarianship. xv

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Ginny Lunn Ginny’s career started as a primary school teacher in Leeds, where she witnessed at first hand the importance of strong literacy skills in enabling young children to reach their true potential. She then spent seven years developing Youthreach, a programme across the Republic of Ireland providing education, training and work experience programmes for early school leavers. On returning to the UK she joined The Prince’s Trust, where, after several years developing new programmes to help address youth unemployment, she became its Director of Strategy and Policy. Before joining Beanstalk, Ginny was UK Programmes Director at Save the Children. In this role she was responsible for developing Save the Children’s partnership with Beanstalk. Ginny joined Beanstalk as Director of Programme Development, Partnerships and Policy in early 2015 before becoming Beanstalk’s CEO in June 2015. Hilary Mason Prior to setting up her own education consultancy and training business, Hilary taught in primary and middle schools in the UK and the Sultanate of Oman, where she led the English department. As an education consultant, trainer and writer she creates educational strategies and training programmes for national and international businesses and charities. Hilary is also a widely published author of books, digital programmes and practical classroom resources supporting the teaching and learning of children’s literacy skills, including: Speaking and Listening Activities – Bright Ideas for Early Years (Scholastic); Beginning to Write – Bright Ideas for Early Years (Scholastic); Early Phonics Skills (Teacher Timesavers) (Scholastic); Tales for Topics . . . Linking Favourite Stories with Popular Topics for Children Aged 5–9 (Belair/Folens); Telling Tales . . . Teaching PSHE and Citizenship through Literacy, a 14-book series covering Foundation to Year 6 (Smart Learning); Interactive Literacy, a six-CD series with accompanying teacher books (Smart Learning). Amy McKay Amy McKay is a school librarian in Corby, Northamptonshire. Her libraries have won numerous awards and in 2016 she was named the School Library Association’s School Librarian of the Year. As well as managing her own school library, Amy supports the development of other secondary and primary libraries across a trust of schools. Amy is passionate about the power and importance of school libraries, with a particular focus on engaging non-traditional readers and library users, and regularly speaks at xvi

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conferences and training days on the subject. In 2017 she worked with the BookTrust on the Bookbuzz selection panel. An active CILIP member, Amy was a CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal judge in 2012 and 2013 and is now the National Coordinator of the awards. Alexandra Strick Alexandra Strick is a specialist in the field of children’s books and disability/diversity. A passionate campaigner for making children’s books accessible and inclusive, Alex has worked as a freelance consultant in all aspects of children’s books and disability for over 12 years. She regularly provides talks, seminars and training on finding and using inclusive books, as well as supplying many writers and illustrators with reference material and inspiration to help them enhance the landscape of children’s literature. She is also co-founder/manager of Outside In Word and Inclusive Minds and co-author with Sean Stockdale and Ros Asquith of Max the Champion (Frances Lincoln, 2014), the highly inclusive picture book. Sara Tuisku Sara Tuisku is a Finnish-language, culture and communication professional. She also teaches Finnish. Sara was employed as the Project Co-ordinator for the Lukukerhot (Reading Club) project 2014–15 and is the author of the Reading Club manual, Kerhosta lukukipinä: Opas lukemisessa tukea tarvitsevien lasten lukemaan innostamiseen (Seinäjoen kaupunginkirjasto-maakuntakirjasto, 2015). Currently she is working as an editor at the publishing house PSkustannus. Sara graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a Master of Arts degree (2015).

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Introduction Joy Court

‘There’s not much you can do if you can’t read well, is there?’ This piece of wisdom from a 7-year-old boy in the North East of England is quoted in the 2015 Kids and Family Reading Report from Scholastic (2015). It encapsulates the purpose behind this book, which is to explore how we can, as library and education professionals, ensure that no child is left behind. Because reading is so fundamental to an individual’s life and universal literacy is of such benefit to society as a whole it is hereby defined as a right. But of course literacy has actually been recognised as a human right for over 50 years in several international declarations and initiatives. Since its creation, UNESCO has promoted literacy as a right: in the 1975 Persepolis Declaration, the 1997 Hamburg Declaration and the 2006–2015 Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE). In March 2016 ELINET (the European Literacy Policy Network) published A Declaration of European Citizens’ Right to Literacy (Valtin et al., 2016). ‘Everyone in Europe has the right to acquire literacy. European Union Member, candidate and associate States should ensure that people of all ages, regardless of social class, religion, ethnicity and gender, are provided with the necessary resources and opportunities to develop sufficient and sustainable literacy skills and knowledge.’ This was published just three months before the UK voted to leave the EU. One can only hope that, whatever form the exit from Europe eventually takes, the UK government will in any case recognise its ongoing responsibility to develop literate citizens. Every child has a right to read and we have a social responsibility, as parents, teachers, librarians, publishers, booksellers, campaigners and policy makers to ensure that they are able to exercise that right. Sadly, it is not quite so simple to achieve that outcome as to state it! This introduction will examine the current state of reading in the UK and internationally and what the latest research tells us about children who are failing to read. Inevitably it will also examine the context in which schools and libraries are struggling to provide

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the support that potential readers need. The subsequent chapters will reveal strategies that are proving effective in overcoming barriers to reading from birth to teens, looking at practices and projects from around the globe and revealing some common principles and drivers that have generated success. We believe this will be of interest and value to readers from all those professions that engage with young people and families and with the development of literacy, be they student librarians or teachers, professional practitioners, service managers or simply concerned parents.

‘Read to live’ A favourite epigram from Flaubert took on a whole new level of meaning with the publication of research which showed that people who read books for 30 minutes a day live longer than those who don’t read at all. The study (Bavishi, Slade and Levy, 2016) looked at the reading patterns of 3,635 people who were aged 50 or older. On average, book readers were found to live for almost two years longer than non-readers. These findings ‘suggest that the benefits of reading books include a longer life in which to read them’. This aligns with evidence from the 2011 survey by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DfBIS) that 37% of people who rate their health as ‘very poor’ are functionally illiterate, compared with 11% who have literacy skills (DfBIS, 2011). Other research in the same year found that people who read books regularly are on average more satisfied with life, happier and more likely to feel that the things they do in life are worthwhile. In their study of older adults in England, 76% of participants said that reading improves their life and helps to make them feel good (Jenkins et al., 2011). Add this to the link – found using data from the British Cohort Study (a survey of individuals born in one week of April 1970) – between children’s reading skills at age 10 and their outcomes as adults. The study found that reading skills are associated with significant increases in gross hourly wages and gross weekly earnings, particularly at the older ages of 38 and 42 (Crawford and Cribb, 2015). As such, pure self-interest alone should definitely motivate the adult population to support campaigners who urge policy makers to do all they can to encourage reading. This book follows the 2011 publication Read to Succeed (Court, 2011). Since then, the evidence for the importance of reading, as in the examples just quoted, has continued to build. The UK is perhaps unusual for the sheer number of organisations and charities working in this area, but that has not necessarily been an advantage in terms of brokering and influencing change. xx

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There have been sector-wide initiatives, like the Just Read campaign launched in 2009 by the then Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Literacy was launched in November of 2011 to ensure parliamentary knowledge and support for the latest research, policy and best practice in the field of literacy. (APPGs are informal, cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament but do involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament and can commission research reports.) Perhaps the most significant step forward in finding a single campaigning voice for literacy in the UK came in March 2013 when the National Literacy Trust (NLT) convened the first National Literacy Forum. It is attended by representatives from government, business, local authorities and the voluntary and community sector and meets twice each year to discuss policy themes pertinent to addressing low literacy. After the publication of policy papers on child poverty (McCoy, 2013) and on the importance of localised approaches to tackling illiteracy (Morrisroe, 2013), in 2014 the Forum published A Vision for Literacy 2025, which is simply that ‘By 2025 every 11year-old will have the literacy skills they need to fulfil their potential in secondary school’. As the document states, ‘Literacy needs to become an all-party consensus issue. It needs to be elevated beyond party politics. Government needs to lead this campaign but the whole of society must play its part.’ And the fact that the document received support from all the political parties in the UK was described by NLT’s director, Jonathan Douglas, as ‘an encouraging step in the right direction’. Later in 2014 a campaign called Read On. Get On. (RO. GO.) was launched by a coalition of charities and education organisations, including the Fair Education Alliance and the National Literacy Forum, to lead the campaigning for those same 2025 goals. Once again, this campaign received support from all political parties. Yet, in 2016 it proved necessary to restate the objectives with a new and updated 10-point strategy. The realisation that unless the interim goal – for 2020 – that all children will be achieving good levels of language, early literacy and reading development by the age of five is met, then the likelihood of achieving the 2025 goals with that cohort of children is very slim.

Research evidence This sense of urgency which infused the campaign was exacerbated by the xxi

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body of research evidence that was gathered to support the development of the new strategy and by the alarm bells which rang when assessment arrangements, introduced in summer 2016, showed only 66% of 11-year-olds reading at the expected attainment level for their age group. Analysis conducted for RO. GO. (2015) suggests that it is actually plausible that around 96% of children could reach this standard of reading by the age of 11. (This allows for a small number of children who are not able to reach this level because of severe learning difficulties or disabilities, or because English is not their first language and they have recently arrived in the UK.) If every child left primary school with the reading skills they needed, the UK economy could be more than £32.1 billion larger by 2025 (RO. GO., 2014). The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has consistently reported dissatisfaction with the literacy skills of secondary school leavers, with 40% of businesses reporting the need for remedial training (CBI, 2015). The relationship between literacy levels and employment in England is the strongest among the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries (OECD, 2013a). The 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results showed that 17% of England’s 15-year-olds did not achieve a minimum level of proficiency in literacy. This compares to only 3% in top-performing Shanghai. The gap between the highest and lowest performers is significantly above average: over two-thirds of OECD countries had a smaller difference between the highest and lowest reading scores than did England (OECD, 2013b), where the difference is the equivalent of eight years of schooling. The UK is the only economically developed country where 16- to 24-year-olds have the lowest literacy skills of any age group in society. This is the first generation to have literacy levels no better than those of their grandparents. There is still a significant gender imbalance in reading too. Internationally, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) data has shown that girls always do better than boys – they are less likely to fall behind and more likely to reach the highest levels of attainment – but in England this is particularly noticeable. Boys were twice as likely to be at the lowest level of achievement and this was matched by only four other countries: Romania, Norway, New Zealand and Australia. At the very highest levels of reading you will find 22% of girls, as compared with just 14% of boys (Burge and Lenkeit, 2014). From a societal point of view, even more disturbing is the fact that 48% of prison inmates have literacy levels below the standard for 11-year-olds (Devitt, 2011). As Michael Morpurgo said in the inaugural BookTrust Lecture xxii

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in September 2016, ‘Our prisons are full of them, full of those we have failed. Many remain lonely and marginalised all their lives. The right book, the right author, the right parent, the right teacher, the right librarian, at the right time, might have saved some of them at least, made the difference, shone a light into a dark life, turned that life around.’ It is an undeniable fact that England is one of the most socially unequal countries, with the highest level of inequality in reading levels between betteroff and less-affluent children in Europe, with the exception of Romania (RO. GO., 2014). One of the main objectives of the Fair Education Alliance is narrowing that gap (www.faireducation.org.uk). The shameful fact is that children in the UK who fail to learn to read are more economically vulnerable than children internationally. They have fewer opportunities available to them when they leave school, hampering any potential for social mobility and cementing the continuing cycle of disadvantage. Morpurgo (2016) again powerfully describes an apartheid system of a kind in this country, between haves and have-not children, between those who read, who through books, through developing an enjoyment of literature, can have the opportunity to access the considerable cultural and material benefits of our society; and those who were made to feel very early on that the world of words, of books, of stories, of ideas, was not for them, that they were not clever enough to join that world, that it was not the world they belonged to, that it was shut off from them forever.

New NLT analysis was launched in February 2017 by the APPG on Literacy delivering focused reports to every individual Member of Parliament. These showed that a total of 458 out of 533 constituencies in England had at least one ward (electoral district) which had ‘serious literacy issues’. The research devised a new metric called a ‘literacy vulnerability score’ which included unemployment, qualification level, income, social mix of local population and area characteristics, drawing upon 2011 Census data (NLT, 2017). This corresponds with the RO. GO. (2014) research which showed that ‘there are also big variations in children’s reading ability across England. In the best areas, nearly nine out of ten 11-year-olds can read well; in the weakest areas, just six out of ten children are reaching this benchmark’. Even more tellingly, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are ‘likely to be further behind in their reading than children who struggle with reading but are from wealthier families’ (Higgins, Katsipataki and Coleman, 2014).

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Poverty and the early years Research reveals that the early years are absolutely crucial when it comes to the difference that poverty can make. Children’s early language skills can have a major impact on the development of their literacy skills because it has been shown that a child’s language skills at the age of two have a strong influence on their school-readiness at the age of five, and this can continue to affect how children get on at school as they grow up (Roulstone et al., 2011). Five-year-olds with poor language and literacy development face a substantially higher risk of low achievement at age seven and beyond (Snowling et al., 2011). On average, children from low-income families are nearly 12 months behind their better-off peers in vocabulary by the time they start school (Waldfogel and Washbrook, 2010). The 2012 final report of the EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy stated: Some children are lucky enough to be born into homes where a love of language, storytelling and songs is fostered within a loving relationship between the parents and their young children. But many children do not grow up in such homes. Many, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, are already behind before they start school. As a result, not all children start primary school with good emergent literacy skills, and the knock-on effects are felt throughout their lives.

(European Commission, 2012)

Poor literacy is frequently passed on down the generations: parents with lower literacy skills often lack the confidence and skills to help their children with reading and writing, which reinforces the cycle of disadvantage. Historically, the UK scores highly on the PIRLS league tables, but with an unusually long tail of underachieving children. ‘There was a wide distribution of scores in England. The highest attaining pupils were among the best readers in the survey, but the lower attaining pupils did less well than the weakest readers in other high scoring countries. This wide range of achievement was characteristic of England’s performance in PIRLS 2001 and 2006’ (Twist et al., 2012). This, together with a continuing cycle of deprivation and underachievement in families, is what has, for too long, characterised the history of literacy in the UK. The Vision for Literacy 2025 calls for ‘children at risk of developing weak language and literacy skills for social or developmental reasons to be identified and supported before starting school’, which will be essential, given the prediction from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that over a five-year period child poverty across the UK would increase significantly. It predicted xxiv

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that by 2020 three million children will be living in poverty, an additional 300,000 over 2014 figures (IFS, 2014). The RO. GO. report Ready to Read (2015) pointed out that this is an issue of worldwide relevance: Countries across the world are trying to grapple with the challenge that children who grow up in poverty are at higher risk of facing difficulties with the development of their language skills. There is evidence of similar gaps in Canada, Australia, the USA (Bradbury et al., 2012) and Ireland (Williams et al., 2013), as well as in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam (Boo, 2014). Researchers have used national surveys in Canada, Australia and the USA to show the same patterns of inequality as in the UK between children in poverty and their betteroff peers. Comparative analysis has also shown that the gap between children in poverty and their better-off peers was highest in both the USA and the UK and lowest in Canada and Australia (Bradbury et al., 2012). While we focus on early language development in England in this report, it is important to recognise that similar patterns of disadvantage exist all over the world, unfairly limiting children’s chances in life even before they start school.

(RO. GO., 2015a)

The teaching of reading Since the publication in 2006 of The Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading (Rose, 2006) the use of synthetic phonics to teach children in the early stages of reading has been well established in England’s schools. This is despite the fact that, as Michael Rosen said in the Introduction to Teaching Reading – what the evidence says (Dombey, 2010), ‘English is not written in a consistently “phonic” way, so learning to read phonically will never teach a child how to read everything’. The phonics screening check for six-year-olds, introduced in 2012, which was used to check children’s ‘decoding’ skills and identify those who need extra support, was criticised, amongst other things, for its use of ‘pseudo words’ (Clark, 2014). However, in 2016, 81% of children met the expected standard, up from 58% in 2014, the first year of the test (Department for Education, 2014, 2016). Various governments’ focus on phonics has clearly led to improvements in ‘decoding’ skills among young primary school children. However, there has been less of a focus on the teaching of reading comprehension, which is particularly important for older primary school children. The Vision for Literacy 2025 suggests that ‘Problems with reading comprehension are one of the main reasons for children not reaching the expected standard of reading xxv

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by the age of 11’ (National Literacy Forum, 2014). Chapter 3 contains much more about how teaching strategies can impact adversely on young readers. The 2016 RO. GO. Strategy points to research which indicates the need for ‘A continued emphasis on developing oral language skills (Muter et al., 2004) for reading comprehension and decoding more complex syntax’ and, significantly in the context of this book, states that this is particularly important for ‘primary school-aged children with language or reading comprehension difficulties’ (Clark and De Soyza, 2011). The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), in Reading for Pleasure – what we know works (2014), based on 10 years of its Power of Reading training, similarly found that: Children need frequent, regular and sustained opportunities to talk together about the books that they are reading as a whole class. The more experience they have of talking together like this, the better they get at making explicit the meanings that a text holds for them, helping the class as a whole to reach shared understanding of ideas and issues. Talking about books is supportive to all readers and writers but is especially empowering for children who find literacy difficult.

The RO. GO. Strategy also highlighted other drivers to improving reading: the key role of parents and the home environment, community support for reading and cultural attitudes to reading, but most significantly of all, engagement in reading for pleasure. One of the EU recommendations to help improve literacy for all citizens was to ‘Ensure primary schools focus on reinforcing motivation and emphasise reading for pleasure’ (European Commission, 2012). Reading for pleasure is now of course explicitly mentioned in the latest (Department for Education, 2013) iteration of the National Curriculum for England. The ‘overarching aim’ is for pupils ‘to develop their love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment’ and to ‘develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information’. As Professor Dombey (2010) declared: If we want England’s children to get better at reading and to do more of it, we have to give them a diet that is attractive, nutritious and satisfying. Restricting them to an unbalanced diet, the thin gruel of a phonics-dominated approach, is a recipe for lowering standards and turning children against the written word. Where reading is in daily competition with the allure of digital gaming, on xxvi

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hand-held consoles and mobile telephones as well as computer screens, we have to work doubly hard to demonstrate its rewards. We cannot expect children to defer gratification until they have mastered the techniques. Children certainly need instruction in the techniques, but they only become effective and committed readers through reading texts that interest them.

Reading for pleasure The importance of reading for pleasure was, of course, first highlighted in the OECD PISA report Reading for Change (OECD, 2002), which famously demonstrated that ‘being more enthusiastic about reading and being a frequent reader was more of an advantage, on its own, than having well educated parents in good jobs’. Since then we have had evidence that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment (Clark and de Soyza, 2011). It is also strongly related to other learning outcomes; regularly reading for pleasure between the ages of 10 and 16 has a positive effect on children’s vocabulary, spelling and maths skills (Sullivan and Brown, 2013). The same research found that reading for pleasure is more important for children’s cognitive development between ages 10 and 16 than is their parents’ level of education. Since 2010 the NLT has been surveying the reading habits and attitudes of children and young people. The latest results published demonstrate clearly the virtuous circle where children who enjoy reading more will have more of a tendency to read daily, tend to read more books, tend to think more positively about reading and will also tend to be better readers. While the majority of 8- to 11-year-olds read at the level expected for their age regardless of whether they enjoy reading or not, four times as many 8- to 11-year-olds who enjoy reading read above the level expected for their age, as compared with those who do not enjoy reading (Clark, 2016). Launching the report, Jonathan Douglas, director of the NLT, said: ‘Our survey continues to show a clear correlation between attainment and reading enjoyment, frequency and attitudes. The more that can be done to develop and sustain children’s intrinsic motivation to read throughout their school journey, the more success they will enjoy both academically and in future life.’ In 2014 The Reading Agency commissioned a report and literature review to look at the most recent evidence relating to the wider, social, personal and intellectual outcomes of reading. This highly significant report (BOP Consulting, 2015) showed these to include enjoyment, knowledge, creativity, empathy, self-expression and understanding of self and others. Another key xxvii

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finding of the report is that enjoyment of reading is a prerequisite for all these positive outcomes. As Dawn Finch (2015), then President of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), blogged: People who choose to read, and enjoy doing so, in their spare time are more likely to reap all of these wider benefits. It is clear that negative attitudes towards reading for pleasure have a much wider negative impact on both the individual and society as a whole, and therefore it is essential that nationally we create a more positive attitude towards reading.

This crucial importance of readers’ choice and motivation will also be seen to be a key feature of the projects described in subsequent chapters of this book.

Choice, motivation and libraries The 2015 Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report produced some interesting data on what it calls ‘independent’ reading in schools. This is designated time in the school day for pupils to read a book of their choice. Only 16% of 6- to 17-year-olds have this time daily, and while 66% of 6- to 11-year-olds get such reading time this decreases with age, so that only 25% of those aged over 12 do so. Yet 56% of all ages wish independent reading would happen more often and over 70% of those that experience it report that they are currently reading a book for fun, and love or like reading. A group of teachers in Wentzville, Missouri reported in the English Leadership Quarterly their positive experiences of allowing teenagers choice in their reading (Skeeters et al., 2016). They identified five reasons for doing this: • • • • •

choice empowers students valuing student choices values the student choice leads to real and meaningful conversations choice helps establish and deepen relationships choice leads to independence.

They also noted the bonus that they became ‘reading teachers who read’. This correlates very closely with the UK-based research Teachers as Readers – Building Communities of Engaged Readers, led by Cremin et al. (2014) who noted: ‘The improvements in children’s attitudes, confidence and self- perceptions appear to be directly linked to the teachers’ newly enriched subject knowledge xxviii

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and their evolving identities and practice as teachers who read and readers who teach.’ They saw ‘[A] marked impact upon the children, who whilst initially being described as reluctant, uninterested and disengaged readers, began over time to enjoy reading and to choose to read independently for pleasure’ The RO. GO. Strategy (2016) also commented on the fact that ‘There is currently no consistent training for teachers in mechanisms to potentially excite an interest in reading among different groups of pupils’, and that teachers have only ‘a tentative knowledge of contemporary children’s literature and the wider reading materials that are essential in engaging young readers. This knowledge has been negatively affected by the closure of many local authority school library services (SLS).’ Cremin et al (2014) also noted that the collaboration with an SLS ‘helped widen teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature’, which ‘no doubt contributed to the improved attitudes to reading documented in the project’. SLS services in the UK support schools in the effective provision of their school library with advice and also by resource loans to enhance their library provision. Primary schools in the UK do not tend to have a qualified librarian in post. Libraries in schools will self-evidently increase children’s access to a free choice of books and the role of the school librarian could be central in stimulating an increase in pupils’ reading for enjoyment, and yet they are not a statutory requirement for schools to provide and because of this they vary massively in terms of quality and resources. The Vision for Literacy 2025 has, as one of its recommendations, that ‘Government should instruct Ofsted to examine the reading for pleasure strategy in every school inspection, to include consideration of school library provision.’ The 2014 report by the Libraries APPG, Beating Heart of the School, collected evidence demonstrating a positive correlation between a good school library and attainment, achievement and motivation. The most vulnerable students, such as those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, were found to benefit even more (Curry Lance and Schwarz, 2012), and yet joint research conducted with CILIP for this report found a loss of 280 school librarians in England between 2012 and 2014. CILIP also pointed to Softlink’s (2015) UK school library survey, which found that 54% of schools feel their library is not adequately funded, and to the 2016 Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) survey, which found that more than a fifth of respondents said their school library budget had been cut by at least 40% since 2010, with 21% saying that the budget did not allow their library to encourage pupils to read for enjoyment (ATL, 2016). Chapters 8 and 9 in this volume will be looking in more detail at what a school library can do. xxix

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Of course what happens beyond the school gates, at home and in the community, is just as critical to children’s enjoyment of reading. Egmont is another publisher, like Scholastic, that invests in research into reading. Following a recent presentation of the findings of its latest, as yet unpublished, research, Alison David (2017), its Consumer Insight Director, wrote: Egmont’s Print Matters More research (2016) proved that it is possible to turn reluctant readers into keen readers. Parents’ involvement is critical – they need to read to their child. The experience of being read to is so very powerful and joyful that it is a key determinant of a child’s independent reading for pleasure. The most important thing a parent can do for their child’s reading is to continue to read to them throughout their childhood, even when they are capable of reading for themselves. Independent reading flourishes alongside being read to.

This was also a key finding from the Scholastic research, where 87% of children and young people aged from 6 to 17 enjoyed being read to: because it is a special time with parents (68%), because reading together is fun (64%) and because it is relaxing before sleep (56%). Of children aged 6 to 8, who are no longer read to, 37% ‘wished it had continued’. The ongoing British Cohort Study shows that ‘Children of all backgrounds who were read to regularly by their parents at age five performed better in maths, vocabulary and spelling at age 16 than those who were not read to’ (Sullivan and Brown, 2013). The importance of reading aloud is a key theme in chapters 2 and 4. It is also the subject of the new BookTrust Time To Read campaign (www.booktrust.org.uk/programmes/primary/time-to-read) that Michael Morpurgo launched with his BookTrust lecture (Morpurgo, 2016). Alison David again, this time on the key factor of choice: Free choice is also a powerful motivator for a child to read. Independently choosing something to read demonstrates true intent to read. Even if the child’s choice might not be what the parent would wish for, it should never be discouraged. All reading is good reading, whether facts or fiction, whether magazine, annual, comic strip, graphic novel, picture book, series or literary fiction. Agency leads to commitment and all reading is a stepping stone in the child’s reading journey. As one nine-year-old boy said ‘If I have chosen it, I know it’s going to be good’.

The Egmont research involved gifting money to the target families to choose and buy books. The impact of quality books in the home cannot be overxxx

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estimated. Research for RO. GO. (2014) showed that ‘there is a 10-month difference in the levels of language development between the language skills of 11-year-old children in a “book-rich” home (with between 201 and 500 books in the home) compared with those whose home is “book-poor” (with between 11 and 25 books only)’. In that context the successful book gifting schemes – like Bookstart in Chapter 1 – that promote shared reading and book ownership in order to increase the quality and frequency of reading in the home have even more significance. The Power of Reading (RO. GO., 2015) report pointed out that libraries also ‘clearly have a huge role here, particularly for children from less well-off families whose parents may struggle to buy a good range of books that keep pace with their children’s changing skills and tastes’. The EU panel of literacy experts (European Commission, 2012) gave as one of its ‘overarching recommendations’ that countries should create a literate environment and: • Promote family literacy programmes focused on both parents and children. Their aims should be to help parents improve their skills and confidence to engage and motivate their children to both develop their language, and to read for pleasure. • Support libraries in maintaining a literate learning environment and increase their accessibility, particularly for disadvantaged learners, whether children or adults.

Yet, once again in the UK, we have a depressing picture of library closures and funding cuts, data published by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), as reported in The Bookseller in December 2016 (Onwuemezi, 2016), reveals that a total of 478 libraries have closed across England, Scotland and Wales since 2010 and budgets were slashed by a further £25 million in the year to April 2016. This is markedly different from the levels of investment in libraries and literacy that can be seen in Finland (Chapter 4) and Korea (Chapter 6).

Can reading be for all? The EU literacy experts are quite clear that ‘Almost everyone who struggles with reading and writing could develop adequate literacy skills, given the right support. Only people with the most severe cognitive difficulties are incapable of developing functional literacy’ (European Commission, 2012). Analysis of the National Curriculum assessments for RO. GO. (2014) xxxi

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showed that ‘For example, in 2013 half of all pupils with a hearing impairment, close to 60% of those with a visual impairment and just under half of pupils with a physical disability were reading well by the age of 11’. But, as the EU experts also said, ‘Struggling readers do not catch up by themselves’, and ‘Programmes aimed at improving struggling readers’ skills have a high rate of success, and are extremely cost-effective.’ The following chapters of this volume contain a fascinating mix of such programmes from around the world that reach out to those struggling readers. In Chapter 1 Wendy Cooling and Alexandra Strick tell the story of how the internationally renowned and successful Bookstart programme became truly universal by developing inclusive book gifting. In doing so, they share valuable insights into the pressures on families with sensory-impaired babies and how professionals can best support them. The chapter also looks at the design and features of the actual books and the authors offer advice to inform book selection for libraries and early years settings. Truly inclusive books extend to all ages, of course, and the chapter concludes with an annotated list of reading recommendations. The next two chapters give a thought-provoking insight into the reader from two opposite perspectives. In Chapter 2 Teri Lesesne shares a wide research overview of what creates a lifelong reader, basing her account very firmly in her own reading history and that of her US students. In so doing she highlights the opportunities that could be missed, the gaps through which a reader could be lost, and suggests the profitable areas around which to build interventions. In Chapter 3 Prue Goodwin looks from the other side, directly at the reluctant reader, the reader who is not succeeding, and asks the vital question of how they became reluctant. Prue’s ground-breaking research identified many of the key problems with the teaching of reading in the UK, and yet the teaching of reading has remained a hostage to political interference. She also passionately believes that teachers need the support of librarians in order to overcome the hurdles and to reach all readers. Anyone interested in literacy education is familiar with the story of Finland’s remarkable evolution of one of the world’s top-performing education systems. The country is routinely in the top five of practically every international measure of education quality and so we are very fortunate to have a case study from Finland. In Chapter 4 Mervi Heikkilä and her colleague Sara Tuisku describe their Reading Club project, which is an excellent example of co-operation between the public library and the education system. Like Prue’s, Mervi’s professional focus has always been on those who are failing to read and this chapter shows the impact that a xxxii

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passionate librarian can have. Once again we can see at work the elements that Teri and the research outlined in this introduction have identified: the importance of attitudes, motivation, community and, above all else, fun! With striking similarity Chapter 5 describes the work of Beanstalk, a third sector charitable organisation in the UK and one that is a partner organisation heavily involved in the National Literacy Forum and the Read On. Get On. campaign. Ginny Lunn and Hilary Mason describe how their trained volunteers work with schools and with the struggling readers that a school has identified, and the enormous impact that their one-to-one support has on those readers. They acknowledge the valuable support that libraries provide and analyse what factors contribute to the success of their intervention. The Republic of Korea, like Finland, also scores highly on international comparisons, being one of the top-performing countries in the PISA league tables. In fact, teenagers in the Republic of Korea have the highest levels of literacy and numeracy of all OECD countries. In 2012, 66% of 25- to 34-yearolds had attained tertiary education, the highest share of any OECD country and a marked increase from 37% in 2000 (OECD, 2014). South Korean education has seen remarkable growth since the mid-1960s in Chapter 6 Yeojoo Lim describes the ‘education fever’ in Korea and how this has sparked an interest in encouraging reading. The level of national support, with investment in school libraries and the creation of the National Library for Children and Young Adults to lead research and expertise in promoting reading, can only be dreamt of by campaigners in the UK. There are many valuable lessons to be learnt from the projects that Yeojoo describes. In Chapter 7 Jake Hope examines one of the most critical potential barriers to reading, one which everyone working in libraries and education should be aware of and be developing strategies to overcome. Jake is well known for his work on diversity and inclusion and is very well placed to help the reader explore their own practice and ways to improve it. He has been able to draw on expertise from authors and publishers as valuable witnesses to the importance of this endeavour. It is absolutely vital for every child to be able to find themselves in a book and believe that reading includes them. The importance of school libraries in a child’s development as a reader has already been highlighted in this introduction. In Chapter 8 Alison Brumwell brings us the benefit of her wide experience in supporting schools in the UK. With highly practical suggestions and advice, the chapter is essential reading for school librarians everywhere. In Chapter 9 a formidable school librarian, Amy McKay, demolishes any stereotypical images of librarians and, more xxxiii

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importantly, of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing schemes, which since the early 1990s have been developing a worldwide community of readers who voluntarily read for pleasure the books shortlisted each year for these prestigious and historic medals. The chapter explores the valuable research into the CILIP Shadowing scheme undertaken by the Open University (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012) to demonstrate what makes shadowing groups work for everyone, and presents a veritable host of suggestions to hook those hard-to-reach readers. In Chapter 10 Rose Brock explores the potential of audiobooks as a literacy tool for librarians and educators to explore. Drawing on well-developed practice in the US, this chapter has much to offer librarians who are only just beginning to develop collections of this type of resource. Once again, we are fortunate to have a real expert in this field sharing her passion, research and knowledge of how audiobooks can and do support all readers and of the contribution they can make to learning as well as literacy. In the final chapter Jake Hope takes us back to a fundamental analysis of what reading is and again challenges all our preconceptions to make us ‘think outside the box’ in terms of hooks and ways to attract those who have withdrawn from reading and to ensure that we can meet the future head on. He and the book end with a manifesto to make Reading for Everyone, which is overwhelmingly an ambition that all the contributors to this volume share. As Dame Julia Cleverdon, Chair of the Read On. Get On. campaign said at the campaign launch: Above all else, we must together put reading and the joy of reading at the heart and the head of our culture. We can do little that makes more difference for children in poverty nor that contributes more to the society that we need to build.

References ATL (2016) Many School Libraries Are Too Small and Some Are Being Turned into Classrooms, https://www.atl.org.uk/latest/press-release/many-school-librariesare-too-small-and-some-are-being-turned-classrooms. Bavishi, A., Slade, M. and Levy, B. (2016) A Chapter a Day: association of book reading with longevity, Social Science & Medicine, 164 (September), 44–8. Boo, L. F. (2014) Socio-economic Status and Early Childhood Cognitive Skills: is Latin America different? Young Lives, www.younglives.org.uk/publications/WP/ socio-economic-status-and-early-childhood-cognitive-skills. xxxiv

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BOP Consulting (2015) The Impact of Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment, The Reading Agency. Bradbury, B., Corak, M., Waldfogel, J. and Washbrook, E. (2012) Inequality during the Early Years: child outcomes and readiness to learn in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and United States. In Ermisch, J., Jantti, M. and Smeeding, T. (eds), From Parents to Children: the intergenerational transmission of advantage, Russell Sage Foundation. Burge, B. and Lenkeit, J. (2014) Analysis of the PIRLS 2011 Data: Save the Children. Evidence paper, National Foundation for Educational Research. CBI (2015) Inspiring Growth: CBI/Pearson education and skills survey, Pearson. CLPE (2014) Reading for Pleasure – what we know works, https://www.clpe.org.uk/library-and-resources/research/reading-pleasure-whatwe-know-works. Clark, C. (2016) Children’s and Young People’s Reading in 2015. Findings from the National Literacy Trust’s annual survey 2015, National Literacy Trust. Clark, C. and de Soyza, S. (2011) Mapping the Interrelationships of Reading Enjoyment, Attitudes, Behaviour and Reading Attainment, National Literacy Trust, www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/nlt_research/3728_mapping_the_ interrelationships_of_reading_enjoyment_attitudes_behaviour_and_attainment. Clark, M. (2014) The Phonics Check Three Years On: an analysis of the evidence and its implications, Education Journal, 210 (October), 14–16, https://ukla.org/downloads/The_phonics_check_three_years_on.pdf. Court, J. (ed.) (2011) Read to Succeed: strategies to engage children and young people in t

reading for pleasure, Facet Publishing.

Crawford, C. and Cribb, J. (2015) The Link between Childhood Reading Skills and Adult Outcomes: analysis of a cohort of British children (IFS Briefing Note BN169), Institute of Education. Cremin, T., Mottram, M., Collins, F., Powell, S. and Safford, K. (2014) Building Communities of Engaged Readers – reading for pleasure. Routledge. Cremin, T., Swan, J. and Mukherjee, S. J. (2012) Report to Carnegie Trust UK and CILIP on a Two-stage Study of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme, www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/CKG%20Shadowing%20OU% 20Research%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf. Curry Lance, K. and Schwarz, B. (2012) How Pennsylvania School Libraries Pay Off: investments in student achievement and academic standards, RSL Research Group. David, A. (2017) Personal communication, 6th March. DfBIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) (2011) Skills for Life Survey: appendix of tables. DfBIS. Department for Education (2013) English Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 and 2 xxxv

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national curriculum in England, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/335186/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_English_220714.pdf. Department for Education (2014) Statistical First Release: national curriculum assessments at Key Stage 2 in England, 2014, Department for Education. Department for Education (2016) Statistical First Release: phonics screening check and national curriculum assessments at Key Stage 1 in England, 2016, Department for Education. Devitt, K. (2011) Young Adults Today: Education, training and employment and young adults in the criminal justice system fact file,Young People in Focus. Dombey, H. (2010) Teaching Reading – what the evidence says, United Kingdom Literacy Association. European Commission (2012) EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy – Final Report, Publications Office of the European Union, http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/education/policy/school/ doc/literacy-report_en.pdf. Finch, D. (2015) Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment, CILIP, https://www.cilip.org.uk/blog/reading-pleasure-empowerment. Higgins, S., Katsipataki, M. and Coleman, R. (2014) Reading at the Transition: interim evidence brief, Education Endowment Foundation. IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) (2014) Child and Working-age Poverty in Northern Ireland over the Next Decade: an update, www.ifs.org.uk/publications/7448. Jenkins, A., Ackerman, R., Frumkin, L., Salter, E. and Vorhaus, J. (2011) Literacy, Numeracy and Disadvantage among Older Adults in England, Institute of Education, University of London. Libraries APPG (2014) The Beating Heart of the School – improving educational attainment through school libraries and librarians, CILIP, https://www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/BeatingHeartoftheSchool. pdf. McCoy, E. (2013) Lost for Words: poor literacy, the hidden issue in child poverty, National Literacy Trust. Morpurgo, M. (2016) The Power of Stories: Michael Morpurgo’s full Book Trust lecture, https://www.michaelmorpurgo.com/michael-morpurgo-book-trust-lecture/. Morrisroe, J. (2013) Localism: literacy and the importance of localised approaches, National Literacy Trust. Muter,V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M. and Stevenson, J. (2004) Phonemes, Rimes, Vocabulary and Grammatical Skills as Foundations of Early Reading Development: evidence from the longitudinal study, Developmental Psychology, 40 (5), 665. xxxvi

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National Literacy Forum (2014) Vision for Literacy 2025, National Literacy Trust, www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0002/3984/Vision_for_Literacy_2025.pdf. National Literacy Trust (2017) Literacy Score – mapping literacy need across England, www.literacytrust.org.uk/campaigns-policy/literacy-score-mapping-literacyneed-in-england. OECD (2002) Reading for Change: performance and engagement across countries – results from PISA2000, OECD Publishing. OECD (2013a) OECD Skills Outlook 2013: first results from the survey of adult skills, OECD Publishing, http://skills.oecd.org/documents/OECD_Skills_Outlook_2013.pdf. OECD (2013b) PISA 2012 United Kingdom Country-specific Overview, OECD Publishing. OECD (2014) Country Note: Korea. Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators, https://www.oecd.org/edu/Korea-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf. Onwuemezi, N. (2016) Staggering £25m Fall in Libraries Spending Revealed, The Bookseller, www.thebookseller.com/news/cipfa-library-figures-446101. RO. GO. (2014) How reading can help children escape poverty. Save the Children on behalf of the Read On. Get On. campaign, www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/Read_On_Get_On.pdf. RO. GO. (2015) The Power of Reading, Save the Children on behalf of the Read On. Get On. campaign, www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0003/5568/ROGO_The_Power_of_Reading_ April_2015.pdf. RO. GO. (2015a) Ready to Read, Save the Children on behalf of the Read On. Get On. campaign, http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0003/5566/Ready_to_Read__-_England_ June_2015.pdf RO. GO. (2016) A Strategy to Get England’s Children Reading, Save the Children on behalf of the Read On. Get On. campaign, www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0003/6217/Read_On_Get_On_Strategy.pdf. Rose, J. (2006) Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading – Final Report, Department for Education and Skills. Roulstone, S., Law, J., Rush, R., Clegg, J. and Peters, T. (2011) Investigating the Role of Language in Children’s Early Educational Outcomes, Research Report DFE-RR134, Department for Education. Scholastic (2015) Kids and Family Reading Report, https://www.scholastic.co.uk/readingreport/key-findings. Skeeters, K., Campbell, B., Dubitsky, A., Faron, E., Gieselmann, K., George, D., Goldschmidt, B. and Wagner, E. (2016) The Top Five Reasons We Love Giving xxxvii

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Students Choice in Reading, English Leadership Quarterly, 38 (3), 6–7. Snowling, M., Hulme, C., Bailey, A., Stothard, S. and Lindsay, G. (2011) Language and Literacy Attainment of Pupils during Early Years and through Key Stage 2: does teacher assessment at five provide a valid measure of children’s current and future educational attainment? Department for Education Research Brief DFE-RB172a, Department for Education. Softlink (2015) UK Library School Survey Report, https://www.softlinkint.com/downloads/2015_UK_School_Library_Survey_ Report.pdf. Sullivan, A. and Brown, M. (2013) Social Inequalities in Cognitive Scores at Age 16: the role of reading, CLS Working Paper 2013/10, Centre for Longitudinal Studies. Twist, L., Sizmur, J., Bartlett, S. and Lynn, L. (2012) PIRLS 2011: reading achievement in England, National Foundation for Educational Research, www.nfer.ac.uk/pirl. Valtin, R., Bird, V., Brooks, G., Brozo, B., Clements, C., Ehmig, S., Garbe, C., de Greef, M., Hanemann, U., Hammink, K., Mallows, D., Nascimbeni, F., Sulkunen, S. and Tamburlini, G. (2016) A Declaration of European ’Citizens’ Right to Literacy, European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET). Waldfogel, J. and Washbrook, E. (2010) Low Income and Early Cognitive Development in the UK, Sutton Trust. Williams, J., Murray, A., McCrory, C. and McNally, S. (2013) Growing up in Ireland: national Longitudinal Study of Children: development from birth to three years, www.growingup.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/Second_Infant_ Cohort_Reports/Development_from_Birth_to_Three_Years.pdf.

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1 Supporting every child to read Alexandra Strick and Wendy Cooling

Introduction Bookstart is a universal programme and the books given through the scheme are carefully chosen to ensure wide appeal. However, some children may benefit from a different type of book, an alternative format or other ways of engaging with it. This chapter explores how and why the UK programme was successfully expanded to include packs for children who are visually impaired, deaf or have conditions affecting their fine motor skills. The chapter will explore the kinds of books that would particularly benefit these audiences as well as others. It introduces strategies and resources which may suit different audiences and offers advice on ways to identify books offering different forms of accessibility, as well as on the value of stories and pictures that include all children.

Supporting every child through Bookstart Any child – indeed every child – can enjoy books and stories from a very young age. Every child can also reap prodigious benefits from books. And that is the simple – but highly effective – principle behind Bookstart. Bookstart is all about encouraging and enabling every child to enjoy books, from a very early age. The original Bookstart concept is generally cited as having been conceived in 1992 (Bookstart, 2016). It grew from a simple pilot project involving just 300 babies, to a national programme. And it is a model which has proved so effective that it has been replicated in numerous countries around the world. Part of the beauty of Bookstart lies in its simplicity. It takes the form of a pack, usually a cloth bag containing two books and some accompanying materials and advice for parents or carers. The initial Bookstart pack is given

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to babies who have not yet reached their first birthday and is distributed to families through libraries, health centres and early years settings. Librarians and health professionals are crucial partners and supporters of this work with very young children. However, the books given are not just any books. The Bookstart book is a very special book. It may be the first book that a baby has actually owned. It may be the first book that this baby has ever actually held. And this may even be the first time that the parent or carer has really thought about sitting down to share books together. So this is a magical book, with the power to launch a child on an incredible journey, the first step on a lifelong reading adventure. This is a book that will encourage bonding and offer an early way into communication. Sharing a book is never a quiet ‘reading to’ time, but a time for talking, pointing, looking, giggling, joining in, as well as for listening. Children respond readily to the voice of someone who loves them, a familiar voice; they respond to the sound and rhythm of the words and to the mood they create long before they understand all the words. Sharing a book with a baby or toddler is one of life’s loveliest things; it gives shared pleasure, and shared delight. Yes, much is riding on this humble book.

Bookstart books So, the titles chosen for Bookstart have to be some of the very best available, assessed and approved using rigorous criteria and specialist input from experts. Books finally approved for the pack are bold and bright, with uncluttered pages and plenty of contrast. They are sturdy, with chunky pages, but not too big or heavy for small hands. They are able to withstand plenty of enthusiastic handling – and chewing. They generally have minimal text, but the text they do have is perfectly pitched for the audience. And of course they often feature rhythm, rhyme and repetition, ideal for engaging young children. This book may well be a pointer for parents, encouraging them to create a book-loving environment for their child. Making books a priority from the very start places them at the very heart of everyday life. With the Bookstart pack comes an invitation to enrol your baby at the local library, where parents and children can enjoy storytelling, bounce and rhyme sessions and much more – and have access to more books than any of us can afford to buy! The library too gives even the youngest children choices, to learn about browsing and begin to develop their own individual taste in reading. The carefully chosen Bookstart books are excellent baby books that will 2

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surely prove a hit with almost any child. But can this really mean every child? The goal of Bookstart, as it developed into a national programme during the 1990s, was to achieve 100% coverage, with every child receiving an ideal book. Might there also be families for whom a different book – and additional advice – could prove particularly valuable at this vital stage on the reading journey?

Babies with visual impairments Bookstart soon identified children who were blind or partially sighted as one such audience. So, with support from the Roald Dahl Foundation, BookTrust started work to explore this need further and developed a new pack entitled Booktouch, which was launched in 2002. When working with BookTrust to research the project, we liaised closely with specialists like the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and ClearVision Books. ClearVision is a wonderful (if less well-known) UK organisation. It is a postal lending library for visually impaired children and their carers. All the books have Braille, print and pictures. This not only allows children with little or no sight to share books with their sighted family but – crucially – also means that visually impaired adults who read Braille can also share books with children. The scheme offers some of the very best books from mainstream publishing in this more accessible format for the many thousands of visually impaired people in the UK. The expertise and support of these organisations was vital in helping us to explore what was needed from Booktouch. As much as 80% of a sighted child’s learning takes place using vision. So how could a child without sight best be supported? How could we share the important Bookstart message with this audience and supply the right resources and the best books?

Booktouch books Not surprisingly, touch-and-feel books formed part of the answer. And thankfully, the market boasts a wealth of such books for babies and toddlers. Touch-and-feel books have universal appeal and value, particularly since touch is a vital sense for all very young children as they explore and learn about the world around them. However, even amongst touch-and-feel books, there are some which are dramatically more effective than others, especially where blind or partially sighted children are concerned. For one thing, tactile elements need to be readily identifiable. This might 3

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sound obvious, but in fact many such books include rather random shapes or objects which have been only partly embossed. Shapes need to be simple and recognisable. The tactile content also needs to be varied. Pleasing as stroking something soft may be, a book featuring nothing but patches of fur will fail to hold the attention and will offer very little in the way of real tactile experience. A really good touch-and-feel book will represent a veritable celebration of sensory activity, offering textures that are bumpy, smooth, shiny, rubbery, sandpapery, squishy, as well as perhaps featuring embossing or die-cut holes. It will possibly even include smells (using scratch-and-sniff elements) or sounds (generated through sound buttons, or just scratching the tactile elements). The content must be genuinely meaningful for a visually impaired child. Objects such as a house, tree or sun may of course be some of the first images a sighted child learns to draw. However, what about a child who was born blind and has never seen these for themselves? In such cases, a typical stylised drawing of such objects would carry little meaning. A blind or partially sighted child would be likely to associate the sun with warmth, perhaps a change in light, not a circle surrounded by ‘spokes’. Likewise, for a very young visually impaired child, there is little point in trying to signify a car journey through an ignition key or a mealtime through a saucepan. The items featured need to be selected based on the child’s experience of a particular activity or object. Often the most effective books for very young sensory-impaired children will feature objects that are part of a child’s immediate sphere of reference. Dragons, fairies, monsters and aliens will soon be readily welcome on the reading journey, but in the earliest days more familiar concepts generally work best. Young children who are visually impaired can also start to develop tracking skills from a very early age, and books can support this by including embossed raised ‘paths’, prompts to help lead the child through the book. This can be a good precursor to learning Braille (for those who may go on to do so), but also helps to guide any child as they learn that most pages will be read from left to right.

The pre-school child As children grow, books of course need to grow with them. Visually impaired children will probably be receptive to books offering more substance, story and new ideas. They can enjoy books with moving elements, interactive components and perhaps some Braille. So, aiming to recognise this, Booktouch offers a second pack, for three- to five-year-olds. 4

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Here the challenge facing BookTrust lies in the fact that the vast majority of touch-and-feel books are aimed at babies and toddlers. As we developed and grew the Booktouch programme it became increasingly difficult to find any books which really suited visually impaired children over the age of two. There were virtually no books on the market which combined a variety of meaningful tactile experiences with relevant text to hold their interest. We found ourselves having to think outside the box. If the right book was not out there, we would just have to create it ourselves. We joined forces with Child’s Play, a forward-thinking publisher, and a number of experts in the field of visual impairment – including children and young people themselves. Together, we developed a completely new book using visually impaired children’s own ideas and experiences as the initial starting point. Every stage of the book was road-tested with visually impaired children and young people and adapted accordingly, based on their invaluable knowledge and experience. The result was Off to the Park! (Cheetham, 2014), a book that genuinely charted new ground. It was soon clear that this was indeed a very special book. At the small party held to launch the book the adults were sipping drinks and having grown-up chat as one small boy with very little vision sat on the floor looking at the book. He felt the pages, already totally involved by the time he had opened the park gate at the start. He followed the roughly textured path and was hugely excited by the ‘touch-and-sniff’ raspberry ice cream on the final page – and then he went back to the beginning and started all over again, fully concentrating for about 20 minutes – a seriously impressive concentration span for a two- to three-year-old. We knew we had created something important! The book was so successful that we were soon working with the same publisher to create two further books – Off to the Beach! (Cocoretto, 2016a) and Getting Ready (Cocoretto, 2016b). We came up against new challenges, particularly with the trip to the seaside. Have you ever thought about how difficult it is to depict a real sense of water, waves or foam through tactile elements? However, guided by young visually impaired people themselves, we successfully created sand, shells, buckets, spades, picnics, sandcastles and even a pair of feet that could actually ‘slide’ into the water’s edge. All the time, we were breaking new ground. By creating a book with visually impaired children in mind, and one packed with innovative and exciting tactile content and accessible text and artwork, we had actually created a book that almost any child could enjoy. We soon started to hear wonderful stories of the books being a huge hit with deaf children, for whom tactile experience is of course also very important. 5

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We were told about an older child on the autistic spectrum who loved the theme of Off to the Park! and the way the book was structured. We heard of a boy with learning difficulties whose parents had found it an invaluable way of discussing forthcoming family trips and explaining road safety. So many individual children seemed to be attracted by this book! And this leads us to one of the overarching learning points from our work in this area – the importance of recognising every child as an individual.

All children are different Where children with additional needs are concerned, there can be a tendency to generalise, and to squeeze all such children into the same box. Whereas, in fact, visual impairment alone represents a vast spectrum of different needs and experiences. For a start, there are a multitude of different types of blindness and sight loss. Children may be born blind or have severe impairment of vision from birth, or onset of sight loss may appear during infancy. There are also many different causes, including abnormalities in eye development, illness and injury. Research (Blind Children UK, 2014) shows that childhood sight loss in the UK is on the increase. This may well be linked to the greater number of premature babies that are surviving, some of whom are likely to be sight impaired at birth. There may be prematurity-related infections, developmental problems or injury to the parts of the brain responsible for vision. The research showed a 9% rise in the number of children registered blind or partially sighted in the UK. The biggest rise of all was amongst those under the age of five (a 12% rise since 2006). It is also important to note that most visually impaired children will in fact have some sight. Indeed, 85% of all people with eye disorders have some remaining sight. A child may have sight in one eye; his eye condition may be permanent, or it may be degenerative; or it may be constantly changing. Recognising the true gamut of experience and need is crucial.

Bookshine books for deaf children This has also been the case in our work with deaf children. In 2008 BookTrust started work on Bookshine, a Bookstart pack for deaf children, to be launched the following year. From the outset it was evident what a vast spectrum of needs and experiences the term ‘deaf’ can actually encompass. This can be a complicated, sensitive and indeed even political area, and it is 6

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very important to have some understanding of the territory. First and foremost, one must appreciate the terms ‘Deaf’ (with a capital D) and ‘deaf’ (lower-case d). This is a crucial differentiation. People who describe themselves as Deaf will generally have been born deaf or have developed hearing loss before the acquisition of spoken language. They will almost certainly use sign language to communicate. They will consider deafness not as a disability but, rather, as a part of their identity and culture. They will identify themselves with the Deaf Community. It is important to understand the distinction between this community and deaf people who have become deafened or hard of hearing in later life, after they have acquired spoken language. The latter will tend to identify themselves with the hearing community. They are generally likely to learn to lip-read and to use hearing aids. Whilst this way of ‘grouping’ deaf people into two categories does not even begin to express the full spectrum of experiences, it is however very important in beginning to understand – and respect – how identity differs in deaf culture. This kind of background knowledge is crucial in terms of developing any initiative to support deaf children and their families. Where books and reading are concerned, there are of course many other important considerations to factor in. We needed to be aware of the importance of language acquisition and the challenges this can hold for a deaf child. Most young children will pick up language from listening. They are incidentally learning from what is going on around them. They will absorb much of what is said by family, friends, on the television and radio. This is of course very different for a deaf child. Sharing a book – so telling the story and discussing the pictures together – can play a vital role in helping a deaf child to develop key language skills. However, what kind of books should we look out for in order to specifically engage deaf children?

Books relevant to deaf children Touch-and-feel books can be of particular help in attracting the interest of deaf children. And, as with their visually impaired peers (and, arguably, any child), starting with the familiar can be advisable where first books are concerned. Books featuring objects and activities which can be easily related to things around the child’s own life can work well. Again, particularly valuable can be books that feature repetition, rhythm and rhymes. This can be especially important for deaf children since they may not have the same opportunity as a hearing child to absorb the natural rhythm 7

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and rhyme of the language around them. Books that initiate a response or an action can also be helpful – so encouraging the child to clap, laugh or repeat a word. Often, of course, the activity may involve some sign language. It is important to recognise that there is no single communication approach that works best for all deaf children and all families. However, many deaf children will of course learn to sign. Indeed, even when their children are not deaf, families may choose to introduce signing to babies. Hand–eye co-ordination develops earlier than speech skills, so very young children can often sign words like ‘milk’ before they are able to say the word itself. A frequent question about the use of sign language with very young children is whether it could delay or prevent speech development. However, there is no evidence to back up such concerns. Some families will develop a Total Communication approach. This involves using a variety of communication methods together and might include signs, natural gestures, fingerspelling, body language, listening, lip-reading and speech. So, there may be much involved – and holding a book whilst signing (and perhaps making other gestures) can be quite an art! Likewise, the process may need to involve positioning which allows the child a full view of the parent or carer’s face so as to help see expressions and perhaps read lips. Visual clues may be used to help support the child’s understanding of the story and of any new words. Using toys, props or puppets can also be of great value, enabling the family to ‘act out’ what is happening in the book and supporting language development. This can of course be of use to many families, not just those who have deaf children.

Bookstart Star For this reason, puppets were a key component in the third pack developed by the Bookstart team to support children with additional needs. The aim of Bookstart Star was to support young children with conditions affecting their motor skills, and the pack was launched in 2014. The pack once again contains a tactile book, such as Off to the Park! to ensure an array of exciting sensory features. However, it also includes a board book with an accompanying finger puppet to play with alongside the story. Children have a huge capacity for imagination and puppets represent an ideal medium for exploiting this. Using puppets alongside a book can generate communication and interaction. It can help to overcome anxiety and fears, especially since children have the ability to completely disregard the 8

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person operating the puppet, often happily communicating directly with the puppet. Puppet play can be ideal for supporting kinaesthetic learning and for stimulating the brain. Research by Peyton (2002) used sophisticated imaging technology to prove that the use of puppets in play dramatically boosted blood and oxygen levels to the brain. The use of puppets actually stimulates the brain, preparing it for learning. Further research (Zuljevic, 2005) also reported that teachers saw an increase in student involvement and motivation where puppets were used, as well as improved reading, oral language and communication skills. The puppets included in the Bookstart Star packs were chosen to be directly linked to the books. So, if a board book told a story of a mouse or a bear, the finger puppets in that pack would feature those same animals. Completing the pack was guidance for using the resources and supporting the child’s enjoyment of books and reading. All three packs for children with additional needs have proved to be extremely popular and there are many ways in which they might be considered an important step forward in terms of supporting the families of children with additional needs. For one thing, of course, sharing books with a child who has additional needs is just as important – and enjoyable – as sharing books with a child who does not. In fact, some would argue more so. Listening to a familiar voice, absorbing the language, experiencing the rhyme and rhythm, enjoying a story or a theme, can be of immense pleasure, reassurance and, of course, value. Yet book sharing can all too easily get overlooked.

The issues for families There are pressures on any family. However, life can be particularly stressful where a child has additional – perhaps complex – needs. Not surprisingly, responding to a child’s clinical needs is likely to be the first priority. Many babies with additional needs may be in a critical medical condition and may remain so for a long period of time. They may be hospitalised as they receive treatment or undergo operations. Sharing books together may well not be seen as a priority, or not even considered at all. Children with profound, multiple and complex disabilities are at a particular disadvantage. Not only may parents fail to consider sharing books at such an early stage, but even if they do so, they are likely to experience far more difficulty in finding books that are suitable. So, very frequently, families assume that books (mainstream books at least) are not relevant to their young child. The book world 9

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is clearly not for their child. Thus, it must be acknowledged, the mainstream book landscape risks failing many families. We are not just talking about children with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Those who are totally blind or functionally blind (even without additional impairments) may also have extremely limited experiences with books, since most printed books are simply not accessible or meaningful. Where books are introduced, there will probably be a need for significant adaptations – perhaps sourcing additional resources or sensory props, perhaps creating stickers with Braille signs or communication symbols. Where a mainstream book cannot be adapted in this way, then it may be necessary to go so far as to try to make books from scratch or to try to track down specialist book services. And so more pressures are added for the parent or carer of the child with additional needs. This is the sad truth – mainstream books are perceived (both from within and outside the industry) as being for the ‘majority’. According to the Writers and Artists website (Kloet, 2016), around 10,000 children’s titles are published each year in the UK alone, and yet, for many children with additional needs, the vast majority of these will be inaccessible or lack real meaning. There is a substantial audience at serious risk of being excluded from the pleasure and importance of early contact with books. On a more positive note, this makes Bookstart’s programmes all the more valuable. It also makes it all the more important to help every family to identify those books which are appropriate for them. Knowing which books to try, where to find them and what to do with them can really help to ease at least a little of the pressure.

Accessible books This chapter has already talked about the importance of touch-and-feel books and how to identify those which are likely to be of most value to children who are sensory impaired. There are, of course other books out there with much to offer – audiobooks, for example (see also Chapter 10). Audiobooks can feature music, sound effects and different voices to bring the story to life, or just be a simple read-along version to support independent reading. Audiobooks have shown a recent surge in popularity and availability in the UK. At the time of writing, one can scan a Quick Response (QR) code to download an audio version of a book; buy a book with an accompanying CD; or use an online library to gain instant access to a vast range of titles. 10

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For some children – and indeed parents or carers – the size and presentation of text can dramatically affect a book’s accessibility. Print size does vary enormously, but there are books (even in the mainstream landscape) with a larger print size, and of course there are also large-print and giant-print format books produced by specialist services, sometimes also with Braille. Some design trends can prove the enemy of accessibility. Low-contrast text, ‘playful’ undulating text, random capitalisation, complicated backgrounds and quirky fonts may look fun but can make a picture book challenging for anyone to read, let alone a child (or parent) with reading difficulties or sight impairment. We are not suggesting that picture books should be dull in design. Merely that, for optimum readability, we also need stylish, fun, exciting mainstream books, that feature well-sized, simple fonts and a good contrast between the text and background. Another important area to cover when talking about accessibility is the huge value of picture books for all ages and the fact that children should never be made to feel they must ‘grow out’ of picture books. Indeed, it should be quite the opposite. Surely, with the benefit of age there is even more to appreciate in a picture book! Those of us who work in the arena of children’s books and reading have the bad habit of listening in to conversations in bookshops. One recent eavesdropping episode involved a mother and a child of five or six. Mother tells the child: ‘This is your Christmas book token from Granny; you can choose any book you like.’ The child spends some time browsing, picks up a glorious and very funny picture book and shows it to Mum with a huge smile on her face. Mother responds: ‘Oh not that one, you’re much too old for picture books now.’ Picture books offer so much – story, illustration, insights, magic and wonder – and are often very sophisticated and thought provoking. Surely, we all need picture books until we die! Some picture books are of course even specifically aimed at an older age. There are now some great books that succeed in offering up exciting stories but without excessive text. The UK does not have the same reputation for supporting visual literacy in young readers as do some other countries. Historically, the graphic novel does not command the same respect as, for example, the bande dessinée does in France or Belgium. Parents may often feel that their child will not be suitably challenged by highly illustrated books, and ‘moving on’ to pictureless books can be seen as a major objective. Thus, children too may be embarrassed to be seen reading highly illustrated books. 11

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Thankfully, the likes of authors Anthony Browne, John Burningham, Shaun Tan and Neil Gaiman are helping to counter that unfortunate myth that picture books should be solely the domain of the very youngest of readers. Where children with reading difficulties such as dyslexia are concerned, we may want to seek out books with shorter sentences, a ‘round’ font (like Arial), good spacing and wide margins. Cream paper can also make a difference, as can ensuring that the text on the other side of the page doesn’t show through. Thank goodness for superb publishers like UK-based Barrington Stoke, who specialise in exceptionally good books, written by today’s very top authors, designed particularly with those who have dyslexia and reading difficulties in mind, but with appeal to all readers. However, it would be pleasing to see many more mainstream books follow some simple guidelines to improve accessibility. Technological advances have of course brought a new era for disabled children of all ages. E-books involving interactive elements can help to really engage and involve the child. They can offer a host of accessibility features, allowing adjustments in print size, image, colours and contrast. Computers, tablets and other devices appeal to most children and can offer means of accessing books not previously available. Whilst nothing can quite replace the pleasure of cuddling up with a traditional book, research indicates that children often prefer reading on a screen to reading a printed page (Picton, 2014), so including such methods of reading somewhere in a child’s varied reading ‘diet’ can have great rewards.

Inclusive books Finally, when talking about books for children with additional needs, let us not forget the importance of inclusive images and stories. By this we mean all children being able to see themselves reflected in books, as part of the story, involved in positive, everyday things. One small publisher with a mixed-race family started her company because she could find no books in which her children could see themselves. Historically, of course, disabled characters in books hardly represented the greatest of role models. Disability was generally invisible, but where it did appear it often seemed to define characters – embodying their evil or bitter nature or positioning them as objects of pity. Clara in Heidi, Colin in The Secret Garden, Katy in What Katy Did, Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, Captain Hook in Peter Pan . . . where were the disabled characters who just ‘happened’ to be disabled without its being a key aspect of the plot? 12

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However, in recent years an increasing number of more positive depictions have started to appear. They are interesting, fully rounded disabled characters, whose personalities, actions, adventures and aspirations stand out more than the fact that they happen to be disabled. A big break-through came with the publication of a picture book about pirates in which the pirate captain on the cover was drawn wearing a hearing aid – many children didn’t notice this, but all the hearing-impaired children did. An increasing number of books show disabled people casually, naturally and incidentally. They show that disabled people are just like anyone else – they do not always need to be endowed with superhuman powers or magic wheelchairs. There is always a risk that books about disabled characters resort to the ‘triumph in adversity’ approach. We still need more books to show that it isn’t the disability which makes a person different or special but, rather, what they do or how they handle a particular situation. Books are also starting to acknowledge the less visible. Books featuring mental health issues have started to appear, as well as conditions such as selective mutism, facial disfiguration, ADHD, dyslexia and so on. Whilst the volume of books featuring disabled characters is growing, there is still a long way to go. Of course, most of us will generally relate more to the personality of someone we read about than to whether they happen to share our physical characteristics, but it is nevertheless important that children with a multitude of different needs are included, right across the children’s book landscape.

Conclusion Throughout our work we have met children who have confirmed how very important real accessibility and inclusion are. There was the teenager we met who pleaded for more disabled children to be included in books without comment, as opposed to always accentuating difference – ‘I would just like to fade into the crowd more,’ he told us. There was the child who told us ‘disabled people can be heroes too’; and the group of deaf children who looked at us in utter disbelief when we showed them a book featuring a child with a hearing aid – the first time they had ever seen this reflected in books. And there are all the children who have been able to enjoy mainstream books like Getting Ready, Off to the Beach! and Off to the Park! thanks to the inclusion of well-researched and truly meaningful tactile experience. We know how important this work is. Programmes like Bookstart which ensure that accessible and inclusive books reach all children are beyond 13

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valuable. Books are powerful resources for life; we read at all times and for all reasons, for information, escape, experience of other lives, solace and so much more. This extraordinary resource must be available for everyone.

Appendix 1.1: Twelve inclusive books to look out for Bourne, H. (2015) Am I Normal Yet? Usborne. This is a compelling story about a teenage girl starting a new college, a situation to which many will relate. However, Evie also has a history of OCD and anxiety and is slipping into a relapse. Informative but eminently readable. Age 14+ years. Brahmachari, S. (2016) Car Wash Wish, Barrington Stoke. A boy with Asperger’s Syndrome is coming to terms with his ever-changing family in this short but deceptively satisfying book. Like all Barrington Stoke books, it offers exciting age-appropriate content but is accessible to a low reading age. Reading age 7+, interest level 11+. Dodds, A. L. (2016) We Are Giants, Quercus. This book features a very rarely featured subject, that of restricted growth, and it does so sensitively and convincingly. An entertaining and uplifting story, readable but with real emotional depth. Age 9+ years. Donaldson, J. and Sharratt, N. (2015) What the Jackdaw Saw, Macmillan. An ingenious tale about a jackdaw who learns the importance of effective communication. Written in collaboration with deaf children and enhanced still further by the inclusion of some British Sign Language for all children to learn. An accompanying CD with some editions offers a signed version of the story. Age 2+. Foreman, M. (2006) Seal Surfer, Andersen Press. A stunning picture-book story of a boy and his grandfather developing a friendship with a family of seals. The eagle-eyed will notice that the boy happens to have a mobility impairment, but there is no mention of this in the text. Age 2+. Garner, S. (2013) Maggot Moon, Hot Key Books. An award-winning dystopian novel which sees a boy taking on a brutal and ruthless regime. The protagonist has dyslexia and the book is delivered in an accessible font and in a very wide variety of formats. Age 12+. Hoffman, M. and Asquith, R. (2015) The Great Big Book of Families, Frances Lincoln. A highly inclusive celebration of the diversity of families. Disabled people are casually included throughout. There are several wheelchairs, lots of glasses, leg braces and a walker. It is a book packed with detail, humour and interest, a 14

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great reminder that there is no such thing as ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’. Age 3+. Keighery, C. (2012) Whisper, Templar Books. Here we meet a girl left deaf after a bout of meningitis. It is rare enough to come across a deaf protagonist, but very few reflect the true spectrum of emotions, views and experiences of deafness as this book does, all within a thoroughly absorbing story. Age 12+ years. Stockdale, S., Strick, A. and Asquith, R. (2014) Max the Champion, Frances Lincoln. The simple story of a sports-mad boy, this book features a vast range of different impairments, but all without comment. We find people signing, a guide dog, a foreshortened arm, Cherubism, Down syndrome, an eye patch, a hearing aid . . . even an asthma inhaler. Age 3–7 years. Strickland, T., Depalma, K. and Dean, D. (2016) The Barefoot Book of Children, Barefoot. A non-fiction book about how children live around the world. This is a stunning book encouraging the reader to explore the world and those who live in it, the differences but also the commonality. Highly inclusive and beautifully delivered. Age 3–8 years. Thompson, C. (2013) One, Two, Three . . . Run! Child’s Play. Even a simple book for babies can include disabled children naturally and subtly – and this delightful board book proves the point. It features two young children, one of whom happens to have Down syndrome, exploring early movement. As ever with Child’s Play, the inclusive content is both casual and convincing. Age 0–3 years. Willis, J. and Ross, T. (1999) Susan Laughs, 1st edition. In this modern classic we meet Susan. She laughs, she sings, she flies, she swings. She’s good, bad, happy and sad. Just like any other child. At the end, it is revealed that she also happens to use a wheelchair. Age 2+.

References Blind Children UK (2014) Increase in Prevalence of Visual Impairment, www.guidedogs.org.uk/news/2014/may/childhood-sight-loss-on-the-increase-inthe-uk#.WJj3E7GcY_U. Bookstart (2016) www.bookstart.org.uk/professionals/about-bookstart-and-thepacks/research/reviews-and-resources/early-learning. Kloet, C. (2016) Writing and the Children’s Book Market, www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/5/dedicated-genre-advice/writingfor-children/writing-and-the-children-s-book-market. Peyton, J. L. (2002) The Promise of Play: a paradigm for deep reform in education, 15

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http://puppetools.com/!getpublicfile.php?fid=146. Picton, I. (2014) The Impact of Ebooks on the Reading Motivation and Reading Skills of Children and Young People: a rapid literature review, National Literacy Trust. Zuljevic, V. (2005) Puppets – A Great Addition to Everyday Teaching, Thinking Classroom, 6 (January).

Accessible books referred to in the chapter Cheetham, S. (2014) Off to the Park! Child’s Play. Children are invited to join the narrator in exploring a host of tactile experiences including a slide, swing, rubber tyre and even a sweet-smelling ice cream treat. Also offering Braille-style numbering, play elements, high-contrast images and a rhythmic rhyming text, this book is designed to create as sensory and involved an experience as possible out of a familiar and well-loved journey. Age 3+. Cocoretto (2016a) Off to the Beach!, Child’s Play. This time the narrator puts on sun hat, glasses and sun block and heads for the beach. Another wealth of tactile experiences await, including sandcastles, shells, a picnic and even a pair of feet to slide into the water. A journey of discovery is designed with every child in mind, with key words labelled in Braille. Age 3+. Cocoretto (2016b) Getting Ready, Child’s Play. Ideal for slightly younger children, this book offers a tactile introduction to the process of getting ready for the day ahead. We find a soft teddy bear, a range of clothes, breakfast, a toothbrush and toothpaste, before it’s time to open the front door and set off. Age 2+.

Useful resources: Barrington Stoke, www.barringtonstoke.co.uk Bookmark, www.bookmark.org.uk BookTrust, www.booktrust.org.uk ClearVision, www.clearvisionproject.org Letterbox Library, www.letterboxlibrary.com NDCS, www.ndcs.org.uk RNIB, www.rnib.org.uk

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2 Listening to their voices: what research tells us about readers Teri S. Lesesne

Introduction For decades, research into reading has probed a central question: how can we best create lifetime readers? We are certainly skilled at creating schooltime readers: reading is assigned and assessed. However, school-time reading does not always translate into lifetime reading. Can we see where children and young people are falling through the gaps, and what can research show us how to help those struggling readers? The question is, then, how do lifetime readers develop? What experiences contribute to a lifelong love of books and reading and how can we ensure that these experiences can be universal? The start of each new semester of my graduate young adult (YA) literature class is a time of renewal for me. Students who are pursuing their MLS (Masters of Library Science) degree have, as their initial assignment, the task of writing their reading autobiography. This reading autobiography reflects on the memories the students have about reading. The assignment did not originate with me but was one that I completed as a graduate student. As it turns out, my YA literature professor Dick Abrahamson was also asked to complete his reading autobiography as a graduate student of G. Robert Carlsen. Carlsen began assigning the reading autobiography to his students in the mid-1950s and in the 1980s Carlsen and his doctoral student Anne Sherrill began an analysis of thousands of reading autobiographies. Their conclusions were presented in a book entitled Voices of Readers: how we come to love books (Carlsen and Sherrill, 1988). What the voices of thousands of readers recounted in their journey to lifetime reading should continue to inform our best practices today, some 30 years later. Since the early 1990s, I have combed through countless reading autobiographies. The important factors that Carlsen and Sherrill (1988) highlighted in their book as

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‘experiences likely to produce readers’ still ring true for contemporary readers. This chapter will review some of the findings of Carlsen and Sherrill. Make no mistake, though: these findings are supported by other research as well. The essential factors in developing a lifelong love of books and reading include having models of reading at home and in the classroom (noted by Carlsen and Sherrill, 1988, 158–9, as essential for ages 2 to 11); having access to books and other reading materials (essential for ages 2 to 11); having someone read aloud (essential for ages 6 to adult); setting aside time for reading (essential for ages 6 to adult); being allowed to select reading material (essential for ages 6 to adult); and belonging to a reading community (ages 9 to adult). Box 2.1 on the next page contains the directions I provide to the students for their reading autobiography assignment. As the assignments are submitted I take a journey with each student as they share their reading life from childhood to adulthood. I travel with students as they share the important roles played by parents and siblings in their early reading lives. I continue along the path with them into elementary school, where they talk about story circles and read-aloud time, about going to the library to check out books they could keep (well, for a couple of weeks). The road extends and we move on to middle school, where they fall in love with series books. On to high school, where leisure reading comes to almost a complete halt as they focus on canonical literature. Ditto for much of their college years. Reading for leisure takes a vacation of sorts during this time. Eventually, the path emerges from the dark forest of classics and into the brighter days of reading inside and outside of their classrooms. It is almost as though the journey had circled back to the beginning as these teachers conduct story times, read aloud to students and take their students to visit the school library.

Role models My mother was a lifelong reader. I can recall her bedside table stacked with magazines and books. Despite having charge of four very active girls, she found time to read each day, often when we were supposed to be in bed. I remember seeing the light on in her room and seeing her absorbed in her reading. My sisters and I would sneak into her room as teens to read her True Romance issues. This model of reading had a profound influence on me as a child. Not only was Mom a reader, but she supported me as a reader. There were trips to the public library and books as presents for birthdays and Christmas. Reading through the autobiographies submitted by my students over the last 25 years confirms that little has changed. One points 18

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Box 2.1: Writing your reading autobiography Write your reading autobiography. A reading autobiography is your personal memoir of being read to, of learning to read, of titles, of authors and of genres of books you read growing up. It’s your description of the memories you have of reading and libraries, either positive or negative. Did you read with a special person? Did you have a favourite place or time to read. Focus more on your secondary years than your early years. What reading experiences did you have as a teen? Include what you like to read as an adult but limit that phase of your reading. As a child and as a teen did you enjoy reading? As an adult, do you enjoy reading? How do you show your enthusiasm for reading to students? Do you participate in any studentoriented social networks or other digital forms?

Tips for this assignment • Use first person. This is a memoir, and first person is correct for this assignment.

• Before you begin, try brainstorming a list of memories you have from your • • • • • • • •

early years (before school, too) and throughout elementary, middle, high school and college into adulthood. These memories can be positive and negative. Be honest about how you felt about books and reading. Talk to family about memories you may have forgotten. Write an interesting introduction to pull readers into the narrative. Write a conclusion that wraps up the narrative. Be certain to discuss how you model a love of reading to your students. This assignment is submitted to Blackboard. Be sure to include specifics: titles, authors, teachers, etc. Use paragraphs as you move from one time period in your life to another.

Note: Though this assignment is set up for an essay, you might wish to explore completing it in a different format (i.e. a reading timeline, perhaps? Or a Prezi?). Use your imagination but make sure you cover all the bases/requirements. Whenintime.com might be something you investigate. A Smore would work, so would a Padlet.

to a father who would come home dog tired at the end of the day and still pick up a book and read after dinner. Another credits an older sister who was a voracious reader. Others note the influence of various family members. Jessica Tom (2016) writes: ‘Your child walks like you, talks like you, absorbs everything you do. So set the right example when it comes to reading.’ Her suggestions include surrounding children with books, buying books or borrowing books together and sharing what you are reading with children. 19

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My children and grandchildren saw evidence of my own reading. Overcrowded shelves buckling due to double shelving; stacks in almost every room of the house. Speaking of shelves, Jim Trelease (1989, 2001), author of The New Read Aloud Handbook, tells parents on his website that buying books and having bookshelves are two simple things they can do to raise a reader.1 I tend to think of role models as mentors. They do not merely pay lipservice to the importance of books and reading; they engage in reading alongside us. They share books with us; they recommend titles and authors. As author Emilie Buchwald (n.d.) famously says, ‘Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.’ And when these children head off to school, they should encounter more role models in their teachers. The presence of role models in the classroom is also essential. Teachers as role models underscore the importance of reading, especially for those students who might not have an avid reader as a role model in their homes. So, it is imperative that teachers act as role models as well. But the role models need to extend beyond the individual classrooms to the entire school. A climate of reading in the school can also be a powerful tool. If all teachers and staff and administrators value books and reading, children will be surrounded by dozens of role models constantly, throughout the school day. More of this aspect of school climate will be discussed throughout the chapter.

Access If I have access to the makings of a salad in my refrigerator, I am more likely to make myself something healthy than to reach for a less than nutritious alternative. The same is true, I think, of access to books and other reading materials. Having books close at hand in the classroom and in the school library is another key element in the creation of lifelong readers. Susan Neuman (1999) studied 350 schools with more than 18,000 students. The effects of having a classroom library included the following: • time spent reading increased by 60% • literacy-related activities increased four-fold • concepts about print and story improved. The American Library Association (Hack, Hepler and Hickman, 1993) recommends a classroom library of 300 titles supplemented by a welldeveloped school library. Other professionals recommend seven books per child to begin with and more books acquired each year. However, a 20

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Scholastic survey of classrooms in 2013 concluded that fewer than half of those surveyed had 300+ books in their libraries (Miller, 2013). Classroom libraries do not supplant the need for school libraries. The role played by school libraries has been the subject of some extensive research, particularly by Keith Curry Lance.2 Study after study by Lance and others who are replicating his work show positive correlations between the presence of a certified librarian with an adequate collection and the standardised test scores of the students in those schools (Lance and Hofschire, 2011). Conversely, more current studies investigate the effect of schools that have lost their librarians due to budget cuts. Test scores fell as a result of the loss of the librarian, with the losses felt most particularly among students for whom English is not their first language (ELLs). Like school libraries, classroom collections should be curated. The collection should be developed methodically. The books need to provide variety in form, format and genre and to offer all students windows and mirrors: they need to be diverse. In Designing and Curating a Classroom Library for Lifelong Readers, Katie Bennington (2016) provides guidelines for the care and feeding of classroom collections. Donalyn Miller (2013) also discusses how to develop and curate a classroom collection in Reading in the Wild. Remember also that curation requires weeding. The collection from my 8th grade classroom was weeded on a regular basis with my own students assisting me in the process. Biographies of Paula Abdul (as a singer, and not a judge on American Idol) and Vanilla Ice (as a rapper, and not a home designer) made way for other celebrity biographies. Students made lists requesting books to be added, as well. It seems I was missing Sweet Valley High #35 to complete the series. Requests might be specific, like the foregoing, but they could also be more vague, ranging from ‘You need books about cowboys and rodeos,’ and ‘Could you find some books about fishing?’ to a request for more scary, funny, mysterious books. Weeded titles were placed in a carton so that interested students could claim them as their own. In return, I asked students to donate books they no longer wanted so that they could be considered for addition to our library. Access is not just physical. Children also need to be able to access the content of books. That means considering the moral, social, cultural and intellectual characteristics of students. Notice that reading levels and lexiles are not part of the consideration here. These numerical assessments of books may be useful for educators seeking to narrow the range of books appropriate for addition to the classroom library; more important, however, is consideration of where the students are developmentally. For instance, 21

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children who are operating at the concrete operational stage (Piaget, 1954) may have a more difficult time accessing books that require more abstract thinking. Students who are still motivated by reward and punishment under Kohlberg’s paradigm (1981) may not appreciate Claudette Colvin: twice toward justice by Philip Hoose (2009), which deals with someone willing to put herself at risk, violating one of the Jim Crow laws and being thrown into jail. Diversity plays a role here as well (see also Chapter 7). Readers need windows and mirrors and doors in books. Simply, they need to be able to see themselves (mirrors), look out into the larger world (windows) and perhaps be inspired to work toward social justice (doors). Websites such as www.wndb.org provide much more detail about the important role diverse books play in the development of lifelong readers. The latest figures in the US break down books by the race/ethnicity of the main character as follows: • • • • •

73.3% white 7.6% African American 3.3% Asian Pacific 2.4% Hispanic 0.9% Native American.

Interestingly enough, the statistics for another class of main characters, namely animals, trucks and other non-human characters is 12.5%. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center tracks these statistics for the US market on its website.3 This disparity in terms of diversity is alarming, and it is not recent. In 1965 Nancy Larrick (1965) wrote an article entitled ‘The All White World of Children’s Books’, in which she reported that books featuring characters of colour were largely missing from children’s books. Access, then, includes more than simple proximity to the physical book.

Reading aloud The importance of reading aloud in the development of lifetime readers has been documented by research for decades. Books such as Jim Trelease’s (1989) The New Read-Aloud Handbook; Reading Magic: why reading aloud to our children will change their lives forever by Mem Fox (2008); and Steven Layne’s In Defense of Read-Aloud: sustaining best practice (2015) all provide the pedagogical basis for this practice. Countless studies have demonstrated the positive effect of reading aloud not only on reading test scores but also on attitudes toward reading. 22

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Somehow, though, the practice of reading aloud is either absent or has been transformed into more of a skill-and-drill (and kill) strategy in too many classrooms and libraries. In the US, part of the reason for the decline in the practice of reading aloud traces back to the National Reading Panel (NRP) (2000). The research conducted by the NRP established what became known as the ‘five pillars of reading instruction’. Its conclusions were based on an analysis of the research in the field of reading. This might suggest that there was insufficient data about reading aloud, but that is not exactly the case. The panel did not investigate the research on reading aloud, electing to focus instead on elements such as comprehension, vocabulary and fluency. Interestingly enough, there is research that shows a correlation between reading aloud and vocabulary development, between reading aloud and comprehension and between reading aloud and fluency. Massaro (2015), who studies language acquisition and literacy, notes: ‘Reading aloud is the best way to help children develop word mastery and grammatical understanding, which form the basis for learning how to read.’ He found that picture books are two to three times as likely as parent–child conversations to include a word that isn’t among the 5,000 most common English words. Oueini et al. (2008) concluded that reading aloud increased vocabulary and comprehension. Dhaif (1990) examined the effects of reading aloud on second language learners and concluded that this practice improved comprehension significantly. Rasinski (2004) notes: Passages meant to be read aloud as a performance – poetry, for example, or scripts, speeches, monologues, dialogues, jokes, and riddles – are perfect texts for developing fluency. Allington and Gabriel’s (2012) article for Educational Leadership asserts that, as one of the six elements of instruction that every child should experience every day, they should listen to a fluent adult read aloud noting, ‘Listening to an adult model fluent reading increases students’ own fluency and comprehension skills (Trelease, 2001), as well as expanding their vocabulary, background knowledge, sense of story, awareness of genre and text structure, and comprehension of the texts read (Samuels and Wu, 2004).’

Allington and Gabriel (2012) go on to observe that few teachers above early elementary grades read aloud to students on a regular basis, and suggest that this practice may be more effective than the entire class reading a single text for themselves. But, if reading aloud is to be effective, educators need to keep some important points in mind: 23

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• Reading aloud is, in effect, a performance. Therefore, it should follow performance standards and guidelines. • Selecting and rehearsing the read-aloud should make it more likely that the reading will be an excellent model of fluency and prosody. • Read-alouds should be varied. Short read-alouds can be interspersed with longer ones, fiction with non-fiction, picture books with poetry, etc. • Creating a schedule where reading aloud is done on a routine basis lets children know that it is: (a) important and (b) engaging. • Invite guests in to read aloud. Guests may be parents, school staff or community leaders. Letting children hear voices other than yours creates novelty, but it also creates interest: who will be reading aloud this time? What might that person select? You might also consider using an audiobook excerpt as a read-aloud. What better reader than a professional voice actor? A final note on reading aloud: there are numerous resources that suggest materials to read aloud. See the books mentioned at the beginning of this section. I also mark passages from books I am reading if I discover a piece that I believe would make a great read-aloud. I do the same with picture books, poems etc. Sometimes I read only the opening line or paragraph of a book to ‘read and tease’. The first couple of pages of Joan Lowery Nixon’s mystery Whispers from the Dead (1989) has never failed to leave listeners wanting to know more. The opening lines of The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (1974) and You by Charles Benoit (2010) or David Klass’s You Don’t Know Me (2007) are some of my favourites. They work for me because I find them a great way to begin some book talks. Reading aloud should become part of any book talks we do for readers. Let the words of the author speak for the books!

Time In some ways, the element of time may be strongly related to the element of access. After all, if you have access to books but not enough time to read, then access is virtually nullified. In Reading in the Wild, Donalyn Miller (2013) writes about time and the different ways we can provide time for reading, browsing books, conferencing and the like. She writes about ‘edge’ time. Sometimes I refer to this as ‘fringe’ time. It is a matter of finding those moments when we can fit in some reading. For instance, after I complete a task on my daily ToDo List I take a few minutes to pick up a new picture book and read it. It takes only minutes. But those few minutes of reading a 32-page picture book can 24

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add up. Ten books equal 320 pages. Yes, I do understand that the pages are often filled with illustrations as well as texts, but for someone who is not already an avid reader this might just bring a real feeling of accomplishment. I am not suggesting that children and young people should track the number of pages they read, but it could be advantageous to point out the progress that less-than-avid readers make in this fringe time that is spent reading. Here are some other instances when we could encourage children and young people to read ‘on the fringes’ or ‘in the edges’. I have the habit, as I suspect many of you do, of taking a book with me as I head out to various appointments. I know there will be waiting time and I would much rather read something I have brought along than the ancient copies of People magazine or Highlights for Children back issues. (And let me suggest that you leave a book in these waiting areas. Recently, on a visit to the dentist, I watched an older sibling read aloud to his younger siblings from some picture books I had left behind on a previous visit.) I always have a book in the car in case of freeway gridlock. I keep books in every room of the house, including the bathroom. Of course, I have ‘emergency’ books on the Kindle app on my phone and tablets. We need to talk to children about taking books along with them just in case. In a matter of minutes, over time, the amount of reading might just astound them. Consider Box 2.2.

Box 2.2: Reading just 15 minutes a day • • • • • • •

Reading 15 minutes each day = 105 minutes a week 105 minutes a week = 5450 minutes read a year This results in 20 books per year read in 15 minutes a day 20 books a year adds up to more than 1000 books in a lifetime Number of words read in 15 minutes a day = 30K per week 30K per week adds up to 1.5 million words a year The effect on vocabulary growth can reach as much as 80%

Source: Adapted from: Anderson, Wilson and Fielding (1988)

Years ago, my colleague Lois Buckman and I received a grant to purchase audiobooks and Walkman players. We used these with children and young people who faced long daily commutes to and from school. The amount of reading completed by these wired-in students exceeded that of their classmates. Today, I listen to audiobooks during my commute to and from work. I have audiobooks on my phone and tablets as well, and listen to them during travel and while waiting for travel to happen. Reading with my ears 25

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increases the number of books I can read. It is perfect for some of those fringe times. We can get students to brainstorm, identifying the opportunities they may have for finding moments to read. Including parents in this discussion might also be valuable. Finally, making a commitment to time, setting aside time, is critical. As with anything that we wish to become a habit, taking time to read requires daily practice. When I conduct professional development with teachers and librarians I ask them to decide on a 10–15 minute slot of time they will commit to reading each and every day. Then I ask them to take out their smartphones, enter the time into tomorrow’s calendar and set the reminder to repeat every day for the rest of the year. This reminder will, I hope, keep their commitment fresh. We can certainly ask our children to do the same. There is something to be said for the tyranny of the calendar with its daily reminder in terms of developing this habit of setting aside time to read every day. Are there days when my commitment fails? Yes, but there are also those lovely, rainy days when my 15 minutes becomes a day of reading. Commitment to time can help us become more dedicated readers. It can do the same for our children.

Choice I love returning to my office after being on the road for a week. What awaits me are envelopes and boxes containing books. I open all these ‘gifts’ and make stacks of books on my desk. I sort books into some preliminary piles: picture books, middle grade, YA, graphic novels, non-fiction. The picture books will be devoured at the office when I take a break on work days (remember that 15 minutes a day? I can read three picture books in that short time allotment). I go through the other stacks and cull out some titles to take home that day. It might be a book that someone has recommended to me; it may be a book by one of my favourite authors. Or it could have a catchy title, great cover or a blurb from someone whose opinion I respect. The reason does not matter, I can select which books will move to the top of my TBR (to be read) stack. There are times when I do not have a choice. I review for several journals and I am assigned books to read for those reviews. When I have served on selection and award committees, I have not always had choices about what to read next. However, most of the time I do have the opportunity to set priorities for books to read. I can abandon a book if it does not pull me into the story. How often is this true for children? How much choice do they receive, especially within the school walls? And yet, choice plays an important role in reading lives. A recent survey 26

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conducted by Scholastic (2015) demonstrates how choice affects reading. Results are available for the United States, the UK, Australia and India. Frequency with Which Children Read a Book of Their Choice Independently in School as a Class, During Available Free Time and as a School Base: Children Ages 6–17

Every or almost every school day

2-3 times a week

2-3 times a month or less often

33%

Never

25%

12% 6% 3% 2%

10%

17%

9% 10%

13% 67%

89%

75%

3%

Reading as a Class

Reading on Own Time

Reading as a School

QK33a/b. During the school day is there a time when you read a book of your choice independently (not including textbooks)? If yes, which situation applies? QK34. How often does each situation apply?

Figure 2.1 Kids & Family Reading report (5th edition) U.S Edition p.47

Choice is frequently not an element of what kids are reading in school, in class, on their own time. And yet, choice is a factor when it comes to actually reading a book. Children’s Agreement with Statements Base: Children Ages 6–17 ‘My favorite books are the ones that I have picked out myself’

‘I am more likely to finish reading a book that I have picked out myself’

92%

93%

93%

89%

90%

92%

92%

89%

Ages 6–8

Ages 9–11

Ages 12–14

Ages 15–17

Ages 6–8

Ages 9–11

Ages 12–14

Ages 15–17

Total Kids

91%

Total Kids

90%

QK15. Please tell me whether you agree a lot, agree a little, disagree a little or disagree a lot with each of the following statements. NOTE: See Appendix D for full question responses

Figure 2.2 Kids & Family Reading report (5th edition) U.S Edition p.56 27

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So, how can we offer more choice in reading to our students? • Allow students to select a book for the daily read-aloud. This can be a limited or narrow choice. For example, set up a shelf or stack of a handful of books and have the class vote on which one they will hear. • Develop thematic reading lists that, rather than restricting students to one text, offer them a choice of two, three, four or five books that address a similar theme. • When it comes to independent reading, encourage students to choose freely. Levels, genres, length etc. should not become factors for selecting books. • Utilise strategies such as Harvey Daniels’ (2002) Literature Circles, where a handful of books are selected for class study and students are placed in groups based upon their selections. If we do not permit reading choice when children and young people are in school, how can we expect them to select books independently once they are out of school?

Conclusion: it’s all about community We are a community of readers. It snuck up on us as it usually does. Last week, as my students sat with their chosen reading adventures and I tried to figure out who to confer with, I noticed the silence. That beautiful silence that comes from a large group of kids totally immersed in the task they are doing. The concentration only broken by the quiet ding of the timer. And they came back up for air and I wished that I could give them more than the lousy ten minutes we start with every day.

(Ripp, 2016)

This, the final element that needs to be addressed in order to develop a lifelong love of books (Carlsen and Sherrill, 1988, 158–9), basically draws together all of the previous elements that we have considered. The establishment and support of a community of readers ensures that our students or library users move from simply being school-time readers to becoming lifelong readers. And most of us belong to a community or several communities of readers. As a library practitioner, think about your reading communities and what they offer you as a reader. I have had the great good fortune of serving on award committees. Each of those committees became a community as we 28

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discussed the books we were reading and whether or not they met the criteria for the particular award. Passionate debate, respectful discourse, and always an appreciation for the individual, were ever present. While these communities might have been temporary in terms of the length of time we were together, the individuals are still reading friends. We came together for a specific purpose. Other communities were built from a different purpose. I am a proud member of the Nerdy Book Club (https://nerdybookclub. wordpress.com). (see Figure 2.3 for our club logo).4 Founding members Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp have provided all book lovers with a platform on which to celebrate books and reading. Other communities include my colleagues at work, my family and other groups who share a passion for books. Communities, then, can be permanent or temporary, can be based on mutual interests, can be large or small. How can we facilitate the formation of reading communities for our children? The first and largest community should be our classrooms and libraries. So, how can we create community Figure 2.3 The Nerdy Book Club Logo in these places? Pernille Ripp suggests that access is important. We need to have lots of books, and in many places. Choice also plays a role, as does time. In addition, Ripp talks about trust. Trust was one of the essential characteristics of the educators I discussed in Naked Reading (2010). Children and young people need to trust us; they need to believe that we will do our best to provide them with good books. Norvell (1950) conducted surveys with teachers and students about the books being read in American schools. He noted that much of what was being read was not selected by students (the problem is not a recent one) and suggested that it was time to diversify the offerings to students so as to give them a more complete world-view. He also noted that we have three chances to suggest a good book to a reader. If we fail to match book and reader after three attempts, there is a good chance that the reader will not seek our suggestions any further. 29

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I keep this aspect of trust in the back of my mind when I am asked to suggest books. These days, that request is likely to come via social media. A Facebook post asked for suggestions for a reader who loved books with mysteries. Could I suggest some titles? Of course, I can suggest titles. However, before I proceeded, I needed to know more. How old was the reader? What other books had she or he liked? Could a blend of different genres and subgenres work (historical mystery, fantasy mystery etc.)? I tend to think of reader’s advisory as having elements of a reference interview. I need to know more than gender, age etc. If I am to be successful in my recommendations, I need to know more about the reader. This is part of the trust. How about helping your readers to connect into smaller communities based on their reading preferences and interests? Communities might centre around preferences for a particular form, format or genre. These communities can also be formed outside of the four walls of the school or library. Imagine helping children and young people to form a community to create Little Free Libraries for their neighbourhoods.5 Or how about a group of children reading picture books to share with younger siblings or elementary classes? The possibilities are myriad. Once we have demonstrated how communities work, children should be left on their own to form communities independently. As you can see, community basically subsumes all of the other elements we have discussed in this chapter: choice, time and access. Putting it all together might be a challenge at the outset. But taking on this challenge is important for all of us if we want to create, sustain and support lifelong readers and not allow any child to fall through the gaps.

Notes 1 www.trelease-on-reading.com 2 http://keithcurrylance.com/school-library-impact-studies/ 3 http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp 4 https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com 5 https://littlefreelibrary.org/

References Allington, R. L. and Gabriel, R. E. (2012) Every Child, Every Day, Educational Leadership, 69 (6), 10–15, www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/mar12/vol69/num06/Every-Child,-Every-Day.aspx. 30

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Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T. and Fielding, L. G. (1988) Growth in Reading and How Children Spend Their Time Outside of School, Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 285–303. Bennington, K. (2016) Designing and Curating a Classroom Library for Lifelong Readers, Butler University, http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1340&context= ugtheses. Buchwald, E. (n.d.) in Quotable Reading Quotes, www.readingrockets.org/books/fun/quotable. Carlsen, R. and Sherrill, A. (1988) Voices of Readers, National Council of Teachers of English. Daniels, H. (2002) Literature Circles: voice and choice in book clubs and reading groups, Stenhouse Publishers. Dhaif, H. (1990) Reading Aloud for Comprehension: a neglected teaching aid, Reading in a Foreign Language, 7 (1), 457–64, http://nflrc.lll.hawaii.edu/rfl/PastIssues/rfl71dhaif.pdf. Fox, M. (2008) Reading Magic, Harcourt Houghton Mifflin. Hack, C., Hepler, S. and Hickman, J. (1993) Children’s Literature in the Elementary School, 5th edn, Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Kohlberg, L. (1981) Essays on Moral Development, Vol. I: The philosophy of moral development, Harper & Row. Lance, K. C. and Hofschire, L. (2011) Something to Shout About: new research shows that more librarians means higher reading scores, School Library Journal, www.slj.com/2011/09/industry-news/something-to-shout-about-new-researchshows-that-more-librarians-means-higher-reading-scores/. Larrick, N. (1965) The All White World of Children’s Books, Saturday Review, September 11, 63–85. Layne, S. (2015) In Defense of Read-Aloud: sustaining best practice, Stenhouse. Lesesne, T. S. (2010) Naked Reading, Stenhouse. Massaro, D. W. (2015) Two Different Communication Genres and Implications for Vocabulary Development and Learning to Read, Department of Psychology, University of California. Miller, D. (2013) Reading in the Wild, Wiley. National Reading Panel (2000) Teaching Children to Read: an evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction – reports of the subgroups, www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/Documents/report.pdf. Neuman, S. B. (1999) Books make a difference: a study of access to literacy, Reading Research Quarterly, 34 (3), 286–311. 31

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Norvell, G. (1950) The Reading Interests of Young People, D. C. Heath. Oueini, H. et al. (2008) Impact of Read-Aloud in the Classroom: a case study, The Reading Matrix, 8 (1), 139–57, www.readingmatrix.com/articles/oueini_bahous_nabhani/article.pdf. Piaget, J. (1954) The Construction of Reality in the Child, Basic Books. Rasinski, T. (2004) Creating Fluent Readers, Educational Leadership, 61 (6), 46–51, www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/mar04/vol61/num06/Creating-Fluent-Readers.aspx. Ripp, P. (2016) How We Created a Community of Readers, https://pernillesripp.com (posted 23 January). Samuels, S. J. and Wu, Y.-C. (2004) How the Amount of Time Spent in Independent Reading Affects Reading Achievement: a response to the National Reading Panel, paper presented at the 49th annual convention of the International Reading Association, Reno, NV, May. Scholastic (2015) Kids and Family Reading Report, www.scholastic.com/readingreport. Tom, J. (2016) Be a Reading Role Model, www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/reading-together/be-reading-rolemodel. Trelease, J. (1989) The New Read-Aloud Handbook, Penguin. Trelease, J. (2001) Read-Aloud Handbook, 5th edn, Viking-Penguin.

Books mentioned Benoit, C. (2010) You, HarperCollins. Cormier, R. (1974) The Chocolate War, Pantheon. Hoose, P. (2009) Claudette Colvin: twice toward justice, Farrar Straus Giroux. Klass, D. (2007) You Don’t Know Me, Farrar Straus Giroux. Nixon, J. L. (1989) Whispers from the Dead, Delacorte.

Websites http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp http://keithcurrylance.com/school-library-impact-studies https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com www.scholastic.com/readingreport. www.trelease-on-reading.com

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3 Becoming a reluctant reader Prue Goodwin

I thought books were boring and I thought reading was too. I used to read to keep the teacher happy.

Introduction No child is born a reluctant reader. Ten year old Zarenu, who wrote the statement above, had somehow become reluctant to read over his five years of schooling. Between 1992 and 1994, Zarenu and his friends helped me with a research project into why children did not like to read. Comments by others included: I hated getting things wrong. I wished I could read it. It made me feel a bit nervous because I might be the only one who could not read properly. Books are boring. I felt alone – that no one could help me.

(Charlotte) (Joseph)

Just before these remarks were made, I had started in my new post as Director of INSET for the Reading and Language Information Centre (RALIC) at the University of Reading. As part of that role I was expected to do research into literacy learning. I knew what I wanted to research; it was a phenomenon I had seen in every class I taught – reluctance to read. I was not interested in the packages of materials promoted as ‘ideal for reluctant readers’, nor did I subscribe wholeheartedly to the then current trend of blaming television and new technology for youngsters’ lack of interest in books. Some pupils seemed to have lost interest in books of all kinds. I wanted to ask them why but there was never an opportunity to do that. As a researcher I could arrange to talk in confidence to as many youngsters as

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were willing to do so. Zarenu and his classmates were among many other children and teenagers who contributed to a two-year project which I hoped would help me to tackle this particular professional issue. Teachers and librarians are always concerned about youngsters who have difficulty learning to read. In some ways, even more concerning are those students who, despite the ability to do so, are unwilling to read. These are the reluctant readers, who find no pleasure in books and thus lack any incentive to read. The concerns of ‘literacy professionals’ reflect those of society in general, as life can be very uncomfortable for anyone who cannot read. Written language cannot be avoided in everyday life and, although it may not be deemed necessary by some to read for personal pleasure, everyone at some time will be required to read for a range of practical, routine purposes. There is, however, a commonly held belief amongst teachers and librarians (and other interested adults) that children should enjoy their reading. Although some may argue that ‘enjoyment’ is not an end product of education, in this instance there is a pedagogical purpose to ensuring that children get pleasure from their reading, especially throughout their time at junior school (aged 7–11 years). During those four years the majority of children enhance their reading abilities and become independent readers. In school, it is through independent reading that children first experience the joys of getting lost in a good book. Children who anticipate enjoyment and get absorbed when reading are on their way to being truly independent. Over the years, there have been many ways that teachers have encouraged children to read for pleasure, but by the time they are seven, there are usually some disenchanted readers. No particular teaching approach worked for every child and, all too often, long before they reached secondary school, some children had been put off reading; they had become ‘reluctant readers’. This chapter describes my exploration into the causes of reluctance to read and considers possible ways to change some of the unchallenged practices that seem to cause children to reject reading. I will explore the following: • How do youngsters perceive themselves as readers? What do they feel caused their unwillingness to read? • Do accepted practices in primary schools exacerbate the problem? What has prevented change? • What could help to improve the situation for everyone involved?

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What is a reluctant reader? Pupils who find reading difficult are often referred to as ‘reluctant readers’, but I discovered that many of the youngsters in my special educational needs (SEN) groups were very keen to read; in fact, anything but reluctant. Equally, there were competent young readers who had to be cajoled into picking up a book. So my first step was to do a literature search in order to have a clearer definition of the epithet ‘reluctant reader’ and to find out what other educationalists had discovered. It appeared that, although in educational circles there was an implicit understanding of the term, no one had defined exactly what it meant. Generally, it was used to describe students who were struggling with literacy. In the 1970s and 1980s there had been a tendency to use it chiefly to describe pupils at the secondary stage of schooling. The two most common areas to which the phrase was applied referred to: 1 students who did not enjoy reading the books they were offered, or were required, to read at school 2 youngsters who, for a variety of reasons, had struggled to make much progress when learning how to read and had continued to find reading a chore. In the first category, for example, Aiden Chambers (1969) and Daniel Pennac (in translation, 1994) wrote about individual students who were not interested in books which teachers had wanted them to read (often texts judged to be of great literary value). Chambers, for example, describes his distress over an adolescent boy who Chambers believed could read but would not. ‘For Heaven’s sake, Philip, there must be something you will read!’ ‘Yeah,’ he said, showing a grin twice the width of any I had ever seen on his face, ‘there is.’ ‘Well – what?’ He pulled the book he would read from his hip pocket, where it was hidden by his long bum-warmer, strictly unregulation pullover. The book was a tatty copy of a paper backed James Bond. He liked Bond books, he said – read them ‘all the time’. His brother bought them and passed them on. His dad read them too. (Chambers, 1969, 3–4)

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In fact, it is evident from this extract that the student in question did read. He was also well able to tackle quite convoluted plots (i.e. an Ian Fleming spy thriller) and to share his opinions on the book with others. The contention that this student was ‘reluctant’ was based solely on the fact that he did not choose to read the books which were selected for him by teachers to be read in school. Like Chambers, Pennac referred to his pupils’ preferences for less intellectually taxing reading matter. Unlike Chambers, however, he applauded this tendency. He suggested that the development of preferences, even in a genre which is disparaged, will often result later in a greater level of literary discrimination. Where Chambers despairs that a boy who reads James Bond is reading ‘trash’, Pennac believes that a girl who collects Mills and Boon novels may later turn to Madame Bovary. No matter how disappointing these students’ reading choices may have been at the time, there is no doubt that there are plenty of ways that a school librarian today would support both these young people in finding books to suit their preferences. In relation to my research interests, neither of them was reluctant to read. Of more value to my investigation were the authors who wrote about youngsters who struggled to learn to read. In identifying the impact that a sense of failure had on children, these authors raised challenging questions which had not previously been asked, but which desperately needed to be confronted. For example, Margaret Meek (1983), a prolific writer on the subject of literacy learning, asked: ‘What are the barriers to progress with reading in secondary schools?’ Her experience indicated that ‘barriers to progress’ for certain students always involved low self-esteem, an expectation of failure and a lack of knowledge of the life-enhancing purposes of literacy (whether in or outside school). Meek’s summary of the plight of students regarded as reluctant readers related to young people who had been in the school system for at least eight years: Nothing written about it can fully convey the strain of what, hitherto, has been superficially described as ‘reluctance’, ‘failure’, ‘poor motivation’. The real condition of these pupils was not a lack of desire to learn, or poor basic skills, but an absolute conviction that they could not be successful no matter what they did.

(Meek et al., 1983, 214)

Meek stressed that the experience of learning to read has social and cultural aspects alongside the cognitive and linguistic and that these aspects were far from being part of every child’s experience. She recognised the demoralising 36

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effect that failure had in the early stages of learning, long before children were labelled ‘reluctant’. Her opinions made far more sense in terms of my own experience. I had an intuitive feeling that, had there been information about the primary school experiences of the teenagers described by Meek, we would have discovered the foundations of their corrosively negative attitudes. Working with 7- to 12-year-olds, I came across many pupils described as slow readers who were already displaying demoralised attitudes. Meek’s work helped me to refine my search for a definition of reluctance; however, it was the work of Donald Holdaway (1930–2004) that provided a clearer direction for my research. Holdaway’s book The Foundations of Literacy (1979) is one of the 20th century’s most influential books on the teaching of reading. He maintained that whatever teaching approaches were being employed, attitudes must always be considered, as not to do so would be ‘denying the deeply affective nature of learning. There is no such thing as human insight without human emotion’ (Holdaway, 1979, 98). Holdaway suggested that inflexible school practices in literacy learning create a sense of failure in many children. Once children lose their self-confidence, they start to see themselves as likely to fail, and thus suffer from lack of self-esteem. Before teachers can expect children to respond to teaching about the linguistic features of reading, they need to address emotional issues. ‘A sense of failure is always an additional impediment to learning and the most general responsibility of the school is to minimize the development of the sense of failure in every way possible’ (Holdaway, 1979, 141; original italics). Above all, he identified the need for slower learners to feel that literacy is a means by which they can enhance their lives. He argued that if children regularly failed to come up to the expectations of teacher, school or parents they would develop an understandable resistance to literacy: Several months of failure may do great harm to general development; the years of unremitting failure without effective intervention experienced by some children in learning to read can find no form of justification. The responsibility lies squarely upon the school system.

(Holdaway, 1980, 83)

It is unfortunate, but necessary, to admit that the attitude to literacy described as ‘reluctance to read’ and viewed as a negative form of behaviour is significant only in the context of educational expectations. In order to look more carefully at ‘reluctance to read’, I needed to know what the young learners themselves thought about their early reading experiences. What had caused the indifference to books and the demoralised attitudes? 37

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Reluctance to Read? The research report 1995 After working on my research project for two years, I had collected data in writing, on video and in sound recordings from many discussions with pupils aged between 8 and 16. Most of these young people, but not all, had at some stage of their schooling been labelled ‘reluctant readers’. Much of the following information was included in a summary report, called Reluctant to Read? (Goodwin, 1995) which was published by RALIC. It is helpful to look back at the report as, since its publication, despite continued interest in children’s attitudes to reading, little has changed in schools regarding how young readers are treated. The following paragraphs reflect the main content of the report.

Labelling young readers The terminology used by teachers to describe children who do not achieve the expected level of success in reading is an interesting study in itself. Labels such as ‘poor’, ‘remedial’, ‘backward’, ‘less able’, ‘less experienced’ and ‘struggling’ are commonplace. Other classifications which sound more authoritative, such as ‘dyslexic’ or ‘learning impaired’, are sometimes applied once a pupil has been psychologically assessed and identified as requiring special educational support. The term ‘reluctant’ is also often used in relation to all these pupils, but do any of these words necessarily indicate reluctance? Reluctance implies unwillingness, a disinclination to do something; i.e. not related to skill but to an attitude reflected in the behaviour of an individual. The idea that only incompetent or struggling readers are reluctant readers is untrue.

Who is reluctant? In the junior school (7- to 11-year-olds), it is possible to group those children who are reluctant to read into three categories: struggling, uninterested and successful readers. 1 Struggling readers are children who have experienced difficulty when learning to read and who, as a result, find every encounter with a book a reinforcement of their failure. Although, in itself, lack of progress does not necessarily cause reluctance, many of these pupils apparently ‘learn’ to reject books as a result of their experiences (Martin, 1989). Usually, the struggling readers cause most concern. In schools a great deal of 38

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time and effort is given to this group of pupils in order to help them. It is ironic that the intention of offering more teaching time to these pupils is sometimes counterproductive because it involves the repetition of activities that have already let them down. Often feeling humiliated by being withdrawn from the classroom for extra help, these pupils can also become exhausted by the intense, one-to-one learning situations they find themselves in with dedicated staff trying to make full use of limited SEN time. 2 Uninterested readers are children who can read but have not found reading of any interest to them and have, therefore, no desire to do it. They have become competent at decoding and do what is required of them, but they remain unmotivated to read for their own pleasure. Their experience of learning to read for three years in the infant school has not given them any sense that literacy or literature are of any personal value to them. This group is very vulnerable. If they do not practise skills and widen experiences, their abilities may waste away or, at best, stand still. 3 Successful readers can and do read, but not at school. Despite enjoying books, successful readers do not associate the enjoyment of literature with reading that is expected of them in school. Although this may be unfortunate, their school experience does not detract from their enjoyment of books; they just do not perceive recreational reading as part of school. In every other sense – for instance, when researching for a topic, taking tests or answering comprehension questions – these readers are usually high achievers. All three groups are potentially in danger of being restricted in their literacy development. Even the successful readers will be disadvantaged if they do not learn how to read critically or to develop a means of encountering, questioning and verifying ideas through discussion with other readers. There are, in fact, very few children in mainstream schools who completely fail to learn to read, but there are many who fail to develop into readers; their early literacy experiences have left them unwilling to read rather than incapable of reading. Whether or not they have had difficulties learning to read, negative attitudes to literacy will be strongly influenced by their early school experiences.

Children’s views There has always been a great deal of adult speculation about how best to 39

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support struggling and uninterested readers but there is little record of children’s views being sought. By offering pupils opportunities to talk in a secure environment, I hoped to discover their opinions on learning to read; especially their reflections on the experiences that caused them to become reluctant readers. The youngest pupils who contributed to the findings were 8 years old and the oldest were 16. Most of these young people, but not all, had at some stage of their schooling been labelled ‘reluctant readers’; in general, they had taken this to mean that they had learning difficulties. The interviews with youngsters were fascinating and, although different emphases emerged in discussion with each age group, distinct patterns of response soon became evident. Describing what had ‘put them off’ reading, the following factors were mentioned by every group of pupils: • the impact of reading materials organised as a means of assessment and levelling • the lack of choice of books to read • feelings about reading aloud to teachers and other common classroom practices • the irrelevance to their lives of available books.

Organisation of reading materials By far the most commonly mentioned topics were the ways in which reading resources were organised to show progress and the extent to which pupils were in control of their book choices. Many of the pupils described upsetting incidents in their early years at school connected with the way they had to follow a book-by-book order through reading materials. The following account from a 12-year-old boy is typical. D:

With colour groups it’s not always fair on other people ’cos if there’s all your class on gold and there’s just one of you in bronze it makes you feel all horrible and that – it makes you feel like you can’t read and then really you just give up your reading ’cos you feel as if you’re no good at it. PG: Did you feel like that? D: Well, I did when I was quite low on it and my class were fairly high and there were only one or two of you in the low group made me feel as if I was hopeless. It made me sort of give up and I couldn’t read words that I was able to because I just thought I was no good. Made me lose all my concentration on it. 40

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This experience was by no means isolated. Older pupils also found that a discussion of the competitive aspects of reading when they were very young brought back uncomfortable memories. J:

When there were stages for books and some people were on higher levels than you, you felt hopeless and no good at reading. People didn’t really care what stage they were at – although sometimes they picked on me because I was at such a low stage and they were all on a higher one but it calmed down when I got on to the third stage.

All the secondary school students felt that having to work through the stages of a ‘scheme’ was one of the most demoralising aspects of their early experiences. At junior school, too, there was great resentment about being ‘put on the scheme’. This did not refer to any particular publisher’s package but to the school policy of grading the whole collection of books into ability bands. C:

I was reading Robin Jarvis at school – The Dark Portal – and the teacher said, ‘This is too difficult for you, you’ll have to go on the reading scheme’ so they put me on a reading scheme. PG: Is The Dark Portal difficult? C: There are some hard words in it. I’d rather read my own books. I’ve managed so far. PG: What did you say at the time? C: I didn’t get a chance. The next time I came back to school I was on the reading scheme. PG: Do you find it difficult to read them? C: No – but they are boring. The reading scheme books are not the same because you don’t choose your own.

Choice of books Being allowed to choose books was very important. Pupils were constantly measuring themselves against the achievements of their peers and, in school, successful readers chose what they wanted to read. It followed, therefore, that choice indicated success. Being told what to read when the majority of your peers were choosing their books was an experience remembered with some bitterness by most pupils. Most classrooms had a reading corner or a shelf of books, but there was often a limited choice and an emphasis on 41

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fiction. In one class, almost half the pupils stated that their first choice of reading material would be non-fiction; however, there was no non-fiction on the ‘reading shelves’. The overwhelming dominance of fiction implicitly diminished the status of non-literary texts by implying that non-fiction is somehow less worthy.

Reading aloud to the teacher There was considerable anxiety among all age groups about reading aloud, especially in front of their peers. Many teachers regarded ‘hearing readers’ as an essential part of teaching reading. For competent readers, reading aloud was not particularly problematic, but for the strugglers, reading aloud became a worrying undertaking. But even the competent readers felt insecure when reading aloud in front of peers because they ‘made mistakes’. Some pupils disclosed interesting views on why they thought they had to read aloud. PG: Is it important to read aloud to your teacher? A: Yes it is because if you are someone like Mrs Jones [their headteacher] and you’ve got to talk to children in assembly . . . B: If you’re working on Guildford station or something and you got to be someone who announces a train – you might get good pay and that . . . C: If you want to be an actress you should be encouraged to read aloud. B: – or politician. PG: What about when you are not reading aloud? B: I don’t make so many mistakes if I’m not reading aloud. A: Yeah; and I can read faster. C: So can I – because I don’t get so muddled when I’m reading alone as when I’m reading aloud. No one thought that they had to read aloud to improve their reading. In fact, they all agreed that they were more competent when reading silently to themselves. All the pupils, no matter how competent as readers, described how humiliating they found it when they ‘made mistakes’. Reading aloud as a performance of accurate decoding has very little to do with increasing the ability to comprehend the printed word.

Summary of conclusions In writing up the final results in Reluctance to Read? (1995), I recognised that 42

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outdated approaches, many of which went as far back as the 1950s, still dominated the teaching of reading. It was important, having defined the main issues, to identify aspects of current practice that could be easily adapted into approaches that offer more positive experiences to reluctant readers. Using the information collected, I began to draw some overall conclusions. I defined reluctance to read in the following ways. • A reluctant reader is a school pupil who chooses not to read for pleasure. • Reluctance to read is caused by classroom experiences at any stage of a child’s schooling. • It is typically triggered in the very young by failure to achieve expected levels of reading skill in their individual reading. Children become demoralised if difficulties continue, especially when they find themselves compared to others who are reading well. • Even when learning to read has been straightforward, many children become reluctant to read when they: — find the materials they are given of no interest to them; — books are used as a means of assessment rather than to enlighten or enchant; — learning to read is treated like a competition where books indicate the reader’s position in the race to being a ‘free reader’. — have no active intervention from teachers working on all aspects of reading at class, group and individual level. The comments made by all the young people involved revealed that the most obvious causes of reluctance to read concerned the choice and organisation of reading materials. This was closely followed by what appeared to pupils to be the illogical nature of the teaching of reading. Remember, these pupils were aged between 8 and 16, but nearly all teacher intervention followed routines which were chiefly appropriate during the early years (reading aloud to an adult, getting the next book). It could be argued that the next cause of reluctance, lack of literary and bibliographic experience, was also a direct result of ineffectual teaching. It was obvious that, in general, teaching of reading for 7- to 11-year-olds would benefit from some restructuring. Following examples of children’s experiences, the report concluded with some practical suggestions to help schools modify practice and tackle reluctant attitudes; these included: 43

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• Taking account of pupils’ feelings and opinions on reading in order to give them a share in the decision making. This is particularly important if a pupil has failed to make the expected progress for his/her age. • Re-thinking the organisation of the active teaching of literacy (e.g. to ensure the inclusion of reading aloud to children) and the purposes of independent (e.g. to enjoy what they read). • Increasing the range and diversity of reading materials and the amount of time available to read alone or be read to. • Greater emphasis on the impact of the reading environment and modelling of readerly behaviours by all relevant adults. • To ensure that teaching itself had greater emphasis, with courses to support teacher knowledge about children’s books and about teaching approaches, such as, reading aloud, book talk (Chambers, 1985), shared and guided reading. • Regular revision of school reading policies to take account of the progress made by learners in attitude as well as in linguistic skills. The results of the research were not surprising. They confirmed some things that many teachers knew caused problems. It would not be difficult to help schools to make changes, especially when most colleagues who attended my courses at this time acknowledged that change was needed. However, to instigate new approaches to many aspects of teaching at the same time would be unwise. I concentrated on independent reading for pleasure. I did not know then that major political intervention requiring far greater disturbance to schools was about to take place.

What happened next? In 1996 the UK government funded a National Literacy Project (NLP). A programme of literacy teaching created by Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), John Stannard, was introduced to a few junior schools as a pilot scheme to improve the reading standards of 7- to 11-year-olds. The draft materials for the NLP included shared and guided reading (Holdaway, 1979), with an emphasis on the centrality of talk. There was to be far more explicit teaching of reading involving encounters with, and use of, a range of different texts. Children’s independent reading would be more carefully planned, and specifically focused taught sessions (based on a flexible lesson plan, to be known as the Literacy Hour) would introduce more challenging texts. Almost all of Stannard’s proposals were based on ideas that enlightened leaders in 44

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education (headteachers, HMIs, local authority advisors et al.) had been advocating for years and that several schools had already put in place. How wonderful! An opportunity to spread good practice across the nation! It would take time, of course, but, with government funding behind it, perhaps there would be a chance of influencing every primary school for the better.

Projects, strategies and assessment The trialling of the NLP in 1996 had encouraging results in schools identified as needing literacy support but, before those results could be considered in depth, a general election produced a new UK government in May 1997 which adopted the whole project and made it into government policy, to be known as the National Literacy Strategy (NLS). Such major change, however, takes time; more time than would be politically expedient. It soon became clear that this government was more interested in creating statistical evidence of its education policy’s success than in improving literacy teaching. Assessment was what mattered. Without adequate, long-term training of teachers in the new methods, children were being assessed before schools had fully implemented the new curriculum. This impact of an assessment-driven approach had a negative effect on the people who most needed guidance, encouragement and support – the primary school teachers. With minimal amounts of time to translate training into practice, teachers found themselves having to: • use the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching (DfEE, 1998) to change all their policies, planning and monitoring systems • use a rigidly timed (i.e. no longer flexible but set down) lesson plan – the Literacy Hour • predict and justify assessment scores for each year group • ensure that each child’s independent reading was progressing. Primary school teachers’ feelings of insecurity meant that, far from embracing new and innovative ways of teaching, schools bought reading packages published by educational publishers and English textbooks full of comprehension questions and grammar exercises. What was actually needed at every stage of the NLS, and for every method of teaching advised by the NLS, was a sound knowledge of children’s books. At the worst point during the next 10 years, many teachers were using lesson plans provided by publishers (mostly based on extracts from books and out-of-copyright 45

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poetry) and being observed by ‘superiors’ wielding stop-watches. Between 2006 and 2008, research into teachers’ knowledge of children’s books (given the title Teachers as Readers with the acronym TaRs) was carried out by the UK Literacy Association (UKLA). A summary of the research explained: UKLA research, drawing on questionnaires from 1200 primary teachers nationally, showed that whilst the majority [of teachers] read independently for pleasure, professionally they rely on a very limited canon of children’s authors and can name only a narrow range of picture fiction creators and poets. (Cremin et al., 2008)

Obviously, a lot of professional development was required to support primary teachers in gaining knowledge both of children’s books and of how to make effective use of them in classrooms. The TaRs research team received funding to explore how best to provide training for colleagues through work in schools and in-service days. Building Communities of Readers (BCR) became the next area of research (Cremin et al., 2014). Unsurprisingly, where teachers and children made contact with libraries as part of the BCR inservice days, interest and achievement in reading increased. Teachers should know more about children’s books, but it is unrealistic, particularly with ever-expanding assessment demands, to expect them to do it alone. Teachers need specialist librarians to regularly update them; they also need School Library Services (SLS) to loan them books. Unfortunately, just when they were desperately needed, school libraries, SLS book collections and even public libraries (with the consequent loss of librarians in each case) were, and are still, being closed down or, at best, reduced in what they could offer. Paradoxically, all this has happened after the government commitment to raising literacy standards.

What happened to reluctant readers? Back in 1995, as a result of publishing the report Reluctant to Read? I received an invitation to deliver three seminars at the School Library Association (SLA) conference in Edinburgh. Other colleagues in schools and libraries across the country requested courses – but not for long. By the end of 1996, almost all literacy in-service education had become focused on the NLS and many teachers had lost confidence in their intuitive use of literature with their pupils. I had hoped that the government initiative would spur schools on to revise their policies, to make them proactive towards reform. The findings of 46

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my research seemed so straightforward – so simple – that it was difficult to understand why there would be any obstacle to changing the decades-long approaches now that government had advocated change. But I was wrong. Alongside other, uninvited modifications to policy, my suggestions were challenging to colleagues. To a certain extent, this may have been caused by the sudden flurry of negative Ofsted inspections in the primary sector which added to the stress of implementing the new Literacy Hour. However, there is also the possibility that many colleagues still chose to believe that: • the way to progress with reading was through an organised book-bybook approach, each level of text increasing in linguistic difficulty; • reading books from educational packages would improve a child’s reading simply by giving them more words to read; • listening to children reading aloud provided evidence of progress. In 2010 there was a change of government. Overnight the English curriculum began to change again, and it has gradually become even more prescriptive. One glimmer of hope for teachers and librarians working with reluctant readers is the inclusion of three words in the 2013 curriculum document.

‘Reading for pleasure’ Those three words – reading for pleasure – appeared in a government draft curriculum for the first time. Their inclusion in the final document opens up opportunities for anyone involved in organising literacy activities for children and young people to break away from the current assessmentdriven elements of the reading curriculum. If pupils of all ages are required to read for pleasure, schools must provide the conditions that allow it to happen. It is very pleasing to find that, coincidentally, truly engaging with reading for pleasure involves challenging some of the most damaging practices that cause pupils to become reluctant. Bear in mind the points gained from my research data; primary children become reluctant when: • reading materials are organised as a means of assessment and levelling • there is little or no choice of books to read • the books that are available do not reflect the lives or interests of youngsters • feelings about common classroom practices are ignored.

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If pleasure in reading is given prominence, literacy lessons at each stage of schooling need to be organised in different ways to take account of the misguided perceptions that children have developed and their issues regarding having some autonomy over their independent reading. Possibly, the whole approach to doling out so-called ‘reading books’ needs to be questioned and restructured. In addition to improving children’s levels of enjoyment, a radical change of approach at junior level may retrieve some youngsters from their negative attitudes before they move into their secondary schools. Reluctance becomes more apparent once youngsters have entered the secondary sector. Of course, this will now impede their learning even more, but, as teenagers, these readers will need a lot more encouragement to tackle the weak literacy skills that have resulted from their earlier resistance to books. Through all the years of political intervention, a lot of schools never lost sight of the importance of enjoying books. However, as the TaRs research highlighted, many primary teachers do not have sufficient knowledge of children’s books to be able to choose appropriate texts to put at the heart of their teaching or to guide individual pupils as they select books for independent reading. Without the support of librarians (whose job it is to know books), it is difficult to keep up to date with children’s publishing. Even in an ideal world, teachers need librarians to enable them to know enough about books to successfully carry out their roles as educators. But very few primary schools have librarians. Good secondary schools, on the other hand, do still have librarians. Their professional skills mean that they are probably the people most qualified in the school to carry out the job of supporting students who can read yet are not readers.

Librarians are literacy leaders The skills and knowledge offered by librarians have never been as necessary as they are today in all aspects of literacy education. All youngsters, but particularly reluctant readers, need models of how readers behave. They need to be with experienced readers who show them not just suitable books, but what it means to be an enthusiastic reader. Beyond that, students need to be motivated to pick up books for themselves, and librarians are ideal to do that because they know the importance of: • reading aloud to youngsters purely for the pleasure of listening to a cracking good book; 48

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• inviting them to have genuine conversations about books and other texts; • allowing and helping them to select books that they want to read, to share a choice with a friend or to browse for a while in the library; • encouraging their reading of non-book materials (e.g. graphic, ICT and media texts) and having discussions around their response; • introducing them to texts that they may find daunting (possibly poetry, picture books or plays) in ways which they can enjoy; • organising book related activities such as Greenaway/Carnegie shadowing, author visits and quizzes. The word quizzes leads me to comment on something which may be the most important aspect of turning around a reluctant attitude: Make the library an assessment free zone! There is nothing wrong with appealing to youngsters’ enjoyment of competition through light-hearted book quizzes, but do not reacquaint reluctant readers with testing disguised as ‘fun’ which is intended to create another set of numbers to show that they are failing. In the library, everyone is a reader and, as such, entitled to read what they want, to have their own opinions about books and to be treated as equals by fellow students, no matter what the data says.

And finally . . . Despite the time, energy and paper spent on implementing government initiatives since the mid-1990s, genuinely beneficial change that takes account of children’s attitudes to reading is negligible. Many teachers and librarians, however, have been working towards far greater understanding of these issues and it is possible to design programmes of learning that provide positive foundations on which to build lifelong readers. Reluctance is an attitude driven by negative emotions; the opposite is not ability but enthusiasm. There are unlikely to be any enthusiastic readers in classrooms where ‘doing reading’ is viewed as no more than a routine task to be finished before break and where books are referred to by levels rather than titles or authors. There was a clue to the way forward in Zarenu’s statement at the start of the chapter: ‘I used to read to keep the teacher happy.’ Zarenu cared what his teacher thought. If she had been able to excite him by sharing enticing books, give him a sense of self-respect by having his opinions valued and to offer him texts of all sorts that he could read with ease and so enjoy, Zarenu might not have found reading boring. Librarians and teachers share the belief that every child is entitled to the sort 49

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of literacy that is empowering, enlightening and life enhancing. It is the role of education to provide access to such literacy and the right of every child to expect it. Reading is both a socially interactive activity, which thrives on the sharing of experiences, and a deeply personal, individual endeavour. It flourishes in environments where readers and books are brought together with an expectation of fulfilment and enjoyment. Every young learner should be invited to become part of a school community that provides positive experiences of literacy and literature. Right from the start in school, children should feel that they are individual members of an important social group. To develop a personal enthusiasm for reading, youngsters must experience the pleasures and benefits of literacy. If we want to combat reluctance to read, we must start by asking whether the policies and practices in our schools are designed to promote or to impede the development of enthusiasm and delight.

References Chambers, A. (1969) The Reluctant Reader, Pergamon Press Ltd. Chambers, A. (1985) Booktalk, Bodley Head. Cremin, T., Mottram, M., Collins, Fiona M., Powell, S. and Safford, K. (2008) Teachers as Readers: building communities of readers 2007–08 executive summary, UKLA. Cremin, T., Mottram, M., Collins, Fiona M., Powell, S. and Safford, K. (2014) Building Communities of Engaged Readers, Routledge. DfEE (1998) National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching, London: DfEE. Goodwin, P. (1995) Reluctance to Read? RALIC. Holdaway, D. (1979) The Foundations of Literacy, Ashton Scholastic. Holdaway, D. (1980) Independence in reading (2nd edn) Ashton Scholastic. Jarvis, R. (1989) The Dark Portal, Hodder Wayland. Martin, T. (1989) The Strugglers, Open University Press. Meek, M. with Armstrong, S., Austerfield, V., Graham, J. and Plackett, E. (1983) Achieving Literacy, Routledge & Kegan Paul. Pennac, D. (1994) Reads Like a Novel, Quartet Books Ltd. (translated by Daniel Gunn).* *This book is better known as The Rights of the Reader since its publication by Walker Books with a new translation by Sarah Adams in 2006.

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4 Reading Club: a case study from Finland Mervi Heikkilä and Sara Tuisku

Introduction and background Finland tops the World’s Most Literate Nations (www.ccsu.edu/wmln) rankings, which judge not their populace’s ability to read but, rather, literate behaviours and their supporting resources. Even so, we feel that there is still more that we can do for those children who have negative views of reading or who are struggling with their reading skills, and we believe that the lessons we have learnt about how to engage the most reluctant readers with stories will be universally applicable. In Finland, all libraries are free and open to everybody and we have a cultural history of library use. Up to 80% of the population uses the libraries and the total annual lending in 2015 was 16.4 items per citizen. Seinäjoki public library is the provincial library for the region of South Ostrobothnia. The region is about 13,999 square kilometres in area and has fewer than 200,000 inhabitants, of whom around 60,000 live in the city of Seinäjoki itself. The public library comprises a main central library, three branch libraries and two mobile libraries and has a staff of 55. The total annual lending in Seinäjoki library is comparatively high: 20.9 items per citizen in 2015. Of the total items lent, 78.7% were books, most being physical books, as the e-book collections are still very small. Seinäjoki schools do not have large school libraries and there is a culture of Seinäjoki public library support for schools. The library has a contract with schools for co-operation and regular meetings with teachers. For example, library staff will give book talks, arrange author visits to schools, teach information retrieval skills and attend parents’ meetings to talk about reading, media skills and libraries. Mervi says:

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As the director of libraries in Seinäjoki, I have always been very interested in children’s development as readers and in the relationship between schools and libraries. Fortunately my managers have always also understood the importance of these matters, and I have been given opportunities to work on these things. I’m also a writer and I write mainly for children and young adults. But I’m a mother too, and I have seen at close hand that learning to read can be very difficult for some children.

In this chapter we will tell you about an important project that the library has developed to promote reading for children who have reading difficulties. The concept for this initiative originated several years ago when a teacher decided that she wanted to become a librarian. She had started off as a special education teacher working with children with learning difficulties, and then studied to be a library assistant. When she started to work in our library, Mervi felt that we must make the best use of her previous education and work experience. So, we started to use her to tutor a Lukukerhot (Reading Club) for children who were having difficulties with their reading in a school near to the main library. The results and feedback from this first version of a reading club were good, but for a variety of reasons the club didn’t continue for many years. However, the idea of a Lukukerhot remained, and when the opportunity came to apply to the Ministry of Education for funding for a reading project we made an application for Reading Clubs. We wanted the project to be effective and extensive, so we applied for funding to cover the whole South Ostrobothnia region – and were given €50,000. This was a good sum of money with which to promote reading, and with it we hired a part-time reading club co-ordinator, Sara Tuisku. She was about to graduate as a Finnish teacher and had extensive experience in running children’s clubs. She herself tutored two clubs and co-ordinated the project. Mervi was also involved in co-ordination, but could not personally tutor a club. This chapter is based on the project report, written by Sara, as well as the feedback and experiences we have had from reading clubs both during the project and since then. We will give a brief introduction to the theory underpinning the project, but the main purpose is to share our experiences and introduce the reader to our reading clubs: Lukukerhot.

About reading difficulties There are many academic studies about reading difficulties such as dyslexia, 52

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and it is not our intention to cover this subject in any depth here. But it is important for any librarian to know that learning to read is a complicated process and that a child may have very different kinds of problems with reading. Some children have difficulties with decoding the words on the page. Others have problems in understanding what they are reading (to be able to read for meaning). In order to learn how to read a child needs to understand that each letter represents a given sound in speech. They have to realise that reading is decoding text by learning these letter–sound combinations. But you cannot really read until you have achieved a certain level of automatised, fluent reading ability. Then your word recognition is instantaneous and effortless. That frees up mental resources for processing the content of what is being read (Wood, 2011, 17). But understanding the letter–sound combination is not enough. One important thing required for reading is memory. If you have problems with short-term memory, then comprehension of what is being read is difficult. And you also need the ability to concentrate. Often, children with dyslexia also have different kinds of attention deficit disorders and need extensive means of support for learning how to read (Lindgren, 2014). It is therefore very important to emphasise that the Reading Club is not a form of remedial education. Reading Club members still need the proper support of school attendance and instruction in reading skills. In Finland, the tutors of the reading clubs will probably not have detailed information about an individual child’s specific reading problems. Thus, the content of the Reading Club must be planned to be fun, inspiring, secure and useful to all children, who may have a range of different kinds of reading problems. This is not an easy job for the tutor, we admit! At this point we should note that it is in fact easier to learn how to read and write in Finnish than it is in some other languages. That is because we have a very clear correspondence between letters and sounds. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that up to 25% of pupils in Finland will have some problems with reading and writing (Thuneberg, 2006, 178). So, there are in fact a lot of potential Reading Club members in Finland, and our experiences may also be useful in different languages and in other countries.

Why this target group? In our opinion, Finnish libraries pay insufficient attention to children who have difficulties with reading. We automatically provide beginners with short books with illustrations and books written in simple language, and 53

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libraries will habitually arrange author visits to schools every now and then. Librarians will go to schools to do a book talk perhaps once a year or every second year, or even more infrequently. Some libraries have a reading dog: children who have problems with reading can read to the dog (or other animal). The dog appears to be listening carefully and does not mind if the child cannot read well, and this is very beneficial for the child’s progress and self-esteem. But few children will visit a reading dog without their parents’ support because usually the dog will be in the library in the evenings, not during school time. Nonetheless, we think that all of this is simply not enough to promote and encourage reading for those children who really do have reading disabilities. Those children need special attention and continuous support, and it is not easy. And yet it has been proved in many studies that these children, in particular, would benefit greatly from reading for pleasure (Mol and Bus, 2011). Because reading is difficult the children generally do not want to do it in their spare time. Their attitude towards reading can become very negative even in the early years of school, and that is what we wanted to change: the children’s attitude towards reading from negative to positive. It was easy to determine the age of the subject group we should work with. Usually, children in Finland learn how to read at the age of six or seven years. We wanted our club members to know how to read but still to be flexible in their opinions and to be easy to tempt into reading and playing. We therefore invited children aged eight and nine to the reading clubs.

Co-operation A reading club really has to co-operate with local schools. Why? Because it is only the class teachers who know which pupils have reading disabilities and who know who would benefit from participating in a reading club. So, when we started to set up the first clubs we first contacted the special education teachers in schools. These are remedial support teachers who work in schools with pupils who have been identified as having learning difficulties. We explained to them what the Reading Club is and they promoted the club only to those children who were known to have reading difficulties. We believe that it is actually very important to make sure that there will not be any good or fluent readers in the clubs. Children with reading difficulties are used to being the worst readers in their class. Other pupils 54

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may have been laughing at them, and they do not want to read aloud anymore. It is hard to have a reading disability! The intention in Reading Club is that everyone is at very much the same level. Everyone has difficulties. In Reading Club the child can see that there are also other people who do not read well, and this helps the child to accept their difficulties and, hopefully, encourages them to read nevertheless.

Who runs Reading Club? The tutor of a club can be anyone who knows how to deal with children and is interested in children’s literature and reading. One of the tutors has said that the most important competence is the ability to ‘read’ the group. We think that this is true – what functions well in one group won’t necessarily work with another group. In addition, in Finland, as in many other countries, anybody who is working with children needs to have a criminal record clearance to ensure that they are safe to be with children. We recruited our tutors for the project with the help of the local libraries. Library staff co-operated with the schools over recruitment and asked teachers and assistants if anyone was interested in tutoring a club. Seinäjoki public library paid the tutors’ salaries because it held the grant income from the Ministry. At the start of the project we had two in-service training days: the first day was about different reading disabilities and the second dealt with children’s literature. The first day was commissioned from an institute that researches learning disabilities: the Niilo Mäki Institute, and was theoretical. On the second day librarians presented and promoted a range of books suitable for use with children with reading difficulties. We had anticipated that many of the tutors would be librarians, but it actually turned out that many of our club tutors were teachers! This was both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage was that the teachers really knew how to deal with children and they usually knew the participants in advance. But it was not so easy for these teachers to create a non-school-like club. We wanted the clubs to be fun and play-like, and to be connected to leisure time and not to school. Some clubs functioned at schools, some at libraries. Of course, it was easier to create a fun club at the library, but there were very good clubs at schools too. Just some extra imagination was needed to change the classroom into a cosy, welcoming place.

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How Reading Club operates In order to be effective and to change the children’s attitudes towards reading, a reading club has to meet regularly. Our reading clubs met once a week and the sessions lasted from August to May. A meeting would last from 45 minutes to one hour. During the period of the project, 2014–15, we had 17 reading clubs running throughout South Ostrobothnia. On the whole, it was important to develop a certain routine for the club meetings. Children with reading disabilities might often have other problems too, and many of them were tired after the school day. Thus, it was beneficial to think in advance of some means to avoid restless behaviour and disturbances. In one club the tutor gave the children ‘concentration chewing gum’ at the beginning of every club meeting! The group should also not be too large; we found that the optimal group size is under 15 pupils. What do the tutors and pupils actually do in Reading Club? The main aim or goal is to make reading fun. In our project we wanted to find as many means as possible to promote reading to children with reading disabilities. First we bought bags for our tutors, which we filled with paper, games, pens and, of course, books!

Books Reading literature was important. Usually the tutor promoted three or four books and the members of the club would vote for the book they wanted to hear. Then the tutor read the book aloud, either alone or with the children joining in. This is a simple strategy but one that many teachers have proved to work well. Even older children enjoy being read to, but we found that in many homes parents do not read to their children after they have started school. We think that it is also vital to involve pupils in choosing the books so that they will really listen to or read the books and stories that genuinely interest them. The books promoted by the tutors were not only fiction but also nonfiction, magazines and cartoon comics. It is important to practise reading, to explore texts in many different forms. Many of the pupils could not read or did not want to read long texts, so when the tutors wanted them to read by themselves they needed to have short texts available to offer to them. Nonfiction is surprisingly popular, especially among boys. If the subject interests them, the motivation for reading increases. But, as all children’s librarians know the world over, it is sometimes hard to find the right non-fiction book to satisfy a request. We have all experienced tricky questions such as: ‘Do you have a book of facts about mermaids?’ 56

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‘Do the children have to read aloud?’ was an important question in the reading clubs. The answer was ‘absolutely not’. These children may have bad memories of experiences in school, when they were waiting for their turn to read aloud. They may be slow readers, or practically unable to read at all. And the pupil may often think about themselves negatively: ‘And if everybody is not laughing, they will be at least giggling or thinking how stupid I am.’ But in many clubs children eventually wanted to read aloud. This is a good example of how much their confidence developed in this supportive setting. Children felt secure within their peer group and knew that no one thought that they were stupid! The tutor of the club continually promoted good books and members of the club could take the books home and read for themselves. If asked to do so, librarians in the local library helped the tutors to choose these books. A popular feature in the clubs was a dog visitor promoting good books. The dog with her librarian-owner visited seven clubs and the children were very excited. Most of the clubs met in schools, and so some club members were not familiar with the local library, therefore a special trip to the library was also a good way to spend one club meeting. Our project manager, Sara Tuisku, also designed a special reading diploma for the clubs. The purpose was to increase reading in the home and in leisure time and to get used to regular reading. In the beginning a very short period is enough, as long as the reading is regular: for example, five minutes’ reading before bedtime every day. The diploma can be used outside reading clubs too, for example in schools or in libraries. You just have to determine the campaign time, for example one term, and then encourage children with reading disabilities (and their parents) to join the campaign. Everybody who starts studying for the diploma will eventually get it. The children collect reading minutes, not books or pages. It does not matter if the child does not read a book completely. Every minute counts and every text is important. The child can read books, newspapers, blog postings, recipes or whatever they like. Parents have a form on which they can record the number of minutes the child has been reading. When the campaign period is over, the child or his/her parents return the form to the organiser and they get the reward, the fine diploma itself (Figure 4.1 on the next page).

Games Playing games was a favourite activity in the reading clubs. We chose four or five board games to add to every bag and the tutors played these with the 57

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Figure 4.1 Lukusukellus Loiskis –The Reading Club Diploma

children. The games were chosen with the criterion that the player had to do some reading when they were playing the game. The text should be short, the sentences clear and the text size big enough. The text should also be legible and should not be superimposed on pictures but should have easily distinguishable letters on a white background. Junior-Alias1 was one quite popular game in our bag. In this game the objective is to guess the word that is being illustrated on the card. The player has to describe the word without actually using the word itself and the team has to identify as many as possible before the time runs out. We also had one board game, Hoksotin,2 in which the player does not need to read but observes pictures with many details for them to find in response to a twist of a spinner e.g it might ask them to find something round and they have to 58

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identify as many round objects as possible. This was designed to help with conceptualisation, which is another important aspect in the process of reading. Children of eight to nine years of age love telling jokes. In Finland we have many books of ‘pupil and school jokes’. These books are very popular among primary school children. A common way to use these books in our reading clubs was for a child to read a joke to themselves and then retell it to the others. A joke is actually a good piece of reading: it’s short and rewarding. There is also a game called ‘Funny questions and answers’ that was used in the clubs. The player reads a question and randomly picks up an answer to the question. The outcome is often funny or absurd in a way that makes children laugh. Making this kind of game is an easy DIY project: you just write down questions and answers on a piece of card, cut them apart, then shuffle them and combine them randomly. Playing with letters, words and syllables is also helpful in reading. You can find a lot of this sort of material on the internet. For example, ‘the Ninja name’ apps were popular with some reading clubs. You can find many examples on the internet by searching with the phrase ‘Ninja name’.3 Every child found their new Ninja name and learnt a Ninja greeting. Good old Bingo (aka Lotto) is quite fun to play with words, too. A quiz in which the children read the questions themselves is also good. One nice exercise is a traditional cloze story activity in which the child fills in the blanks in a story (____) with funny words (Box 4.1 on the next page). The tutor can either find such stories themselves or, again, search for them on the internet. Reading a recipe together and making a snack was another popular activity. Some tutors really put themselves out for the reading clubs and even prepared book adventures for the children. • Sara’s Pirate Adventure The tutor writes down some clues and hides them in different places in the club meeting room – or outside, if the weather is good. With every paper the children find, there is a clue as to where the next clue can be found. The idea is that you cannot find the treasure without reading. Sometimes the clues combine to make up the text of a whole story. And the tutor is dressed as a pirate, of course. The treasure itself can be anything, for example a book. When the children find the book, the tutor reads it to the group. • Jonna’s Envelope Game Tutor Jonna Saarijärvi developed this game. She wrote clues for book 59

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Box 4.1: An example of a (cloze) story with gaps Once upon a time there was a ________ boy. Boy was called ________. One morning __________ woke up, and noticed that he had turned into a _______ monster. Help! He shouted. I look like a _________ ! I don’t want this. I want to be a ______________boy again! Some _________ people heard him screaming and came to see him. They said: You look like _________! Usually the children enjoy it when you make adjective gaps in old, familiar stories. You can also start this exercise with the children writing funny adjectives on scraps of paper. Then you give them the story and read it aloud (or the children read) and everyone randomly picks one adjective in turn (from a box or a hat). With random adjectives, the story will probably be very funny indeed.

titles on envelopes. Inside the envelopes were the proper titles of the books. Then she hid the envelopes in different places in the club meeting room and the children had to find them. After finding all the envelopes they got to choose one which sounded like a book they wanted to hear and after that they guessed the titles of all the books, with the help of the clues. And of course, after that the tutor read their chosen book to them. In our reading clubs we also wanted to encourage the children to produce their own stories. If writing a whole story was difficult for the child, making stories together was easier, particularly with the help of a ‘story dice’ (such as Rory’s Story Cubes – see www.storycubes.com). It was easy to invent stories too. Sometimes the children wanted to make puppet theatre performances of their own stories.

Case study 4.1: The Marttila School Reading Club There were five members in this Reading Club, which met at Marttila elementary school. The tutor was originally a theatre professional, not a teacher or librarian.

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I’ve got a good feeling! There has been progress. There are/were very weak readers in this group. First I read a lot to the children and they used to draw while listening. And then we played some board games. The most popular was funny questions and answers. We tried to do a club magazine also, but children didn’t find that interesting. In January we visited the library and after that things started to progress. Recently the club gatherings have consisted mostly of reading. I’ve got a huge pile of books (their favourites and mine) and the children have been reading the books in pairs or alone. In the autumn the first question was: ‘What are we going to play today?’ and now the kids are asking: ‘Which books do you have with you today?’ This group loves different kinds of books of facts and details. In particular, books with illustrations and short texts are good for them . . . They really enjoy it when they can make a wish for something to be read and I can manage to fulfil their wish. I think these kids have started to love books! (Laura Kivimäki, tutor)

The Marttila club is not currently running, but at the time of writing we are working on plans for it to start up again.

Feedback Unfortunately, not every child, parent and teacher gave feedback after the reading club year, but many of them did. We asked them about the children’s enthusiasm for books and reading and about reading skills. Table 4.1 Parent and teacher feedback Reading skills improved

Books became more interesting

Tutors (7 responses)

2

5

Parents (38 responses)

24

27

Teachers (7 responses)

5

5

The sample is not very big, but it still indicates that both the parents and teachers witnessed some progress in reading skills, and especially in reading enthusiasm. However, it is difficult to state the reason for the progress with any accuracy; is it because of the Reading Club or because of school teaching? In order to have reliable results a study would need to be done 61

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where the results were compared to a control peer group who are not members of a reading club. Nevertheless, we think our results are good enough to justify continuing the reading clubs in the future. But what about the children’s opinions? Sixty-three children answered a series of questions about the Reading Club (Box 4.2). After one semester in the club, 43 thought that reading was easier now and 41 estimated that they read more now than before. The majority of them enjoyed Reading Club (56). Many of them answered that the best thing in the club was reading, games, playing and listening to stories. The dog visiting the club, funny questions and answers and making snacks were especially mentioned, and also visiting the library. Many of the club members mentioned that they did not like it when the other members of the club were noisy. Thus, it is important that the tutor creates a peaceful atmosphere in the club and that the group is not too big. In one of our clubs there were only two members and it still functioned well. The feedback also revealed that Reading Club was an important leisure

Box 4.2: The feedback questions for club members 1 Did you enjoy being in the reading club? 2 Would you like to join the reading club next year too? 3 How did the tutor manage in his/her job? 4 Do you read more now, than before participating in the Reading Club? Yes/No 5 Is reading easier for you now, than before participating in the Reading Club? Yes/No 6 What was the best thing about the Reading Club? 7 What was the worst thing in the Reading Club and why? 8 What would you like to do in the Reading Club, something that you did not do this year? 9 Have you got a message for your tutor and the organiser of the Reading Club?

activity for many children. Some of them did not have other hobbies at all. In Finland there are not many clubs for children that run during the daytime and many children live far from cities, so for every child the opportunities to have a hobby (other than sports) are limited. Many of the children also wished that Reading Club would carry on in the next semester. Unfortunately, many reading clubs did not continue because of a lack of funding and time. Some teachers/tutors were so active that they managed to get independent funding and those clubs did continue. In Seinäjoki the library is actively working to promote the reading clubs and we have one 62

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club operating now. It is funded by the school and the tutor is neither a librarian nor a teacher but works with the public library to choose the books etc. At the conclusion of our project we published a manual for reading clubs (Tuisku, 2015). It has been very popular among Finnish librarians. We have had opportunities to promote reading clubs in many seminars to librarians and teachers, and even to the Rotary Club. Mervi has also had the pleasure of being invited to lecture about reading clubs in Lithuania (Nordic-Baltic library meeting in 2016). Mervi says: I think it is important to continue to advocate for reading clubs in different places, because that gives me the opportunity to also talk about the very important topic of reading disabilities. I think too many people in society are still ashamed of their reading disabilities and too many people do not know enough about this subject. And of course at the same time I can talk about the good work that libraries are doing in this difficult area. The reception of these talks is normally very positive. Some special education teachers have even said that after hearing about these reading clubs that they will change their normal lessons to resemble a reading club.

But it has not always been very easy to promote reading clubs in Finland, because both librarians and teachers have too many demands on their time. Sometimes it feels that nobody has enough time for these special children and their reading activity. But we will not give up, because every now and then we meet a teacher or a librarian in the audience who comes to us and says: ‘What a wonderful idea! I will start a reading club immediately!’ We also have plans to arrange further training for those who want to be tutors of a reading club. So, we think the idea of the Reading Club, our Lukukerhot, is spreading slowly – but we still need more clubs to make reading fun for everyone! To be more effective in our work with children with reading disabilities we have recently established a dyslexia team in our library. The members of the team are librarians and two special education teachers. We are going to promote reading clubs and to do much more to reach children with reading disabilities – but that is a subject for a new story.

Summary and conclusion During the project, in semester 2014–15, we had 17 reading clubs with from one to 16 members in each club. We did not conduct a formal impact study 63

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but gathered feedback from the clubs. Sixty-five per cent of the children estimated that they read more because of the reading club, 68% estimated that reading was easier than before; 71% of parents answered that their child was more interested in books than before and 63% estimated that their child had become a better reader. Of course, we cannot entirely distinguish between the influence of school, Reading Club and home activities, but it is certain that the club was proved to be an important hobby or leisure activity and, perhaps even more importantly, a supportive peer group for many children and this is the lesson we wish to pass on. We continue to work to expand Reading Club, our Lukukerhot, into more settings and venues and to increase teachers’ knowledge and awareness about the potential of the clubs and of how to find further funding for them. Our Reading Club offer is developed for children with difficulties in reading. The main aim is to change their attitude towards reading from negative to positive and this is what could be applicable for librarians and teachers around the world. Reading can be shown to be a joyful leisure activity by playing and listening to stories etc. This will also hopefully have a positive influence on their reading skills, but the skills are not the main objective of Reading Club, and there are no competitions or measuring of ability to alienate a struggling reader. It is vitally important that every child has access to the world of stories and words and we must, as library professionals, do all that we can to welcome them into this world.

References Lindgren, S. (2014) Lukivaikeus ei estä lukuharrastusta, www.lukulamppu.fi/vieraskyna-susanna-lindgren-erityisopettaja-lukivaikeusei-esta-lukuharrastusta. Mol, S. E. and Bus, A. G. (2011) To Read or Not to Read: a meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21219054. Thuneberg, H. (2006) Näkökulmia alakoulun luki-opetukseen. In Takala, M. and Kontu, E. (eds), Lukivaikeudesta lukitaitoon, Yliopistopaino, pp. 177–94. Tuisku, S. (2015) Kerhosta lukukipinä. Opas lukemisessa tukea tarvitsevien lasten lukemaan innostamiseen, Seinäjoen kaupunginkirjasto-maakuntakirjasto. Wood, C. (2011) How Children Begin to Read. In Court, J. (ed.), Read to Succeed, Facet Publishing, pp. 15–27.

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Websites Finnish public libraries, www.libraries.fi Seinäjoki public library, http://kirjasto.seinajoki.fi/english South Ostrobothnia, www.epliitto.fi/frontpage Statistics, www.libraries.fi/statistics#.WJGFN7m7qUk

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5 Trained reading helpers: Beanstalk’s magic ingredient Ginny Lunn and Hilary Mason

Our roots ‘Encouragement!’ said Susan Belgrave as we clambered into the little grey car. ‘That’s what it’s all about! Children need encouragement, that’s where the confidence to try new things comes from!’ Susan Belgrave CBE is the founder of the charity Beanstalk, and we’ve come down to Dorset to talk to her about how it all began. She’s in her nineties now but insists on picking us up from the station and driving us the six miles to her house for lunch. On the way she tells us that she isn’t fond of reversing. Given the narrowness of the country roads, it’s more reassuring to think that she’s referring to a strategy for organisational growth than a driving manoeuvre. And ‘forwards’ is very much how it has been for the charity, originally called Volunteer Reading Help that Susan set up around her kitchen table in 1973. Renamed and rebranded Beanstalk (Figure 5.1) in time for our 40th birthday, so far we have supported 150,000 children in England who are struggling with their reading. Beanstalk recruits, vets, trains and supports volunteers to help children in primary schools in England (5 to 11 year olds) who are struggling with their reading and confidence. Our approach has remained fundamentally

Figure 5.1 Beanstalk logo

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unchanged since Susan Belgrave first sowed the seeds of her idea over 40 years ago. Unchanged because it works. Each child is supported by the same well-trained volunteer for a whole school year. The trained reading helper provides support – and yes, encouragement – on a one-to-one basis in two, 30-minute sessions a week during term time throughout the year. This chapter will explore the Beanstalk approach and consider why it has proved so resilient and successful with reluctant, disengaged and struggling readers. It will focus on the importance and impact of training volunteers to become reading helpers, present a series of short case studies, include the thoughts of the children and highlight the vital role that community libraries play in supporting Beanstalk’s work. Finally, we’ll introduce Beanstalk’s next chapter, an ambitious five-year plan to extend our support to 30,000 children aged between 3 and 13 by 2020–2021.

Talk, play, read . . . the Beanstalk approach ‘What I enjoyed was that I played games and when I’m stuck on a word he helps me. Sometimes the word is funny. He helps me with hard words and makes me know what does the word mean. My helper makes me choose my own book to read. He let me choose any game that I want to play.’

(K. Year 5.)

‘I loved it because the books that I choose were hard then when my reading helper came they was very easy for me. My helper was kind and funny and very smart. All children in the school should have this.’

(J. Year 6.)

‘I used to not like reading much but now I like it. I read an article in a newspaper about Lamborghini sports cars – I never thought I could read a newspaper! I read in bed now as well. Reading is an adventure – we make funny voices and act out the story. I also like playing games with Anne and we have a laugh.’

(T. Year 4.)

The Beanstalk approach to supporting children who are struggling with reading is straightforward but highly effective. Volunteers are recruited, vetted and trained to become reading helpers, currently in primary schools. They provide one-to-one support in two, 30-minute sessions a week during term time for a whole year. Wherever possible the same reading helper will support the same child throughout their year’s programme. The reading helpers create an unpressured environment, away from the classroom, taking time to listen to and get to know each child; a bit like the very best 68

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parenting skills on tap for children who need that kind of help, and who often come from social backgrounds where these skills are missing. Playing games, talking and having fun are key features of all Beanstalk sessions. Children are never ‘forced’ to read, and are reassured that it’s OK not to finish a book if they’re not enjoying it. Being asked to read to or with their helper may not happen for several sessions until the child is more relaxed and confident talking and interacting with an adult. Our reading helpers use each child’s wider interests – be it football, cartoons, jokes, dinosaurs . . . anything that creates the spark to kindle the pleasure, the fun and the magic of reading. Using a variety of materials – puzzles, games, pictures, magazines and books – the reading helper focuses on gaining the child’s trust and building his or her confidence and self-esteem. Through talking, game-playing and sharing stories the child’s vocabulary increases – and perhaps most importantly – the motivation to want to read begins to form. Behind each trained reading helper there is a network of paid Beanstalk staff providing guidance and support, and a channel through which to communicate effectively with the school and other volunteers. As of 2016, across the country Beanstalk’s operations are divided into seven areas that follow roughly the same structure: there is an Area Manager who oversees the area as a whole; Recruitment and Training Executives who mainly look after volunteer training and recruitment; Area Relationship Executives who liaise with schools and an Administrator with a team of Co-ordinators who look after the trained reading helpers during their time with the charity. The Beanstalk Co-ordinator initially liaises with the school and remains the key point of contact for both the school and the reading helper. Our coordinators are the local face of Beanstalk in the heart of communities. Prior to the first support sessions with the child, the co-ordinator and the reading helper meet with school staff to discuss the literacy needs and the social and emotional circumstances of the children chosen to take part in the programme. In England it is a legal requirement for all schools and colleges to follow strict policies and procedures designed to keep children safe and free from all forms of abuse (DFE, 2016a). These ‘safeguarding’ procedures include criminal record checks on adults who will work closely with children. As part of our service to schools, Beanstalk undertakes all the necessary safeguarding checks – something schools consistently say is a major advantage, saving them precious time and resources. And then there is the magic of the Beanstalk book box. This is a special, bright blue box provided exclusively for the children working with a 69

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Beanstalk reading helper in the school (See Figure 5.2). The content of each box is different depending on the needs and interests of the children concerned. The children invariably love to rummage around in the book box until they find something that excites their curiosity to talk, play or read.

Figure 5.2 A typical Beanstalk Book Box

Box 5.1: A typical Beanstalk Book Box Jack, a 25-year-old freelance journalist and reading helper supporting three children in a primary school in Leeds, says: When it comes to selecting reading materials, I give the children the chance to choose what they enjoy reading from my Beanstalk book box. The materials are fun and informative, and because they are suitable for individual children it allows me to ask questions and get the child talking and thus improve their vocabulary and comprehension skills. I also like to introduce my own materials. For instance, one of the children I support enjoys football so I will often bring a magazine or newspaper in and we will spend part of the session reading out the scores or the articles in a bid to maintain his interest. In the first session with him, we did very little reading as he needed to relax. I asked him to tell me a joke and eventually we shared some more from a joke book I’d put in my book box. He loves rummaging around in the book box now, where I’ve put a whole range of materials: picture books, quizzes, dominoes, card games, longer stories and football programmes. He now also likes to bring his school library book along to our sessions, which is great progress. And this is a child who when he first saw a game that included a little canister to keep the dice in informed me that you could keep cannabis in a tub like that. 70

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Who are the Beanstalk children? Beanstalk does not get involved with selecting the children who will be supported by a trained reading helper. This is left to the discretion of the class teacher, headteacher/senior manager or the Special Needs Coordinator. (These are remedial support teachers who work in schools with pupils who have been identified as having learning difficulties). However, we make it very clear during initial discussions that although volunteers are trained in how children learn to read – indeed some of our volunteers are former teachers and advisers – we do not teach reading, nor do we provide intervention programmes for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. The children Beanstalk supports face many different challenges. However, experience over the last forty-plus years has shown that our programmes have a major, positive impact on children whose circumstances and life experiences mean that they: • • • • • • • •

arrive at school with low prior attainment and are not closing the gap are making less than expected progress have progress that is significantly slower than that of their peers are no longer matching or improving their previous rate of progress have a widening attainment gap sometimes have English as an additional language are vulnerable and/or ‘looked after’ are approaching transition and are at risk of taking low levels of attainment into secondary school.

Case study 5.1: Meet some of our Beanstalk children: Abigail, Year 4, Liverpool Abigail was selected to work with a Beanstalk reading helper because she was easily distracted in a large group of children and lacked confidence when reading. This in turn created an anxiety with regards to learning in general and Abigail struggled to engage across the curriculum. She had very little support at home and life was often chaotic outside of school. Abigail would often become very worried about the impact that this was having on all family members. She was frequently very emotional in school and was easily upset by other children. Abigail said that she found school work hard and would only occasionally spend her free time reading. She did however enjoy going to school and was happy to have a go at things in the classroom even if she wasn’t sure. The reading helper 71

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noted that Abigail needed occasional support with decoding words. She was very quiet, struggled with concentration and wouldn’t engage in a discussion. By the end of June (after one academic year of being supported by her Beanstalk reading helper) the school commented that Abigail’s concentration skills had improved dramatically. She became much more confident and able to discuss things in a reasoned way. She would ask questions to improve her understanding when encountering words unfamiliar to her and was a lot more interested in new ideas and topics. She had fewer episodes of getting very upset and stated that she enjoyed reading and liked learning new things inside and outside the classroom. Her reading helper noted that she was no longer shy and would often discuss things which excited her in the books she read, and was much more engaged. By July 2016 Abigail’s reading age had overtaken her actual age (9 years 9 months versus 9 years 7 months). Her class teacher commented: ‘Abigail has made accelerated progress during the year. The encouragement she’s received from the Beanstalk Programme has helped Abigail to speak more positively about reading and she is now willing to participate in class activities more readily. She even volunteers to read out loud in group situations. She is keen to share what she has read with others and is very proud of what she has achieved. Abigail really enjoyed the individual attention during her one to one sessions, which have helped her to be able to focus upon reading and comprehension amongst other key skills.’

Alexandras, Year 5, Birmingham Alexandras was born in Lithuania and English is not his first language. His family have lived in the UK for eight years and encourage English to be spoken at home. However, Alexandras struggled with vocabulary and comprehension when reading in English and was thus selected to work with a Beanstalk reading helper. Before introducing him to the reading helper the class teacher explained that Alexandras would have many questions when reading a text as he struggled to comprehend what the author means or to identify what certain things are within a text. It was important that as an eager learner, he had the opportunity to speak to a mentor and have the time to discuss the questions he had about a particular book he was interested in reading. At the beginning of the programme he was working at an age-related expectation of Year 3. So it was important that he was encouraged to read as much as possible. By the end of the academic year Alexandras had come on in leaps and bounds. He had become very articulate, always keen to discuss ideas, events and characters from the books read in the Beanstalk sessions and at home. He was enthusiastic about choosing from a wide range of materials and developed some 72

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favourite topics that he was specifically requesting books on, such as the sinking of the Titanic.

Tobias, Year 6, Ashford Tobias was supported by a Beanstalk trained reading helper for almost one academic year (September 2014 to the end of May 2015). His mother is agoraphobic, resulting in Tobias making his way to and from school alone. As the youngest of six siblings and with very little support at home, Tobias would regularly wear the same clothes for weeks on end and often relied on his teachers to prompt him to think about personal hygiene. His older brother did what he could to help Tobias but he had a job and had significant problems of his own. Tobias was selected to work with Beanstalk because he did absolutely no reading at home and needed as much support as possible in school. Talking to his reading helper, Tobias was positive and enthusiastic, but said that he found school work hard, didn’t like spending his time reading and only really read when he had to. His reading helper commented that Tobias was happy and confident choosing books and games during the sessions, but needed support around reading and speaking and struggled with comprehension. Tobias read daily with the class teacher or the teaching assistant and was part of group reading sessions. He also had interventions for maths and social skills. By the following term Tobias’s self-esteem and reading and writing skills had improved greatly. He was now much more confident in tackling reading comprehension questions. His reading helper commented that Tobias now required very little support and was confident and independent in the sessions, showing good comprehension and a positive attitude. Tobias was making excellent progress in reading and his reading age was getting close to ageappropriate. Sadly, Tobias had a number of behavioural issues towards the end of the year which interfered with his overall educational and social progress.

Training our volunteers . . . Beanstalk’s magic ingredient Beanstalk charges schools a small fee for its services. The revenue helps to fund the volunteer training programme and the infrastructure of support and guidance that all trained reading helpers receive for the duration of their time with Beanstalk. An obvious question is why so many schools choose to pay for Beanstalk reading helpers when perhaps a literate parent or a teaching assistant could listen to children reading for free. 73

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First, there is a world of difference between listening to a child reading (perhaps doing little more than decoding) from a reading-scheme text for 10 minutes once a week, and an individual child spending two 30-minute sessions a week for an entire school year exploring and enjoying the full gamut of texts related to his or her own interests. There is also the issue of expectations. A Beanstalk trained reading helper, although a volunteer, is recruited and trained on the understanding that they will be able to commit to spending at least 90 minutes twice a week (each volunteer supports a minimum of three children in one school) for a whole school year. This level of commitment, consistency and reliability is hugely important to the children we support – often their Beanstalk reading helper is the only consistent, reliable individual adult attention they receive during the course of a week. This appears to be a fundamental ingredient in developing a child’s confidence and willingness to engage with reading. If a child’s reading helper has to withdraw before the year is up, Beanstalk undertakes to find a replacement as quickly as possible. The biggest difference – and the ‘value added’ – however, between a keen, literate parent volunteer and a Beanstalk reading helper is in the training the helper receives before they begin working with children, and the programme of additional training modules on offer once they have gained more experience. Our initial and follow-on training is delivered by experienced trainers and we have a formal quality assurance programme. Initial training is carried out over a full day, while follow-up modules are around two hours in length. We pride ourselves on being truly child centred, rather than outcomes driven, in our approach. The training is designed to establish a common ethos, shared principles and an understanding of how to create effective, individualised support. See Figure 5.3 opposite for the detail of our theory of change which underpins and informs all the training. Through our rigorous recruitment process we find that the people who volunteer with Beanstalk are already equipped with many of the basic aptitudes and skills that enable adults to engage children with reading, notably the following. • Skills — able to listen attentively to children — able to communicate positively with children — able to identify children’s interests — able to involve children in different activities — able to engage children in a range of reading materials 74

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Figure 5.3 Our Theory of Change

— able to recognise and praise children’s achievements — able to establish appropriate boundaries for, and with, children. • Aptitudes — adaptable — approachable — calm — confident — patient 75

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— — — —

positive resilient reliable resourceful.

The initial one-day group training is designed to ensure that volunteers feel confident and equipped to make a really good, confident and positive start with the children, and creates the platform on which all further training, learning and development and ongoing support is built. The aim is for new volunteers to emerge with a very clear understanding of the negative impact on the children they are about to meet of being unable or unwilling to read well, develop their literacy skills or interact confidently in school and wider society. Trainees are guided, through a series of interactive and practical exercises, in how to use purposeful conversation and purposeful play. The ‘bridge’ between play and reading is explored so that not only do volunteers understand how to develop key literacy skills ‘under the radar’ of chat and play, but they also learn how to usefully blur the lines through innovative ways of using books and other reading materials which the reluctant or struggling reader will at first perceive as playing not reading. Reading is more fun, she helps me understands words I don’t know.

(S., Year 6)

Reading activities are fun, she helps me choose exciting books to read. (R., Year 4) She cares and makes learning more fun.

(N.,Year 3)

Strict child protection and safeguarding procedures are also a key feature of the initial training. This is the one area around which, as an organisation, we allow no flexibility, and all our reading helpers are expected to follow bestpractice safeguarding procedures. Follow-up training modules focus on supporting a child’s whole language and literacy development, boosting comprehension, extending vocabulary and reading stamina. Specialist modules include subjects such as dyslexia awareness, how schools teach reading and cultural diversity. These followup training days are also invaluable for facilitating networking between local Beanstalk reading helpers, enabling and encouraging them to share success stories, generate new ideas and discuss any concerns and issues.

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Case study 5.2: Trained reading helpers A personal perspective from Ginny Lunn, Beanstalk’s CEO I became a trained reading helper soon after I started as the CEO of Beanstalk. I felt it was critical to truly understand what it’s like to be a Beanstalk reading helper to be able to credibly lead the organisation into our next phase of growth. Being a reading helper is encouraged throughout the organisation. Trustees, the Services Director and a range of staff all take part. We encourage our partner organisations such as Save the Children to get involved too. Giving time each week to help a child who really struggles is one of the most rewarding parts of my week. Although I used to be a primary teacher I hadn’t been into a school for many years. When I started as a reading helper I sat down with the Deputy Head Teacher, the Literacy Co-ordinator and the Beanstalk local Co-ordinator and I also met the class teacher. We discussed the school’s working practices and who would be my key contact. This was an invaluable introduction to my journey as a reading helper because relationships with the school are absolutely key to successful outcomes for the children. I support three children, and I meet with them once a week. I have a buddy who comes in to do the other session. We have set up a WhatsApp group for volunteers in the school so we can share ideas, and we also meet in our local bookshop to talk face to face. My Beanstalk-supported children are all reluctant readers and also struggle with the reading process itself. I’m happy to say that one boy has now engaged more with reading and enjoys reading anything about football. We also play Football Top Trumps together. The other boy has suddenly started talking about how he loves origami, so we talk while he creates some fantastic flower. We’ve recently started sharing a nature book as he is interested in facts about animals. The girl I support prefers to talk and play games and that’s OK. I’ve started trying to interest her in telling stories, and one about a cat coming to stay seemed to spark her interest. I’m going to try Six Dinner Sid (Moore and Moore, 1990) next. The school has a library and we are going to spend a session in there exploring how libraries work and talking about their local libraries. The school takes the children on library visits and I joined in on one of the visits recently, which proved to me how much it helps the children to have skilled librarians to guide them through the massive choice of reading material available. This choice, although brilliant, can also be quite daunting to children who come from homes where there are no books at all.

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Muriel, Kent The greatest challenge for a trained reading helper is that each child has different reasons for needing support. We don’t have diagnostic tests to indicate where problems may lie, nor a structured programme to address these. Instead, there is the opportunity to get to know the child through talk and play and reading and to build a relationship within which they can gain confidence and dare to make mistakes. Beanstalk’s flexible format also allows the volunteer to bring in their ideas, knowledge and experiences. In my experience there are two aspects of the Beanstalk approach which create the biggest difference in providing literacy support: the one-to-one relationship and the child-led approach. The former enables a setting, twice a week, in which the child feels they are interesting, listened to and appreciated by someone who is there, entirely for them. The latter engenders a mixture of reading, talk and games which allows the child to enjoy themselves while learning and not feel pressured, compared to others or failing.

Emily, London I was initially worried about whether the children would enjoy the sessions with me, and whether I would be able to find books they would like in the library. Over time, however, I realised that I was free to tailor my sessions to suit the child, and that was an exciting breakthrough, having the confidence to realise that I was able, due to the training provided by Beanstalk and the experience I had gained, to structure each 30-minute session to suit the individual child. The teachers I have spoken with are enthusiastic about the opportunity for children who are experiencing difficulties with their reading to work in a quiet and calm environment, one to one, with a volunteer from Beanstalk. I believe it makes a huge difference to the children’s confidence and to the way they approach books and reading. Without the opportunity to try reading in an environment they are truly comfortable in, it’s possible that some of the children we work with may never fully work through the obstacles they have faced with reading.

I like reading with my Beanstalk helper now. It is fun. We do lots of reading. We read lots of books. It’s good because the stories are so funny. When I reading the book she was saying it not a ‘b’ it a ‘p’. She helps me when I say the wrong thing. When we finish the story we play a game. It’s fun. We do games. We read puzzles. I play puzzles. She lets me say the story. I talk about the stories. It help my reading. It help me. (M., Year 3 pupil, who struggled with English as an additional language)

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Resources and libraries . . . Beanstalk’s lifeblood Access to quality children’s literature and other literacy resources is vital to Beanstalk’s work, especially given the commitment to tailoring resources to the interests of individual children. As discussed above, the Beanstalk book box is often a much-loved treasure trove for our struggling or reluctant readers. Beanstalk support staff organise termly book swaps for their reading helpers, and while this goes some way towards keeping the book boxes fresh and inviting, it means storing large numbers of books and games in regional offices. Beanstalk and community libraries (where they still exist in England) are therefore natural bedfellows, sharing as they do the goal of reaching out to more children to encourage a lifelong enjoyment of reading.

Case study 5.3: Working with libraries in Kent and Medway Beanstalk’s Kent and Medway Area team’s involvement with the library service is an excellent example of partnership working. There are two councils covering this area – Kent County Council and Medway Council. They provide a comprehensive range of library facilities from large, modern complexes such as in Maidstone, where the site is combined with the county archives, through to small local libraries which are open for a very limited number of days/hours each week and a mobile library service which takes resources out into the community. Beanstalk recruitment posters are displayed in libraries wherever possible and our staff offer talks to community members using the library, such as reading groups and walking groups, thus helping to take our work out into the local community. Beanstalk staff have developed good relationships with key players, both strategically and in individual libraries. Librarians provide free facilities for our reading helpers to run their meetings and book exchanges. Periodically, meetings are combined, especially for new Beanstalk volunteers. These combined meetings may include a tour of the library, a talk from on-site library staff about the facilities and expertise they offer, the range of resources available to borrow and specialist resources that volunteers might not be aware that they hold such as: • • • • •

story sacks books for specific learning needs e.g. in ‘dyslexia-friendly’ formats ranges for high interest/low ability examples of suitable texts for older children but with accessible language dual-language books for English as an Additional Language readers.

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The librarians’ specialist knowledge and skills are highly prized by our staff and volunteers. We regularly invite library staff to talk to our reading helpers on specific subjects such as favourite children’s books, new authors and publications, fresh ideas for engaging reluctant readers and seemingly straightforward skills such as reading a story well and using a story sack. We also draw on the librarians’ understanding of the characteristics and needs of the local community, especially where they work with schools. Sharing this knowledge and understanding with our local co-ordinators and volunteers helps Beanstalk to target areas of greatest need, ensuring that we stay in step with local issues and initiatives wherever possible. All Beanstalk reading helpers in Kent and Medway are encouraged to take advantage of the ‘Educator’s Pass’. This means that they must be a member of the library themselves but can then take their Beanstalk ID and obtain a special library card that allows them to borrow between 30 and 50 items. The educator’s pass has no fines attached to it, and so avoids any charges for late returns. More importantly, the educator’s pass allows our reading helpers access to the whole county’s stocks. This enables Beanstalk to meet a child’s interests in the choice of reading material provided and takes some pressure off the need to hold every possible ‘wish list’ in our offices. It also encourages our reading helpers to be proactive in searching for that special item that a child needs. Increasingly, local librarians are liaising with Beanstalk about which genre and specific books they would like them to buy. For example, Maidstone library wanted to add more children’s play scripts to its stock. Our reading helpers are keen on play scripts as a genre because they can really help to engage a reluctant reader, since they create a genuine reason to share the reading and have fun with characterisation. So, in this case we were able to advise the librarian about the play scripts our volunteers had found worked well in their sessions. Jan Bedford, Customer Service Development Librarian, Maidstone District Kent Libraries, Registration and Archives says: Our work with Beanstalk is a creative, two-way process. As library staff we do what we can to provide the children Beanstalk supports with reading material that may not be available in school. In turn, more children and their families learn about their libraries and hopefully begin the lifelong reading habit. It’s amazing, for example, how many children and adults have no idea that joining a library is free. The important thing now is just to keep up this two-way relationship as new volunteers join Beanstalk so that we can keep spreading the word.

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Beyond the anecdotal . . . evidencing Beanstalk’s impact Impact measurement has always been a big part of what we do at Beanstalk, and it has evolved significantly over recent years. Historically, most of the impact measurement was done via our online monitoring and evaluation database, OSCAR (Operations, Schools, Children and Reading helpers). OSCAR is a secure system which can be accessed by Beanstalk staff and designated school staff users. School personnel receive termly reminders to login and update progress data on the children we support. It became clear that OSCAR itself was unlikely to be enough in terms of impact measurement, so in 2016, as part of our commitment to assessing more precisely the impact of our programmes, we produced a new Reading Record that all reading helpers are encouraged to use to track their children’s progress. This is a joint document between the Beanstalk reading helper, the school and the child. At the beginning of our Beanstalk intervention we ask teachers to tell each child’s reading helper if that child is below, working towards, at or above the expected reading level for their age. This teacher assessment is then entered into the child’s Reading Record. The process is repeated at the end of our intervention. The Reading Records also include child-friendly questions to assess not only reading levels and attainment but also engagement, enjoyment of reading and self-confidence. At the end of 2016 an in-depth analysis of data from OSCAR and our Reading Records showed the following: • After three terms of support from a Beanstalk reading helper the majority of children had made significant progress. • 42% of children had moved on to Working Towards age-appropriate expectations and more than a quarter (26%) of children were classed as At or Above. • Children who were classed as Below when they began their Beanstalk journey had made significant progress by the end of the year, with 65% of Key Stage 1 children (5- to 7-year-olds) now being classed as Working Towards. • This was also the case with 55% of Beanstalk-supported children at Lower Key Stage 2 (7- to 9-year-olds) and 40% of Upper Key Stage 2 (9- to 11-year-olds). • 10% of Key Stage 1 children had completely caught up to – or exceeded – age-appropriate expectations, with the number rising to 12% for Lower Key Stage 2 and 17% for Upper Key Stage 2. 81

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• For the children classed as Working Towards at the beginning of their Beanstalk intervention, 69% of Key Stage 1 children had caught up to the age-appropriate level and were classed as At or Above by the end of the intervention. • For Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2 those percentages were 48% and 39%, respectively. • The number of Lower Key Stage 2 children requiring intensive support when reading and decoding had almost halved after children had been working with a Beanstalk reading helper for three terms. • In Upper Key Stage 2 at the end of the intervention children’s speaking skills had improved significantly, with 7 out of 10 now requiring little or no support in order to participate in discussions, while less than half had been able to do so at the beginning of the intervention. (Beanstalk analysis of Reading Records 2016/Impact Report 2016) The Impact Report is an internal document, but some of these findings will be featured in the Our Year in Review 2015–2016 report (Beanstalk N.D).1 – www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/our-publications

Case study 5.4: A globally transferable strategy There is clear evidence that the Beanstalk model is transferable to other countries and cultures. In 2006 a former Beanstalk reading helper, Alex Moss, set up help2read (www.help2read.org) in South Africa, where illiteracy is at crisis point. Based on the Beanstalk strategy, help2read has so far worked in 200 schools with almost 13,000 children from disadvantaged areas. I became a Beanstalk reading helper and realised very quickly how effective it was. Nelson Mandela was an incredible man whom I admired immensely, and I desperately wanted to do something for South Africa, where illiteracy is a chronic issue. Taking the Beanstalk strategy into disadvantaged areas of South Africa to help address the illiteracy crisis was the obvious thing to do. In 10 years we have gone from strength to strength, although of course there is still a huge amount of work to do.

(Alex Moss)

As with the English model, help2read provides classroom resources in special book boxes, and volunteers support struggling readers on an individual basis.

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The one-to-one attention given by help2read volunteers usually represents the first time ever that a learner has received undivided attention and personalised learning support. In a country where over half of young people are estimated to be unemployed (Stats SA, 2014) the benefits of training as a ‘literacy tutor’ are significant. The programme improves the employability of young people while also developing the literacy skills of primary school children in township schools. Assessment outcomes are impressive too. In a typical school-year intervention of seven months of contact time, primary school learners have been able to increase their reading age by 14.4 months. Across the board, educator reports point to simultaneous and significant increases in confidence and self-esteem (Figure 5.4).

Figure 5.4 Help2read.org/impact

Weighing up the ingredients of success To summarise, we are clear and confident that our reading support methodology works; and that it works for a broad range of children from different social backgrounds and with an array of reasons for struggling with – or simply not engaging with – reading. What, then, do we see are the main ingredients that make this positive difference to our Beanstalk supported children? • High quality training for volunteers. • Individualised one-to-one attention from a trusted and reliable 83

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• • • • • • •

• •

‘significant other’ where the child is listened to and respected. Nurturing a child’s confidence. Using structured play to have fun with literacy. Consistency and longevity of support over a full school year so that confidence and trust have time to grow. Placing huge value on talking and listening in order to develop a child’s vocabulary and confidence. Maintaining close and regular communication with the child’s teacher. Putting the child’s needs and interests firmly in the centre of all planning and interventions and building on from there. Spending consolidated and highly focused time with the child to enable in-depth literacy activities to take place, rather than simply practising the mechanics of reading. Creating an unpressured space for the child outside the classroom where he or she learns to feel safe enough to try – and even to fail. Providing the child with special, quality books and resources.

Beanstalk, the next chapter Beanstalk’s 2020 Vision (Beanstalk, 2016) is an ambitious plan for growth to extend our reach to even more children in areas of need across England. Government statistics show that almost half of children are leaving primary school unable to read and write properly, potentially severely restricting their life chances. Figures from primary school performance tables for 2016 show that 665 mainstream primaries in England fell below the government’s floor standard for attainment (DFE, 2016b). Based on the report published by Save the Children (Whitham, 2012) 3.9 million children wake up each morning in poverty (ibid., 2), and we know that there is a chronic link between disadvantage and educational underachievement (e.g. Cooper, Lloyd-Reason and Wall, 2003; Desforges and Abouchaar, 2003). This is one of the many reasons why we will continue to work with partners such as Save the Children. We began working with Save the Children in 2013 as the delivery partner for its Born to Read Programme (Save the Children, 2014). Beanstalk is also a member of the National Literacy Forum and the Read On. Get On. campaign, working with partners to get all children reading well by 2025 (National Literacy Forum, 2014, 15). By 2020–21 we aim to have 8,000 volunteers in the Beanstalk community supporting 30,000 children aged between 3 and 13, taking our reading support programmes to early years settings (3–5s) and on into secondary schools. 84

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Work has already begun. In 2016 we launched our ReadUp programme, in which sixth-form students are trained to become reading helpers. We will be recruiting up to 100 more young volunteers. Early feedback from ReadUp indicates that there are mutual benefits for both the Beanstalk-supported primary-aged children and the sixth-formers themselves. The younger children generally relate well to 16- to 17-year-olds, seeing them not quite as adults, but more as positive role models closer to their own age. The sixthformers enrich their own learning experiences and improve their career prospects. We leave you with this (Figure 5.5) short story from six-year-old Grace, whose words express that magical moment all our trained reading helpers work for: the moment when that locked and bolted door to reading finally opens to admit the child for whom reading was once a chore but is now a source of happiness.

Figure 5.5 Letter from Grace to her Reading Helper

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Notes 1 www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/our-publications

References Beanstalk (forthcoming) Our Year in Review 2015–2016, www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/our-publications. Beanstalk (2016) Our 2020 Vision, www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/our-2020-vision. Cooper, M., Lloyd-Reason, L. and Wall, S. (2003) Social Deprivation and Educational Underachievement: Lessons from London, Education and Training, 45 (2), 79–88. Desforges, C. and Abouchaar, A. (2003) The Impact of Parental Involvement, Parent Support and Family Education on Pupil Achievement and Adjustment; a literature review, Department for Education and Children. DFE (2016a) Keeping Children Safe in Education. Statutory guidance for schools and colleges. DfE-00140-2016, www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 550511/Keeping_children_safe_in_education.pdf. DFE (2016b) National Curriculum Assessments: Key Stage 2, 2016 (revised), www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/ 577296/SFR62_2016_text.pdf. Moore, I. and Moore, J. W. (1990) Six Dinner Sid, Simon & Schuster. National Literacy Forum (2014) Vision for Literacy 2025, 15, www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0002/3984/Vision_for_Literacy_2025.pdf. Save the Children (2014) Annual Report 2014, p24, www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/Annual_Report_2014.pdf. Stats SA (2014) Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa Report, www.statssa.gov.za/?p=4445. Whitham, G. (2012) Child Poverty in 2012. Save the Children, www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/child_poverty_ 2012.pdf.

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6 Let all children experience the joy of reading: promoting children’s reading in Korea Yeojoo Lim

Introduction Despite the excessive pursuit of schooling that is often called ‘education fever’, Korea’s enthusiasm for children’s reading started only in the early 1990s. Parents’ call for better books for their children encouraged publishers to discover competent Korean writers and illustrators and to introduce plenty of translated books to young Korean readers. The government’s policy to actively support school libraries from 2003 to 2007 also had a positive influence on children’s reading experience. A variety of projects to promote children’s reading showed that such efforts can help reluctant and struggling readers to develop an interest in books. This chapter will introduce case studies of projects that have guided children and young adults into the joy of reading and further invited them to regard books as their best friends for life.

Systems surrounding Korean children’s reading Korea is well known for parents’ extreme devotion to their children’s education. ‘Kyoyuk yol’ (literally translated as ‘education fever’) is a special term indicating this national obsession with education (Seth, 2002, 1). Michael J. Seth, the author of Education Fever: society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South Korea, summarises the reality of Korean education that surprised him, from his American perspective: Everywhere there are ‘cram schools’ (hagwon), where elementary, middle, and high school students study late in the evening and on weekends. Every neighborhood has a store selling textbooks, supplementary readings, and guides to the entrance examinations. Adults, too, study at night schools, attempting to advance their education. Real estate prices depend as much on the reputation of

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local schools as on the inherent desirability of the location or the quality of housing. South Korean families invest heavily in the education of their children, and children and young adults spend a huge portion of their time studying and preparing for examinations. Education pops up in conversation often, and the success of a son, daughter, or grandchild at entering a ‘good’ school is a source of great pride.

(2002, 1–2)

(Note: A hagwon is similar to private tutoring but the class size varies from fewer than 10 students to more than 300. The hagwon system is similar to the public school system – usually there are a director, a vice director and classroom teachers in a hagwon, just as there are a principal, a vice principal and classroom teachers in public schools.) As a result, Korean youth often show great performance in international exams that measure students’ academic achievement. Each time the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are released, Korea shows higher-than-OECD-average performance in reading literacy, mathematics literacy and science literacy. Excellence in reading literacy, however, does not indicate students’ fondness for reading. Research comparing the reading behaviour of children in Korea and the UK insists that Korean children enjoy reading less than English children do – in Korea, 40.4% of the children reported that they ‘like’ to read and 19.0% reported they ‘love’ to read, while in the UK, 30.5% of the children reported they ‘like’ to read and 37.6% reported they ‘love’ to read (Korean Publishing Research Institute, 2012, 94). Throughout history, for many Korean children, reading has been acknowledged as one of the ‘study requirements’ rather than as a voluntary recreational activity for pleasure and enjoyment. After being completely devastated during the Japanese occupation (1905–45) and the Korean War (1950–53), Korea strove to re-establish the nation as quickly as possible, focusing solely on its economic recovery. Relatively less attention was paid to cultural resources such as art and literature. For many Koreans, ‘reading for pleasure’ was not a familiar term. The library was regarded as a place to study quietly. Some people visited libraries to read and borrow books, but reading was not a widely shared pastime on which to spend one’s leisure time. From the 1990s, however, things began to change. As the economy prospered more people entered the middle class. Many middle-class parents in their 30s and 40s had participated in the democracy movement during the military junta and accomplished political revolution. From this experience they have learnt the power of information. They believed that reading good books would help their children not only to gain competency to survive in 88

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this competitive world but also to contribute to supporting democracy and making the world a peaceful place. These parents and other adults voluntarily organised study groups to learn more about children’s literature, introduced good international literature to Korean readers and advocated the importance of providing a better reading environment for children. In addition, the government’s policy in 1994 of strengthening the reading comprehension test in the college entrance examination encouraged parents’ enthusiasm for their children’s instruction in reading. Publishers responded by strengthening their children’s book departments and importing and translating good-quality children’s books. They also invested in discovering prominent Korean authors and illustrators, which resulted in the speedy growth of the field of Korean children’s literature. In the 2000s, national projects based on government support emerged. The Ministry of Education launched the School Library Reactivation Project in 2003 to build and refurbish school libraries in all Korean elementary, middle and high schools. By 2007, 94% of public schools were equipped with a school library with generally ‘fair’ collections. In 2003, Citizen Action for Reading, a non-governmental organisation, collaborated with Munhwa Broadcasting Company and launched a TV series called the Miracle Library Project that aimed to build children’s libraries in 12 different sites in Korea. This series increased national awareness of the importance of libraries for children and motivated public libraries to allocate more funds for children’s library departments. Finally, in 2006, the National Library for Children and Young Adults (NLCY) opened. As an affiliated organisation of the National Library of Korea, NLCY tries to support and enhance library services for young people by developing creative programmes, providing continuing professional development for librarians and supporting academic research into library services for children and young adults. Thus, the passion for a better reading environment for children became the foundation for a variety of efforts to motivate reading for all children in Korea.

The Morning Reading movement The Morning Reading movement is one of the biggest and most effective of the campaigns to stimulate children’s reading in Korea. It is a school reading programme where both teachers and students read books together for a short time each morning before official classes begin. Korea’s Morning Reading can be traced back to Sustained Silent Reading (SSR), which was initiated by Lyman C. Hunt Jr in the early 1960s and later developed by Robert A. 89

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McCracken and Marlene J. McCracken. The essence of SSR was ‘a set time each day when every pupil and the teacher read silently for a substantial period of time without interruption’ (McCracken and McCracken, 1978, 406). This unique reading programme soon received an enthusiastic response and spread widely around the world. In 1988, Hayashi Hiroshi, a Japanese school teacher, learnt about SSR and applied the method with her students. This was the start of Japan’s Morning Reading movement (Nakamura, 2012, 5). Japan’s Morning Reading movement developed slowly in the first 10 years, but once it had been proved to enrich children’s world-view and to bring relaxation in this complex society, more schools started to be involved in Morning Reading (Han, 2012, 15). Korea’s Morning Reading movement started about 17 years later, when Han Sang-Soo, director of a children’s library, translated and published Hayashi Hiroshi’s book Morning Reading for 10 Minutes Makes a Miracle in 2005. With the launching of the book, Han established a nongovernmental organisation to promote Morning Reading for Korean students. The positive effects of the Morning Reading programme were rapidly publicised throughout the country, with the result that 55% of public and private schools were participating by 2010.

The four principles of Morning Reading The Morning Reading movement of Korea has four principles. • • • •

Everyone reads. Read every day. Read what you want to read. Just read.

The first principle, ‘Everyone reads’, is emphasised as the most crucial rule, which defines the success or failure of the programme. In every elementary, middle and high school in Korea there is a ‘homeroom teacher’ who is responsible for a designated class each year. The homeroom teacher, who acts as a counsellor, administrator and disciplinarian, meets with the class every morning before the official class begins. Morning Reading emphasises that a homeroom teacher reads together with the students, because observing a teacher concentrating on reading motivates students to concentrate on their own reading as well. Morning Reading insists that 10 minutes is enough for everyday reading. Experience shows that schools which allocate 30 or more minutes to Morning Reading are not likely to continue the programme. The 90

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last principle, ‘Just read’, was new to most teachers and students at first, because in Korea generally a formal after-reading activity was a requirement for in-school readings before this innovation (Han, 2012, 15). As we shall see below, reports from teachers show how the four principles of Morning Reading enhanced students’ reading behaviour and further encouraged them to become book lovers.

Case study 6.1: Increase in students’ reading in Daegu Daegu, Korea’s fourth-largest city, participated in the Morning Reading movement more earnestly than any other city in Korea. Daegu’s Morning Reading movement officially started in March 2005 when, after reading the book Morning Reading for 10 Minutes Makes a Miracle (Hayashi, 2005), Han Won-Kyung, the superintendent of education in the district, suggested that all schools in Daegu should join the movement. Daegu Office of Education collaborated with the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) to advocate a city-wide reading campaign and invited principals, teachers, school librarians and parents to workshops to promote Morning Reading. Soon most elementary, middle and high schools in Daegu had decided to participate in the Morning Reading movement. In just 20 months there appeared to be a miraculous change. In a research survey in November 2006, the average amount of reading by Daegu students was found to be about twice the average for Korean students in general. In Daegu in 2006, elementary school students read 104.5 books, middle school students read 35.6 books and high school students read 20.3 books. Considering that the amount of reading by Daegu students was similar to the amount of reading by students in other areas in 2004, the positive effect of Morning Reading seems to be quite clear (Han, 2012, 16). Jeon Mi-Hyun, a teacher at Hamji Elementary School in Daegu, conducted a simple survey on the effect of Morning Reading on her students. Among 26 students, 22 (85%) said that Morning Reading had positively changed their view of reading. Fifteen (58%) said that they experienced the joy of reading a little bit and seven (27%) said that Morning Reading had taught them to love reading. No one answered that Morning Reading had discouraged them from reading. In response to a question about reading behaviour at Morning Reading, 15 (58%) said that they read passionately because they like books; 9 (34%) answered that they read because the teacher told them to (but once they read, they read passionately as well); 2 (8%) answered that they just pretended to be reading. According to Jeon, the average number of books that children read increased

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within just four months: from 2.05 books a week to 2.97. Jeon insists that ‘simplicity’ is the main reason for the success of Morning Reading: the simple rule of reading whatever one wants to read for just 15 minutes a day led the children and the teacher to participate in the programme regularly, without much pressure. Jeon said she was very impressed by the power of this simple rule and that she would continue to run the programme in her classroom (2012, 134–41).

Discovering the joy of reading diverse texts According to Newkirk, adults who work with children often ‘create a hierarchy of texts’ and consider only certain genres and forms as ‘real’ reading (as cited in Ross, McKechnie and Rothbauer, 2006, 90). Many teachers who participated in the Morning Reading movement also shared this point of view. Although one of the principles of Morning Reading is ‘Read what you want to read’, some teachers dissuaded students from reading certain kinds of books, including comic books, web fiction and educational graphic novels (EGNs). EGNs, which ‘are recognized as an independent genre in Korea’, are graphic novels that focus on delivering educational content such as history and science, targeting readers aged 11 and under (Lim, 2011, 41). Despite their extreme popularity among children, EGNs are often viewed negatively because many adults believe that they may discourage reading books in more traditional formats and prevent children from having a serious approach to knowledge (Kang and Jeong, 2009, 164). Other teachers used a somewhat different strategy: for students who had no interest in reading any kind of text, they suggested reading EGNs first, followed by picture books, storybooks with illustrations and, finally, storybooks with no illustrations at all (Park, 2011, 124). Teachers who completely prohibited EGNs and those who set up reading ladders at Morning Reading time all indicated that, despite some conflict at the beginning, students gradually learnt to discover the joy of reading a variety of texts. They also insist that the relaxing atmosphere of Morning Reading time provided the opportunity for students to voluntarily step up to more complex readings. Other benefits of Morning Reading demonstrated by teachers and students include development of comprehension and writing skills, more sophisticated book selections and an increased acceptance of diversity.

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Case study 6.2: The positive effects of Morning Reading This account by a student participant who used to be a non-reader summarises the positive effects of Morning Reading: At the beginning, I hated books. I used to read comics only. When I had to read novels, I always whined. Morning Reading time felt as the most boring time of the day to me, because our teacher forbade reading comics. I was frustrated at first, but one day I thought like ‘Okay. Let’s do it.’ The more I participated in the program, the less I hated books. And one day I found myself enjoying Morning Reading time! I even recommend interesting books to other students when we browse the bookshelf of our classroom library. Even on Sundays I read books for 15 minutes in the morning as if I am in school. Sometimes I feel 15 minutes is not enough. I learned a lot of knowledge from reading books. Corn stems taste sweet if you chew them like you chew gums – this I learned from books, too. Reading books in the morning feels fresh and cool. Morning Reading taught me how to imagine in silence. Now a few words from a radio will guide me to the world of imagination. I am quite stingy but I like to buy books these days. I don’t think books are boring anymore. I can surely say that I like books, thanks to Morning Reading!

(Jeon, 2012, 143)

The NLCY outreach service to the information poor The NLCY opened in 2006 as a central institution to supervise library services for children and young adults in Korea. The main goals of NLCY include:

• developing reading programmes to promote children’s reading and spreading the programmes to all libraries in Korea; • providing continuing education to empower children’s and young adult librarians; • collaboration with national and international libraries; • supporting research on library services for children and young adults. One of the primary focuses of NLCY is on outreach services to children who do not have sufficient access to books. The Reading Together with the Library project and the Book Bundle Circulation project are the two main outreach services of NLCY. 93

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Reading Together with the Library project The project aims to provide reading opportunities to children who have limited access to books. It started in 2007 as a pilot programme and gained positive responses from the participants. Since then, the project has continued to grow, with more applicants each year. Despite the rapid growth of library services over several decades, the public library service is still not accessible to many working-class Korean children in the countryside or suburbs. For many of them, public libraries are too far from their home. Even when there is a public library that they can access via public transport, they don’t have an adult family member who can go to the library with them when it is open. Some parents have to work at weekends as well in order to earn a living wage; others give priority to doing household chores and regard a cultural activity such as going to the library as a luxury. Not going to the library does not necessarily mean they have enough children’s books in the house. Many families cannot afford books in the house, for financial reasons. The situation is worse for the children of immigrant families. Limited exposure to Korean language during their childhood leads to low literacy skills, which makes it difficult for them to read and understand textbooks at school. Although some schools try to provide extra language courses to improve these children’s literacy skills, most children are not given such opportunities and end up with low academic achievement. In the Reading Together with the Library project, NLCY gives financial support and systematic help to public libraries to regularly provide fun reading programmes for these children so that they can learn the joy of reading and develop their literacy skills. The project encourages public libraries to collaborate with local community childcare centres to find out who are the children in need. With the assistance of reading experts in the local areas, NLCY, public libraries and community childcare centres co-operate to provide the best reading programmes for children. The most distinctive aspect of this programme is the presentation of books to each participating child. Every week, when a child comes to take part in the reading programme, they are given one book per person. ‘Having one’s own book’ means a lot for these children because many of them have not had such an opportunity before.

The process of the Reading Together with the Library project At the end of each year, NLCY make an official call to all public libraries in Korea to participate in the Reading Together with the Library project. The application form asks for information about the co-operating local community 94

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childcare centre, the anticipated child participants and their reading environment and the competency and experience of the local reading expert who will lead the programme for a year, and so on. Based on the applications that it has received, NLCY carefully selects the participating libraries for the next year. The project started with 16 public libraries in 2007. The number of participating libraries has gradually increased since then, and in 2014, 135 libraries took part, followed by 100 in 2015. The reading programme is conducted once a week for 10 months. The role of each institution or person in charge is as follows: • Public library: plans concrete schedules for the reading programme for the 10 months; consults with the local reading expert in selecting books and after-reading activities for each week, based on the participating children’s age, interests and other characteristics. • Local community childcare centre: advertises the reading programme and manages participating children’s attendance. Fifteen children attend on average. Keeps a check on the children’s daily lives at the centre and informs the librarian and the lecturer of important information about the children if needed. • Tutor (reading expert): leads the programme for the 10 months, using activities such as storytelling, writing and craft to increase the children’s curiosity in reading. The tutor who leads the programme is chosen from among the local experts who have experience in conducting reading programmes for children. The basis of the Reading Together with the Library project is essentially the weekly reading programme at the local community childcare centre, using books provided by NLCY. In addition to reading together with each other, children experience other exciting activities such as getting one’s own library card, a library visit, reading camp, an author visit and other cultural events related to books and reading. The titles of the books used for the reading programme and additional activities vary, depending upon the circumstances of each group. For example, the librarian at library A said that she could feel the fear of reading in the eyes of the children at the first meeting. She therefore tried to choose fun, brightly coloured books for the programme to encourage the children to discover the joy of reading. She also picked books that were on subjects that would be familiar to the children, such as friends and teachers, so as to help the children not to feel any barrier to reading and to further develop their self-esteem. In the case of library B, where most of the participants were 95

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teens, the librarian selected books that would stimulate the young people to think about their future and discuss their values in life with each other. Most of the participants at library C were first-graders who could not read well. Thus, the librarian and the tutor decided to fill the programme with story times and fun activities like decorating the bookshelf and games based on the books before introducing the children to Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. NLCY administers and financially supports the reading programmes of all the participating libraries. At the end of each year NLCY asks the librarians, tutors and children who joined the programme to write about their thoughts and opinions on the programme, based on their own experiences. The collected writings are woven into a book and distributed both online and in print. These books that are published each year are full of useful information and are often referred to by individual libraries when they run reading programmes on their own.

The effect of Reading Together with the Library Two studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of the Reading Together with the Library project (Chung, 2013; Lee, 2011). According to these studies, the project had a positive effect on various aspects of children and their reading. First of all, children’s views of reading changed. Many children showed a fear of reading or a prejudice against books – that books are boring – before joining the programme. As time went on, however, they began to show more curiosity about books and to ‘ask’ about books. More and more children then confessed their love of books. Children treated reading as a meaningful act. Free, voluntary reading increased. Naturally, children’s verbal skills and comprehension ability increased. The programme engendered positive views of libraries and librarians as well. Many children who participated in the programme had never visited a public library before. They were not familiar with the library building and felt that a library visit was not a thing for them. Joining the Reading Together with the Library project opened their eyes to the world of the library. It also taught them that they can read all kinds of books for free, whenever they want, if only they have library cards. Some of the children even mentioned that they want to be librarians when they grow up. Lee Eun-Sook, a librarian who participated in the project, said the Reading Together with the Library project is not only important for children’s literacy development; she emphasised that it is an act of outreach to the underprivileged children in Korean society: 96

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The core of the Reading Together with the Library project is reaching out hands to all children who are behind and unnoticed. Children brought up in a vulnerable neighborhood tend to show extreme behaviors or use tough language. All this aggressiveness might be a desperate attempt searching for love and comfort. I tried to keep this in mind while I was working on the program.

(Lee, 2015, 160)

Box 6.1: Children enjoying Reading Together with the Library The positive effect of this project can be observed from the participants’ own writing. Below are reports from two child participants. I like the story time. I like it even better because I could bring the book home with me. I never knew reading the same book again and again could be this much fun. I thought the library is a place only for reading books, but it had many programs as well. I never knew that a librarian does things other than lending books – our librarian introduced the library in various and fun ways. I have read the books I was given from the program over and over again. I want to read more books. – Kim (7 years old; 2nd grader) (Lee, 2011, 100) When I registered for the reading program, I was really curious who will come as our teacher. When she came I was delighted because she was pretty. I think the program was much more fun because she was pretty and had good voice. We were allowed to bring our own books home! I was so happy that I could read the book with my brother. My brother seemed to have waited for the book, too. I want to be a librarian running a reading program when I grow up. – Uhm (6 years old; 1st grader) (Lee, 2011, 151)

The Book Bundle Circulation project Just like the Reading Together with the Library project, the Book Bundle Circulation project aimed to provide access to books for working-class elementary school students who live in the countryside or suburbs. Collections of books were lent to small elementary schools in rural areas for a limited number of months and the students were allowed to borrow books from the school library. This project started in 2010 and continued until 2014. Elementary schools in rural areas with fewer than 150 students were the targets of the Book Bundle Circulation project. Each semester, 80 schools were selected as recipients. (Korean schools have two semesters a year. Spring semester is from March to July and the Fall semester is from September to December.) Although most schools do have school libraries, employing a 97

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school librarian is not a requirement in the Korean education system. Thus, for financial reasons many small-sized schools do not hire school librarians, and the students are not provided with good-quality library services. The Book Bundle Circulation project started with the aim of allowing all students in Korea to experience the joy of reading through good-quality collections and programmes for at least one semester. In practice the ‘book bundle’ is a box filled with 50 books. Each ‘bundle’ contains a variety of books with different subject matter – science, social science, culture, geography, travel, language, literature, history, people, art, sports, philosophy, mythology etc. Pop-up books are also included so that the students can experience different book formats. NLCY holds 200 bundles in total. Two or three bundles are provided for each school; that is, 100 to 150 books are delivered to one school. Then, for a semester, students in the designated schools can freely borrow those books. At the end of the semester the book bundles are collected back to NLCY for distribution to other schools the next semester. This project is not just about book delivery. Considering the absence of a school librarian in the designated schools, NLCY created and distributed a workbook that contains an A to Z of useful reading programmes for children (Kong et al., 2014). A teacher can select any programme from the workbook and use it as after-reading activity with students (Box 6.2 opposite). The workbook is a collective work edited by many experienced children’s librarians, organised with carefully selected programmes that could be easily applied to any circumstances with little budget. Author visits and other cultural activities were added to help students experience the joy of reading from diverse perspectives. The Book Bundle Circulation was a popular project and gained an excellent response from participating schools and students.

Bibliotherapy for delinquent adolescents Large-scale national reading projects can benefit many children when they have sufficient financial support. But not all programmes have enough funding, and sometimes they don’t even need it. This section introduces a small but powerful reading programme that changed non-readers into readers through careful effort and trust. The programme is bibliotherapy for five delinquent young adults, most of whom were non-readers (Ko, 2014). The Dictionary for Library and Information Science defines bibliotherapy as ‘the use of books selected on the basis of content in a planned reading program designed to facilitate the recovery of patients suffering from mental 98

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Box 6.2: Contents of the Book Bundle Circulation project workbook [Contents] • Science activities — Animals/plants – the Mosquito expert — Common sense – Magical snow • Social/cultural activities — Multiculturalism – Bring diverse faces of the world into a camera book — Economy – Three Cups made by me — Peace – Peace runs — Environment – Let’s save the paper pack and save the forest • History activities — Korean history – Hello, Dokdo (an island of Korea)? — Korean history – Let’s go in to history! — History – Go around, Earth! — Biography – I can see the numbers! — Biography and history – Let’s read with our hands! — History – Find daily items from the proverbs — Korean history – Find a foreigner from history — Biography – A letter from Choi Book — World history – Let’s find the food books from the library — Biography – Park Je-Ga analyses even poo • Art/physical activities — Do we really know what we think we know? – Soccer, cultivating our minds — Dreaming children – We grow up every day. I can see other people’s minds – What is the real soccer? — Let’s make the world beautiful together – Fair sports — Playing children – It is okay to make mistakes — Let’s improve sensitivity to see the beauty of the world – Needlework — Let’s meet the diverse world of Art – Fun shadow play — Art – I can be a painter • Geography/travel — Let’s know my town and love it! –Slowly observing my town — Let’s dive into the traditional games! – Korean traditional recreational games — Feel the beauty of ceramics – Korean ceramics — Learn geography through travelling – Let’s go on a trip in Korea! — Geographic travel 1 – Learn the world through the traditional market! — Geographic travel 2 – Searching for the world inside the computer! — Geographic travel 3 – Finding culture, finding nations — Geographic travel 4 – Making my own passport — Searching everywhere in our land – Let’s go into the palace • Philosophy — Thinking trip – Finding the joy of thinking opposite — Reading philosophy from picture books – You are always in me — Mythology, fun sacred story – Bari, becoming the god of afterlife

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illness or emotional disturbance. Ideally, the process occurs in three phases: personal identification of the reader with a particular character in the recommended work, resulting in psychological catharsis, which leads to rational insight concerning the relevance of the solution suggested in the text to the reader’s own experience. Assistance of a trained psychotherapist is advised’ (Reitz, 2004). While bibliotherapy started and developed around hospital libraries for medical purposes in Western countries, in Korea it is acknowledged as a more general practice to help whoever is going through hard times or is stressed out in their daily life. Scholars from various academic fields, including literature, early childhood education, psychology and social work, are actively involved in this area. Two academic associations focusing on bibliotherapy have been established, and universities and other institutions provide curricula to train bibliotherapists and award certificates. Still, many people argue that bibliotherapy, as it is understood in Korea, is no different from the readers’ advisory service, which has traditionally been a librarian’s job. In reality, however, not many Korean libraries can focus on the readers’ advisory service, due to a lack of funds that results in a lack of staff and excessive workloads. Some argue that bibliotherapy is an expanded version of the readers’ advisory service – just not provided inside the library. The term ‘bibliotherapy’ is often replaced with ‘biblio-counselling’ because some people find it closer to counselling than treatment. In 2006, Ko Jung-Won, a librarian or biblio-counsellor as she refers to herself, started a reading programme for five female middle school students who were involved in delinquency. Over a period of eight years, Ko met the students regularly to read books together and conduct counselling based on the books they were reading. The students were all 13-year-olds in 2006 and came from families in crisis – in their daily lives they had to contend with parents’ divorce, absolute poverty, domestic violence and depressed family members. They were members of a school gang; they got poor grades and were neglected by their teachers; and other students were afraid of them. They were all aggressive and depressed. With the exception of Jung-Ah, they did not read. Jung-Ah secretly liked reading but was embarrassed to tell the truth. She did not want to be discovered reading by her friends. Among the gang members, reading was recognised as a study activity; studying was something that interrupted the power of rebelliousness.

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Process of the programme Ko followed the following twelve steps when conducting the bibliotherapy programme. Introduction 1 Create a teen-friendly environment. Let the programme area (usually a library) be accessible to teens. 2 Be their friends. One of the most important aspects of bibliotherapy is trust between a client and a therapist. Ko said once you gain trust from one student, soon you are recognised as a reliable person by the whole group. 3 Place interesting books in a visible spot or engage in casual book talk. 4 If a student shows interest in a book, start a conversation. Provide simple information about the book – such as a brief summary of the book – if necessary. 5 Introduce another book that is related to the first one. For example, if the student liked a sad story, introduce a book with a sadder story. Interaction with students 6 Read together and talk about the book. Various approaches are possible – you can talk about one particular page or compare several picture books with each other. Reading aloud is also a good option. Book selection should depend on the individual student’s situation. — Min-Kyung’s family was facing economic difficulty after her father was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in serious disability. Min-Kyung was ashamed of her father and secretly blamed him. To get over this negative emotion, Min-Kyung chose misdemeanour. Ko recommended My Very Special Brother by Ko Jung-Wook (2011), a book about disabled people. While reading this book, Min-Kyung could empathise with the characters and naturally started to understand her father. — Jung-Ah was not cared for enough through her parents’ divorce process. She chose to drink and be abusive to other people and to herself to overcome her loneliness. When she found her childhood favorite book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett in the library, she began to converse with Ko. Later Jung-Ah was recommended to read Home Coming: reclaiming and championing your inner child by John Bradshaw and started exploring her own problems. However, not long after reading the book she attempted 101

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suicide again. This time she was recommended The Red Tree by Shaun Tan (2001) While creating her own ‘red tree’ book as an after-reading activity, she could express her intense feelings and feel catharsis. 7 Recommend books based on a request. 8 Discuss the book. At this stage the librarian or the biblio-counsellor should have established a certain amount of rapport with the students, so that they can try to deepen conversation with them. Group discussion is also possible if needed. 9 Recommend books that have not been requested. Let the students have an opportunity to think about new subjects and relate them to their own lives. Practice adjusting to society by volunteer work 10 Call for story time volunteers. Let the students know the benefit and joy of volunteer work. Experiencing volunteering is the last step to complete this bibliotherapy programme. It encourages students to understand other people’s desires and to recognise the importance of maintaining relationships with other people. 11 Prepare students for the story time. Let the students select picture books and plan after-reading activities for story times for little children. 12 Story time day. Let the students lead the story time with minimal help from the librarian/biblio-counsellor. Assess the volunteer programme with students afterwards and write it down as a record.

Programme result The effect of the reading programme became apparent approximately five months after the first session. The students’ behaviour improved in regular classes and gradually they received higher grades at exams. Finally, all five students dropped out of the school gang before middle school graduation. Their positive change guided them to high school entrance, college entrance, and to passing difficult tests to gain useful certificates. The books and the reading programme helped these students develop an optimistic view of life. They also learned to control themselves sufficiently to quit smoking and drinking. Perspectives on their family also changed. The family situations themselves have not changed much, but the way the students view their own family members changed. They tried to empathise with, understand, and find good things from their parents. The change of attitude to books is clearly revealed in the students’ comments: 102

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Programme participants’ opinions of reading in 2006 • Min-Kyung: ‘I quit reading when I was 9 years old. The book report assignment is so annoying’. • Jung-Ah: ‘I like novels, but no one knows that I am a reader. The kids might curse at me if they find it out’. • Hee-Yeon: ‘Book? I’ve never seen it. I didn’t even read a picture book when I was a kid’. • Sun-Mi: ‘I don’t understand a thing from reading. I’m still not used to Hangeul.’ • Yeon-Jeong: ‘I said I don’t study. Reading is studying, you know.’ Programme participants’ opinions on reading in 2013 • Min-Kyung: ‘Books calm me down. I can even encourage other people by writing them good remarks from books. I read one book a month in average.’ • Jung-Ah: ‘I will definitely write a book before I die. I read more than five books a month.’ • Hee-Yeon: ‘The books you used to read to us still seem to be great support to me. I still don’t read a lot – just several books a year – but I read newspapers every day.’ • Sun-Mi: ‘I have to read a lot of books to do college assignments. I think reading is very much important. Books are amazing.’ • Yeon-Jeong: ‘I made a rule to myself to read one book a month. I even write reviews. I love that books touch my heart in every ways.’ Ko insists that the bibliotherapy programme guided delinquent adolescents to see the cause of their difficulties objectively from a broader point of view. She argues this process helped the teens acquire healthy self-esteem and dignity to grow up as independent beings who can challenge one’s lives and head for happiness.

Conclusion There are many ways to get all children to read. We can try to achieve it by assigning time to read every day, or by approaching them with various interesting activities. Sometimes we should wait and wait until the child opens her/his mind before actually talking about reading. Whatever the way is and however long it takes, books are always ready to be the friend to our lonely, slow, and special children who are often viewed as left behind. ‘The 103

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more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.’ said Dr Seuss in I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! (1978). By providing children with opportunities to know the joy of reading, we can give them opportunities to explore the world and their own minds with their best friend always by their side.

References Chung, Y.-K. (2013) A Study of Identifying Areas to Measure the Effectiveness of Library Reading Programs for Children, The National Library for Children and Young Adults. Han, S.-S. (2012) Morning Reading Movement that Changed Children’s Lives. In Morning Reading for 10 Minutes that Changed Our Classroom, Happy Morning Reading, 12–30. Hayashi, H. (2005) Morning Reading for 10 Minutes Makes a Miracle, trans. S. S. Han, Chungaram Media. (Original work published 1993 in Japan.) Jeon, M.-H. (2012) Morning Reading is a Live Reading Education. In Morning Reading for 10 Minutes that Changed Our Classroom, Happy Morning Reading, 134–43. Kang, H.-J. and Jeong, H.-S. (2009) The Storytelling Formula and Readers’ Perception on Educational Graphic Novels, Reading Studies, 21, 163–200. Ko, J.-W. (2014) The Effects of Biblio-counseling on the Process of Desistance from Juvenile Delinquency: a longitudinal study of narrative inquiry, Doctoral dissertation, Kyonggi University. Kong, S.-Y. et al. (2014) The Book Bundle Circulation Project: workbook, internal resource, National Library for Children and Young Adults. Korean Publishing Research Institute (2012) An Investigation Research of Children’s Reading and Library Use, The National Library for Children and Young Adults. Lee, E.-S. (2015) Getting Closer to Books through Author Visit. In 2015 Reading Together with the Library Workbook, National Library for Children and Young Adults, 156–61. Lee, Y.-O. (2011) An Assessment of Reading Together with the Library Project, National Library for Children and Young Adults. Lim, Y.-J. (2011) Educational Graphic Novels: Korean children’s favorite now, Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature, 49 (4), 40–8. McCracken, R. A., and McCracken, M. J. (1978) Modeling is the Key to Sustained Silent Reading, The Reading Teacher, 31 (3), 406–8. Nakamura, Y. (2012) Overview of Youth-Serving Libraries in Japan. In Farmer, L. S. J., Gendina, N. and Nakamura, Y. (eds), Youth-Serving Libraries in Japan, Russia, and the United States, Scarecrow Press, 3–22. 104

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Park, K.-O. (2011) A Trip to Find Treasures with Books. In Morning Reading for 10 Minutes that Changed Our Classroom, Happy Morning Reading, 121–7. Reitz, J. M. (2004) Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Library Books and Monographs. 1, http://repository.wcsu.edu/library_books/1 Ross, C. S., McKechnie, L. and Rothbauer, P. M. (2006) Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community. Libraries Unlimited. Seth, M. J. (2002) Education Fever: society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South Korea, University of Hawai’i Press.

Books mentioned Bradshaw, J. (1999) Home Coming: reclaiming and championing your inner child, Piatkus. Burnett, F. H. (1911) The Secret Garden, Frederick Stokes. Dr Seuss (1978) I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! Random House. Ko, J.-W. (2001) My Very Special Brother, Daekyo. Tan, S. (2001) The Red Tree, Lothian.

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7 Reflecting readers: ensuring that no one is excluded Jake Hope

The diversity agenda It often feels that discussion and debate around diversity in children’s books and reading is cyclical. Diversity gains focus and momentum at given points, achieving some level of change, but soon dies back, before the process begins again anew. Are there ways that it is possible to achieve and embed change in a more meaningful and long-lasting manner, and what contributions, if any, can libraries make towards furthering this agenda and enriching their own offers and provision through involvement? Similarly, how can we make sure that reading provision through libraries is made in a way that is accessible to people with a wide range of abilities and backgrounds so that everyone feels that reading does indeed reflect their needs and lives?

A diverse readership Does diversity matter to readers? Unsurprisingly, the answer is a categorical yes! It would be easy to argue that diversity matters most to those library users who fit within or identify with a specific subcategory of diversity, whether that be around gender, sexuality, race, religion, physicality or mental health. The truth is, however, that diversity matters to us all. Diversity is not exclusive, as it might sometimes be construed, but is truly inclusive and involves and affects each one of us. Reflecting diversity in the literature that we produce, promote and read allows it to shine a light on the lives and needs of readers so that it feels a part of rather than apart from this discourse and exchange of ideas. Why does diversity matter and how does it affect readers of all abilities and ages? In a society where language itself and cultural signifiers such as food and clothing are increasingly influenced by or originate from globalised

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bases, it seems crucial that education – whether accessed formally or informally, accidentally or as part of an established curriculum – should be equal to the needs of a society whose ideas, reference points and traditions are sourced from manifold and wide bases. Reading can help to affirm aspects of our identity. When we encounter characters similar to ourselves and ideas that readily match our experiences, a complex process of validation is able to take place. Likewise, reading can help us to empathise with people from a variety of situations, better understanding the circumstances and scenarios they face. Both practical and theoretical research are currently being undertaken into the role that stories and literature can play in terms of developing and strengthening empathic responses. A theory of how reading is able to stimulate empathic responses can be found in Kidd and Castano’s (2013) article Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind. For more practical research and explorations, the Empathy Lab (www.empathylab.uk) is currently undertaking a range of practical work and pilot projects. It makes sense that through connecting with characters, their situations and circumstances in fiction, we as readers are better able to hold compassion, understanding and awareness as to the circumstances and challenges that individuals and communities may face in their lives. The exploration of wider issues around identity, society and experience can, of course, make excellent broad themes for consideration as part of lively reading group discussions.

What do we mean when we talk about diversity? One of the first areas needing clarification is what diversity actually is and means. There is an argument that it can be a vague, amorphous term with little practical or true application. However, it is an umbrella that recognises a common need that underpins the exploration and representation of people from a wealth of backgrounds, with varied experiences and lifestyles that construct our concept of society at large. When we discuss literature for children and young adults we have to be aware of a historical precedent that has tended to reflect only a very narrow demographic in terms of class, race, sexuality and physicality. Does this restricted approach matter? If our aim through reading is to raise aspirations and engagements in a globalised society in which information and knowledge is shared and traded across geographic and cultural boundaries, arguably, it has never mattered more. Providing access to a range of diverse titles enables us to accomplish the objective of ensuring that reading can be 108

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for everyone in more meaningful and realistic senses. The danger with any narrowly focused activity is that it feels to be for only a particular demographic, and so its reach and influence impact on only a limited stratum. This poses very real problems for something as crucial as reading, which is demonstrably linked to life chances through educational success, employability and engaged citizenship (Dugdale and Clark, 2008). The initial challenge of diversity is reaching a shared understanding of the meaning of the term. Is diversity in fact meaningless? In endeavouring to embrace too much, does it become too dilute and diffuse to have any true or practical application? The danger with this standpoint is that individual agendas then get promoted, thereby pushing forward a particular area but losing sight of the whole and forgetting the importance of inclusion as a whole, or of recognising that similar efforts are needed across the board. Such agendas progress only one aspect of diversity, and in so doing simply shift focal points rather than developing a more cohesive approach to addressing lack of representation. Diversity is an umbrella that is applied to a society that is ever changing, evolving, growing and in constant flux. Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that the term itself is a lithe one and its application is sometimes fluid. This presents a significant problem in that commentary can easily feel like writing in sand, with the tide washing it away. It does not mean that there is no value in discussion or debate, however, just that when we engage with ideas we need to be mindful and aware that the parameters are liable to shift and sway and so require attentive and engaged readership to ensure true and ongoing relevance to and resonance with contemporary times.

How this applies to books It might be useful to consider which books you consider to be diverse in your collection. What are their subjects and themes? For what reasons did you include those titles and choose not to select others? Do you feel that there is likely to be something that reflects or represents the lives and backgrounds of each of the readers that your collection serves? This can be a useful first step in identifying gaps. Portrayals of representation and changing attitudes can be an insightful base for talks and displays as part of thematic programming; they can also help to inform future change that needs to happen. On the whole, books can offer us two different approaches to diversity. The first is a window into the world of other people. These books offer a perspective and a view of the cultural, ethnographic and physical make-up 109

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of an individual or community’s life. Individually, these books are not diverse. They provide insight into specific lifestyles and backgrounds but offer an outlook that is largely singular. Interestingly, from the perspective of libraries, it is when such titles are brought together as part of a collection that they are able to offer diverse representation – a fact that highlights the importance of collection development. The second approach to diversity through books is through writing and illustration that bring together a range of lifestyles and experience bases in a single title. These books can highlight both differences and similarities between different groups and communities and, accordingly, are diverse in and of themselves. There is no moral judgement in this. Titles that offer a window into a specific world are likely to be able to explore that world more fully and deeply, but necessarily offer a viewpoint that is more limited in scope. Books that are diverse in their content reflect a wider overall demographic, but within the scope of a single book they are unlikely to explore this in the same level of detail or depth. Books which offer a window into worlds can often be useful for recognising awareness promotions like International Holocaust Memorial Day (27 January), LGBT( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) History Month (February) or Black History Month (October). See Box 7.1 on the next page for a sample booklist produced for LGBT History Month. These focus days can be useful ways to attract different audiences, heighten profile around particular stock areas and build cultural sessions – talks or workshops – as part of programming and as a way to provide engagement with and a route into reading.

Publishing Publishing for children and young people has real challenges. Necessarily, it has to balance commercial feasibility – finding products that are marketable and will sell – with social and educational value and worth. This is not always an easy or a happy balance. Books which represent the lifestyles of children and young people whose backgrounds and contexts are diverse need to find and connect with a market in order to stay in print. It is now often the case that limited print runs, a diminishing range of sales outlets and slashed acquisition budgets in the education sector mean fewer opportunities than previously for books to stay in print for a sustained period. Yet, with a growing minority ethnic population in the UK (94% of the UK population identified themselves as white in the 1991 Census, in comparison to 86% in 110

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Box 7.1: LGBT History Month booklist For child readers De Haan, Linda Donoghue, Emma Gino, Alex Gleitzman, Morris Hoffman, Mary Newman, Leslea Parr, Todd Puttock, Simon (ed.) Richardson, Justin Sollie, Andre Walton, Jessica

King and King The Lotterys Plus One George Two Weeks with the Queen The Great Big Book of Families Mommy, Mama and Me The Family Book Same Difference And Tango Makes Three Hello Sailor Introducing Teddy

For young adult readers Chambers, Aidan Collins, B. R. Cronn-Mills, Kirstin Dawson, Juno Levithan, David Magrs, Paul Manning, Sarra Ness, Patrick Newbery, Linda Russo, Meredith Ure, Jean Williamson, Lisa Winterson, Jeanette

Postcards from No Man’s Land Love in Revolution Beautiful Music for Ugly Children This Book Is Gay Boy Meets Boy Strange Boy Pretty Things More Than This The Shell House If I Was Your Girl The Other Side of the Fence The Art of Being Normal Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

the 2011 Census – Office for National Statistics, www.ons.gov.uk), there is a primary market to be served, as well as a secondary market through awareness raising. The Diversity Matters conference, funded by Arts Council England and organised by CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education), was held in London in June 2006, bringing together delegates from across the publishing and reading sectors to discuss the challenges facing culturally diverse children’s publishing. One of the outcomes was the establishment of the Diversity in Publishing Network (Dipnet) to try to increase the presence of diverse staff in publishers in the UK, a sector which has traditionally seen under-representation. The scheme was administered by BookTrust from 2006 to 2012, when it was superseded by Equality in Publishing (EQUIP), with 111

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projects being taken over by City University London before responsibility and commitment shifted to the Publishers Association and the Independent Publishers Guild in 2014. This lack of diverse representation in the sector means that there is often nobody at acquisition meetings to champion the different sensibilities and market approaches that diverse audiences can entail. Here there is a role for libraries to play as intermediaries helping to feed back information and needs from the shop floor so that they can be recognised and efforts be made to address the gaps. Traditionally, children’s books have not been very diverse, although there have been historic attempts to reflect other cultures and experiences. In early books such as Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, other cultures, like the Indians at the start of the book, are used as a narrative device, a way to create a marked, exotic contrast with the rugged earthiness and natural good nature of Yorkshire folk. They are used to show the dependence of Mary Lennox and her eventual emotional and physical maturation. In books like Heidi by Johanna Spyri, or Susan Coolidge’s What Katy Did, physical limitations are used as a way of showcasing the benefits of a healthy, natural lifestyle and the ways that this promotes ability. There is very little positive portrayal of differing abilities, but rather the emphasis is on disability. The quality and momentum of children’s writing and publishing in the UK has had the unfortunate side-effect of creating a sector that is, at times, somewhat insular and parochial in its outlook. This was a contributing factor in the establishment of the Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation, an initiative aimed at recognising and encouraging quality translation of children’s books into English. The Marsh Award was established in 1996 to recognise outstanding works of fiction for young readers translated into English. It is run biennially and is sponsored by the Marsh Christian Trust, and since 2008 it has been administered by the English-Speaking Union. A list of its winners is provided in Table 7.1.

Case study 7.1: Janetta Otter-Barry: a publishing case study Janetta Otter-Barry, publisher at Otter-Barry books, is one of the biggest advocates for and pioneer of diversity in the children’s publishing sector in the UK. Janetta began her career working with Blackie and subsequently with Methuen, before being invited in 1988 to work for Frances Lincoln, where she was instrumental in establishing and developing the children’s list, one which would become synonymous with quality and scope in terms of diversity.

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Table 7.1 Winners of the Marsh award for Children’s Literature in Translation Translator

Title

Author

1996

Bell, Anthea

A Dog’s Life

Nostlinger, Christine

1999

Crampton, Patricia The Final Journey

Pausewang, Gudrun

2001

Rosenberg, Betsy

Duel

Grossman, David

2003

Bell, Anthea

Where Were You Robert?

Enzensberger, Hans Magnus

2005

Adams, Sarah

Eye of the Wolf

Pennac, Daniel

2007

Bell, Anthea

The Flowing Queen

Meyer, Kai

2009

Ardizzone, Sarah

Toby Alone

de Fombelle, Timothee

2011

Cleaver, Martin

Letters To Anyone And Everyone Tellegen, Toon

2013

Curtis, Howard

In The Sea There Are Crocodiles

Geda, Fabio

2015

Costa, Margaret Jull

The Adventures Of Shola

Atxaga, Bernardo

2017

Wang, Helen

Bronze And Sunflower

Wenxuan, Cao

Janetta has been heavily involved in creating and reaching new markets and has travelled to Appleby Fair specifically to help bring books to Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. She has recognised and published new voices, helping to increase profile and representation. Janetta was one of the key people in setting up the Seven Stories National Centre for Children’s Books and the Frances Lincoln joint venture Diverse Voices. This saw the publication of nine books over the course of the four awards that were made. The promotion encouraged the creation of fiction that was culturally diverse in subject matter, or from authors whose background was culturally diverse. Following on from this, when the publishing priorities of Frances Lincoln altered after it became part of the Quarto Group, an initiative was held to identify 50 of the best culturally diverse children’s books. The promotion received coverage in the Guardian newspaper and Seven Stories offered extensive resources and guidance around it as a part of its learning and participation offers. A case study of this follows later in this chapter. Here, author and illustrator Jackie Morris highlights some of Janetta’s contributions. I have always had tremendous respect for Janetta. She leads the way in making a collection of diverse books. While some publishers pay lip-service to diversity, Janetta supports a diverse cultural list in her books both in the pages of them, and also in the authors and illustrators she supports through her commissions. She never once questioned me about why Mariana and the Merchild is a story from Chile, why I would write about an Inuit Shaman child, or a Tibetan child in The Snow Leopard. We were approached by a 113

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charity who wanted The Snow Leopard translated into Tibetan. Janetta championed it for me and pushed it through. The book is now given to Tibetan children and is part of a programme to keep the language alive under the oppression of the Chinese government. That’s what Janetta does. She publishes from the heart.

(Morris, 2016)

Here Janetta talks about the development of her interest in diverse publishing. I grew interested in diverse publishing while I was an editor at Methuen Children’s Books in the mid-eighties. I was the editor of a series called the Terraced House books by Peter Heaslip, and he was an educator and pioneer in the field of cultural diversity. He wrote stories about real black and Asian families in Bradford and other areas of the UK, illustrated with photographs. And it was while editing these books I realised what a huge need there was for books that showed different lives and different perspectives. I also started working with Mary Hoffman during these years and we did a book called Nancy No-Size, about a middle child and featuring a mixed race family, and I also worked with Tony Bradman and Eileen Browne, publishing the Through My Window books. I am most proud of publishing Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch, and seeing that book become a classic picture book showing you can do anything you want, whatever colour, culture or gender you are. I am also very proud of developing Frances Lincoln Children’s books into the pioneering publisher for cultural diversity that it became over the years from 1990 onwards. Discussing challenges and obstacles, Janetta comments: I think one of the biggest challenges is to find authors and illustrators from culturally diverse and inclusive backgrounds – particularly illustrators, where there seems to be a real dearth of diversity. The way to meet this challenge is to actively seek out such authors and illustrators from diverse backgrounds, using awards, competitions, such as the Diverse Voices Award that we set up at Frances Lincoln with Seven Stories and by being in contact with community writing groups/art colleges, just keeping the pressure on to make sure these authors and illustrators are being encouraged to come forward. Having a more diverse workforce in publishing would also be a big step forward.

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Janetta talks about libraries, their role in championing diversity and ways to work with publishers: Libraries are hugely important. They can source the best books that exist in this area and promote and recommend them to schools and families. They can bring in authors and illustrators for events and workshops and storytelling, and help promote diversity in this way. They can promote awards and generally act as a conduit of knowledge and expertise and enthusiasm for books about other cultures and inclusivity. They can thus encourage empathy and understanding within schools and families and the desire for knowledge of other social groups and ways of life. Their interaction with their communities is absolutely vital, as I think one of the main problems we face is ignorance and simply not knowing where to go for culturally diverse titles and authors . . . I think libraries and publishers need to share information much more widely and regularly, so that we are aware of all the brilliant initiatives libraries all over the country are engaging in and can put forward our books and authors. And we need to make sure we tell the libraries what we are doing in this area and put forward talented authors for events and submit books for awards and booklists. Conferences such as the A Place at the Table by the brilliant Alex Strick and Beth Cox have also been enormously influential and booksellers such as Letterbox Library and Pandora do a great job. But we all need to work together in a more concerted and regular way. (Janetta Otter-Barry, 2016) Author Mary Hoffman, whom Janetta refers to above, comments about Janetta: ‘I wrote Amazing Grace in 1989, sitting clad in only a towel in a woman’s health club in Central London. It began with the title and my asking myself questions: suppose a book were called Amazing Grace and Grace was the name of the main character – what would she have to do to be amazing? And so on. The few pages of words written on a lined pad that day are essentially still the text of the book, except that there was a baby brother, whom I later killed off. When it came to what publisher to approach with it, it was a no-brainer. I had worked with Janetta at Methuen on several picture books and when it merged with Heinemann she lost her job. But I knew she was setting up the children’s list at Frances Lincoln and I knew how committed she and Frances 115

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were to diversity, so I asked my agent to send it to Janetta first. The rest is history. We chose Caroline Binch as illustrator (she had earlier done a book cover for a title of mine), the book came out in autumn 1991 and before long was in the New York Times bestseller lists. I don’t honestly think any other publisher than Frances Lincoln and any other editor than Janetta would have ‘‘got’’ this book and been right for it. When Penguin wanted to do the paperback I said no and stuck with them. Since then, I must have written over twenty books for Frances Lincoln and am now writing for Janetta at her new publishing house, Otter-Barry Books as well.’

(Mary Hoffman, 2016)

Ensuring a diverse collection Once materials are published, how can we ensure that they are selected by libraries in a way that represents the needs of diverse users? A primary step is to identify a profile of users for the library in terms both of active users – those that already use the site – and of the make-up of the catchment which the library can potentially serve. This will provide a measure of some of the key client groups and needs that should be reflected in the collection, although it is equally important even in more monocultural areas that library stock should reflect diversity, due to trends that are occurring in migration and globalisation. Stock selection policies need to actively detail diversity and the legislative framework that impacts upon it so that informed choices can be made about wants and needs that reflect users’ lifestyles and backgrounds. Some libraries have authors or titles that form the core of their collection and it may be worth giving thought to authors and titles that would fit well into this, and the reasons behind it. Stock and collection development policies and specifications for book suppliers that undertake selection of stock for library authority sites should ideally include texts in translation from other languages and cultures, titles that are available in other languages and titles that are published in dual-language editions. Box 7.2 reproduces an extract from Wiltshire Council’s Public Library Stock Policy (Wiltshire, 2016, 4–5).

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Box 7.2: Equality and diversity The Council is firmly committed to the principles of equality and diversity in both employment and the delivery of services and is keen to celebrate the diversity of people who live and work in Wiltshire. This means: • making services accessible to all; and • treating people fairly . . . regardless of their colour, race, ethnic or national origin, language, religion or belief, gender or gender reassignment, marital status, sexuality, disability, age, or any illness or infection. The Council is opposed to all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination and harassment. It seeks to provide services and employment in an environment which promotes equality, values and celebrates diversity and excellence. The ethnic make-up of Wiltshire is constantly changing as new groups settle in the County and sometimes equally quickly leave. The library service will work with suppliers to meet the library and information needs of the minority ethnic communities resident in Wiltshire.

Where titles are diverse, acquisition policies should consider the types of groups and individuals that are portrayed and the authenticity of their portrayal. This can be a complex area, as, understandably, communities are often very protective of and guarded about their own experience and background. It is important to note, however, that literature can reflect numerous aspects of the human condition and perhaps the key here is balance, accuracy and roundedness. Consultation is a powerful means for engaging communities and giving them a sense of ownership and involvement in decision making. If they can be involved and can participate in aspects of the stock selection intended to meet their needs, this helps to ensure relevance and resonance and can potentially avoid some of the issues around authenticity of voice detailed above. Maintaining a diverse collection does not stop at selection. Issues relating to promotion and withdrawal also need to be considered. Diverse titles should be actively included in promotions and reading development work to help to encourage and ensure their use. More specialised publications may lack cover or shelf appeal for the simple reason that publishers do not always give them the same level of resources that are put into publishing mainstream 117

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titles. Some extra effort in terms of recommendation may therefore be needed. Collection development policies often indicate the lifespan for which a title should remain active on shelves if it has not been issued. Given the speed with which titles currently come into and go out of print, there is an argument for special dispensation to be shown towards some diverse titles in order for the collection to represent diversity in the best way possible, rather than to simply offer a snapshot of what may be published and available at any given time. Carrying out careful stock audits can assist with this.

Sources of support The many facets of diversity can be challenging, and sometimes feel overwhelming. Numerous organisations are available to offer support. As detailed above and in the case study below, the Seven Stories website contains a wealth of learning and information from the Diverse Voices project. Inclusive Minds, spearheaded by author and consultant Alex Strick and former editor and reviewer Beth Cox, is an organisation that takes a crosssectoral approach to advocating diversity. It brought together publishers, booksellers, teachers and authors for the A Place at the Table event, which involved brainstorming ideas to find ways forward and developing a roadmap for diversity. More information on Inclusive Minds can be found on its website, www.inclusiveminds.com. The Letterbox Library is a bookselling organisation specialising in culturally diverse and non-gender-stereotyped books. It has a website that showcases and reviews some of the best books and many that are difficult to locate or source elsewhere. Its website is www.letterboxlibrary.com. In addition to support available nationally in the UK, it is worth exploring the types of local groups and communities that exist near your library and forging links with them. As with any partnership, it can take time to build trust and begin to work towards shared aims, but having local representation is an excellent way to ensure relevance to the needs of people within the catchment area of the site and can also mean local support and champions are created.

Case study 7.2: Diverse Voices: 50 of the best children’s books The year 2014 saw a collaborative promotion by Seven Stories, with funding by

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Frances Lincoln publishers, to identify 50 of the best culturally diverse children’s books. The selection panel included Julia Eccleshare, Guardian Children’s Books Editor; Sarah Smith, Libraries Development Manager for Brent Libraries; Katherine Woodfine, Arts project manager for BookTrust; and Debbie Beeks, Learning and Participation Manager at Seven Stories. The promotion intended to find books for the early years (0+), young readers (5+), older readers (8+) and teenage readers (13+) to ensure breadth of provision, and also to enable exploration of titles published within these categories to better ascertain hotspots and gaps. The list was launched at the offices of the Guardian newspaper at an event attended by authors, publishers and key influencers in the children’s book trade. This helped to achieve coverage and also alerted publishers and agents to the fact that there is a tangible need and, moreover, a market for diverse children’s books. The books were tested with different groups across the UK and the learning and findings from this were used to develop a series of educational resources. Advocacy and advisory sessions were held at the Youth Libraries Group National Conference to help build understanding about the background to the project, the titles themselves and ways that they could be used in library settings along with the educational resource materials that were produced. Case studies from the testing and resources can be found on the Seven Stories website.1

Engaging diverse readers This presents the champion and teacher of reading with a number of ideological problems. How do we encourage engagement with reading when there may be very real physical and cognitive issues that affect an individual’s ability to read? Or reasons why reading might be viewed with suspicion, whether stemming from disenchantment with traditional systems of education, from systems of belief or from lack of personal engagement and understanding and therefore deep-rooted suspicions of what reading can and does mean.

Diversity and the physical act of reading Broaching the first issue, around the physical and cognitive issues that may affect an individual’s ability to read, is comparatively easy. In instances where

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English may not be a first language, or where the fonts and prints create obstacles, there are technological solutions – electronic and physical – which can aid, enhance or build reading choices. These can be adaptive technologies that read texts aloud, enlarge or translate them, or may be as simple as texts that are printed in dual languages, in large-type fonts or in Braille.

Diversity and attitudes to reading Achieving attitudinal change is always a longer and more complex process. It often requires time to contend with and unravel established mindsets. Care and creativity are often needed so that this can be approached with sensitivity. It is unlikely that communities, groups or individuals that are suspicious of reading will visit libraries, and so organisations need to consider a long game. This will likely entail some form of planned outreach activity, at least in the first instances. In the planning stages for outreach it can be useful to consider the reasons why the disconnect exists. This can be for cultural reasons where a group or community may initially be suspicious due to disenchantment with what is seen as authority. It may be due to an imagined threat to the culture, lifestyle or system of belief. However, it may simply be that there is a view that libraries, or indeed the books that they house, are not representative of that community of people. A co-ordinated outreach programme can be a particularly useful and effective early tool where buildings and visits themselves present a hurdle. Lancashire County Council’s Library Service implements a successful campaign when working with the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community in the county. As a community this group is often very insular – possibly in part because of considerable stigmatisation and negative stereotyping. The initial approach was made through gifting of Bookstart packs (see Chapter 1 for more information on this project), taking them to sites and opening up a dialogue around lifestyles and interests in order to build rapport and trust. A series of return visits were planned into which stories and activities were built, including enrolling the group as library members, bringing books that reflected their interests and very gradually building up to visiting the library itself. Crucially, a part of this approach was to ensure that books and information were available that accurately reflected the community’s lifestyles both in the public library system and via the school library service (for example, linking with key curriculum areas such as the home and looking at the different types of dwellings where Travellers live). This was a means to 120

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increase awareness and begin to break down some of the negative stereotypes that rest on assumptions, fear and prejudice. The project evolved into a larger educational and arts programme which included activities, exhibitions and events in libraries (Figure 7.1).

Figure 7.1 Education and art at Heynsham Library

Irish Traveller Thomas McCarthy, who performed traditional songs at these events, discussed the importance of keeping songs and stories alive. Lots of songs passed through his house. I’ve heard thousands of songs. It was a stop-off for many people, not just travelling people, but tradespeople, and my grandfather used to travel and picked up a mountain of songs. He wrote songs about the travelling way of life and he’d tell stories. He was a great storyteller, what you call a seanachi. Like a genealogist, telling you your background, and great stories that go on for days. Literally days. Like he’d come home and eat at five and start a story at six and wouldn’t finish until two. And he’d say: ‘Come back the next day and listen to the rest of the story.’ That’s the way it was. They were known in that town. Famous storytellers and singers. Years ago. I’m the only one now in my generation keeping the songs going. (Cumming, 2011)

A cohesive approach like this can help to change attitudes and demonstrates the way libraries are able to act positively as agents for social change.

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Beliefs How can provision be made in situations where there are belief-based reasons for disengagement and how can these be overcome? Ensuring access to texts that reflect and fit into those systems of belief is important. A way of ensuring this can be to consult with the communities themselves. Further ideas for how this can be achieved can be found in the section above on stock selection. Consideration of cultural sensitivities is an additional factor. A sensationalised story hit the media in 2015 (Harley, 2015) when it was widely reported that Oxford University Press had banned books featuring pigs so as not to offend Muslim or Jewish communities. The reporting was largely hyperbolic. Guidance had been issued to authors regarding the minimisation of unnecessary coverage of culturally sensitive material that would likely limit not only commercial reach but also educational reach. Similar issues arose in the creation of the Lancashire Reading Scheme, a challenge that encourages children to read 50 books while engaging with the culture and heritage of the county. Each of the 12 districts that comprise Lancashire featured a different creature connected to the county’s geography and history. In the case of the forested Ribble Valley and Bowland areas, this was a wild boar – a species indigenous to the area. Concerns were raised by some staff that this might cause offence to or disengagement by the Muslim community that prevails in the east of the county. Through discussion with faith leaders and, indeed, with the Muslim Council of Great Britain, we were able to ascertain that this was not the case. Dispelling myths and uncertainty is an important part of working with diverse communities and individuals and is best achieved, where possible, through open and honest dialogue. It is important to note that there are often cases where such stories are politicised by individuals or groups with a vested interest and their own agendas.

Changing attitudes As discussed, diversity is not static but is in flux, evolving and adapting to the ways that society alters and grows. This presents numerous challenges, although opportunities too. One thing that needs care and consideration is the way that attitudes shift, such that those reflected as commonplace in a text at the time of first publication may later appear outdated. For this reason it is essential to audit collections and give thought to whether the attitudes reflected are consistent with contemporary thinking. In some instances books contain very outdated and outmoded thinking and could incite hatred or help to affirm negative stereotypes. In such instances there have often been calls 122

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for books to be removed or pulped. These have famously included Enid Blyton (Mackenzie, 2013), particularly with her approach to gollywogs, Hergé with Tintin in the Congo (Beckford, 2007) and the picture book Little Black Sambo – which, in spite of extensive criticism, remains in print at the time of writing. Enid Blyton’s books have historically suffered a great deal from such criticism. A detailed though scathing account can be found in Ray’s The Blyton Phenomenon (1982), but questions need to be raised around the use and value of pillorying a particular author for having attitudes that run counter to the prevailing thinking of the day. It is worth noting that many of Blyton’s books were written at a time when global politics were marred by great suspicion as a consequence of the two world wars. Blyton’s work in particular has a fine pedigree of having attracted less-confident and keen readers to books and reading. Rather than immediate withdrawal, perhaps we need to consider the way some of the books from bygone eras are framed and presented, and also the types of work that they sit alongside and how the older texts could be used by the library professional as a springboard into these other works. There is also a cultural case to be made for maintaining parts of our shared heritage so that the ways in which society has developed and progressed can be effectively measured, and to avoid the past becoming anodyne through the removal or whitewashing of historical context. However, it is crucial that young readers should not encounter materials which might be seen as inflammatory, particularly if they are likely to be one of few representations of their ethnic group that they may encounter and if such materials have the potential to taint their reading experience.

Controversies It is important for library and information professionals to be aware of the capacity for politicisation of culturally sensitive issues. This occurred with Elizabeth Laird’s novel A Little Piece of Ground. The book sensitively explores the Israeli–Palestine situation in Lebanon, but came under intense criticism for doing so from the perspective of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Karim. Several Jewish groups urged its publisher, Macmillan Children’s Books, to withdraw the book, as it was perceived as running counter to their construction of their history and identity through the struggle. An aggregated list of coverage of the controversy can be found on the Innovative Minds website.2 It is easy to become embroiled in politicisation, and while there are 123

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pressures to resist in order to maintain the library as an impartial and neutral space that can welcome and accept people irrespective of their backgrounds, it is also key to recognise what a powerful force for thought and change literature is able to present – one of the reasons why it continues to elicit such strength of feeling. Elizabeth Laird spoke about the importance of stories and knowledge on the publication of Welcome to Nowhere, a novel offering insight into conflict in Syria. At this time of political turmoil, stories have become more shrill, inviting us to fear a host of perceived enemies: refugees, Muslims, immigrants, extremists, politicians who are trying to ‘cheat’ us, experts, the EU, the French, the Russians, the bankers . . . You can add to the list ad infinitum. Knowledge is the most effective antidote to the fear of people we perceive as ‘other’. It’s best gained by focussing on individuals. Once you have entered the life of a fictional character and walked around in their shoes for a while, understood their sorrows and joys, lived with their problems and willed them to find solutions, you won’t look at the group/ethnicity/religion to which they belong in quite the same way. You will have acquired protective ear muffs against the siren calls to fear. Authors who attempt to tell these stories are, however, putting themselves in the front line. They may be accused of bias, of having political motives, of creating stereotypes, of distorting the ‘real’ situation, of jumping on political bandwagons. My publisher received violent and frightening hate mail after the publication of A Little Piece of Ground. Attempts were made to have Red Sky in the Morning, a novel about my disabled little brother, banned from schools. Who says that authors have to get it right every time? But who dares to say that we shouldn’t try? When the tide of stories fuelled by hatred and fear is rising, we shouldn’t be afraid to swim against it. And if we succeed in diminishing fear, increasing understanding and creating empathy in the minds of our readers, then we’ve used the wonderful power of story well. (Laird, 2017)

Diversity is reading for all As links between countries and cultures grow and the politically and mediafed pressures of migration and immigration continue, the demands for a diverse publishing and literature base look set to increase. At the start of this chapter the question was asked ‘Are there ways that it is possible to achieve and embed change in a more meaningful and long-lasting manner’. While it 124

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becomes imperative that we seek to achieve and embed change, the reality is that it is likely that this goal is unachievable or, at best, achievable only by degrees. Changes in society and context mean that there is a constant need and pressure for attitudes and approaches to be responsive to fluid circumstances. Perhaps what is needed to face the challenge of an increasingly diverse world is to meet this full on with energy and enthusiasm and a holistic approach, bringing together publishers, libraries, education professionals and communities themselves, so that approaches are chosen that are cohesive and most likely to succeed in achieving impact upon our target audiences. There are positives in the discussion. National Literary Trust findings suggest that children from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to enjoy reading (mixed race, 58.3%, Asian, 61.4% and Black 59.9%) than their white counterparts (53.9%) (Clark, 2016). Suggestions have been made that this is due to parental/carer involvement. Are there ways that this can be made more widespread? If reading genuinely reflects and embraces the varied and wideranging lifestyles and backgrounds of readers, we can better ensure young people’s enjoyment of it and full engagement with it, thereby allowing it to become an activity and leisure pursuit that is available to all and that allows all the benefits and life chances that literacy supports and unlocks.

Notes 1 www.sevenstories.org.uk/learning/projects-and-partnerships/diverse-voices2014 2 www.inminds.co.uk/article.php?id=10081

References Beckford, M. (2007) Ban ‘racist’ Tintin book, says CRE, Telegraph, 12 July, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1557233/Ban-racist-Tintin-book-saysCRE.html. Clark, C. (2016) Children’s and Young People’s Reading in 2015, National Literacy Trust. Cumming, T. (2011) Music that moves: Thomas McCarthy’s Irish Traveller Songs, Guardian, 10 March, www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/10/thomasmccarthy-irish-traveller-songs. Dugdale, G. and Clark C. (2008) Literacy Changes Lives: an advocacy resource, National Literacy Trust. 125

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Harley, J. (2015) No, we haven’t banned books on pigs – but sensitivity is key in global publishing, Guardian, 15 January, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/15/books-pigs-globalpublishing-oxford-university-press-children. Hoffman, M. (2016) Personal communication, 2 February. Kidd, D. C. and Castano, E. (2013) Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind, Science, 342 (6156), 377–80, http://science.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/377. Laird, E. (2017) Personal communication, 17 January. Mackenzie, C. (2013) Primary School removes Enid Blyton Famous Five children’s classics so it could win a race equality award, Mail Online, 7 December, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2519806/Enid-Blyton-Famous-Five-childrensclassics-axed-school-win-race-equality-award.html. Morris, J. (2016) Personal communication, 17 December. Otter-Barry, J. (2016) Personal communication, 28 December. Ray, S. (1982) The Blyton Phenomenon, Andre Deutsch. Wiltshire County Council (2016) Public Library Stock Policy, www.wiltshire.gov.uk/public_library_stock_policy.pdf [Accessed 24 February 2017].

Books mentioned Bannerman, H. (1899) The Story of Little Black Sambo,Grant Richards. Burnett, F. H. (1911) The Secret Garden, Heinemann. Coolidge, S. (1872) What Katy Did, Roberts Brothers. Hergé (1930) Tintin in the Congo, Casterman. Hoffman, M. (1987) Nancy No-size, Methuen. Hoffman, M. and Binch, C. (1991) Amazing Grace, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. Pitcher, C. and Morris, M. (2000) Mariana and the Merchild, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. Morris, J. (2007) The Snow Leopard, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. Spyri, J. (1881) Heidi, F.A Perthes.

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8 Pulling in reluctant readers: strategies for school librarians Alison Brumwell

Introduction This chapter will outline some of the challenges faced by school librarians across all sectors when seeking to engage with reluctant and less-able readers. Three case studies will be presented; in each instance these can easily be adapted to meet pupil needs and can also be used to target less-engaged boys. The outcomes of the three case studies are supported by quantitative data and evidence derived from other research.

Impact of school libraries upon reading for pleasure According to a study conducted in Canada (Howard, 2011), children and young people read for a variety of reasons. Eighty-five per cent reported that these included the following: to improve overall thinking and literacy skills, to better understand the world around them, to increase social consciousness and empathy, for empowerment, to be entertained, to escape their daily lives and problems, to relax and find reassurance. If these are obvious benefits in a stressful and increasingly shrinking world, one of the challenges facing school librarians is how to effectively engage with reluctant readers outside the classroom, those ‘hard-to-shift’ children and young people for whom reading is a negative and often bewildering experience. As Nicola Morgan points out in a 2015 blog post, ‘school libraries … catch every child, from every sort of family. School librarians are trained to recognize every type of reader, identify reluctance or difficulties, inspire and boost, recommend likely catalyst books, and can create “initiatives” that work. They are a safety net when children have missed out on access to public libraries or when parental support is restricted.’ Morgan’s language here, affirming that school librarians inspire and boost, that they create stimulating

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reading opportunities and provide a catalyst for meaningful reader development, underpins how we all feel: this is what we can do; moreover, what we ought to be doing and are passionate about. But how to get the neediest and, possibly, the least willing pupils through the door? How do we break down barriers to reading for pleasure; how can we engage more boys with reading outside the classroom and eradicate the often-expressed view by older pupils that being seen in the school library is ‘social suicide’? The issues faced by school librarians in the United Kingdom are compounded by the fact that school libraries are not statutory (other than in Scotland) and have faced significant challenges in recent years. School Libraries in the UK: a worthwhile past, a difficult present – and a transformed future (Streatfield, Shaper and Rae-Scott, 2010) found that school librarians, regardless of qualification, actively sought to promote reading for pleasure in several ways: exhibitions/displays, reading groups, author events, reading awards and competitive reading schemes. In many instances, however, these activities and initiatives alone fail to engage reluctant or less-able readers. Common barriers to delivering a meaningful reader development programme in school libraries include: • demands of the curriculum • lack of support from school senior leaders • failure to include school library provision/recreational reading in the school development plan • lone working • shrinking budgets • space/access (where the library/learning resource centre is used as a shared teaching space or for behaviour intervention) • few opportunities for continuing professional development, or a lack of professional guidance and support • poor levels of parental engagement. Even in countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia, where qualified teacher-librarians have been the norm, dwindling budgets have seen school boards cut these jobs, close school libraries and farm out lending collections to classrooms. In 2015 the Toronto Catholic District School Board proposed to cut 45 full-time equivalent teacher-librarian posts across its schools (Rushowy, 2015). Quite apart from the negative impact on teaching and learning, in these cases reader development is at equal risk of falling by the wayside. Weaker and reluctant readers, or those for whom parental 128

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engagement is an issue, are bound to suffer most. Access is an ongoing issue for many school libraries, as staffing very often is not available to extend opening hours, particularly in the case of primary schools. As libraries and learning consultant Anita Brooks Kirkland points out: Learning is unlimited in the library. Libraries are about the free exploration of ideas. That is the unique value proposition of all libraries. The potential of school libraries to support the goals of education has never been greater. As approaches to teaching and learning evolve to adapt to our increasingly networked world, the library learning commons program fosters inquiry learning, discovery, creativity and critical thinking, transliteracy for today’s complex information environment, and a collaborative approach to learning. (www.bythebrooks.ca/librariesandlearning)

What happens in a school library is not constrained by the demands of the curriculum; achievement and a sense of well-being are equally valued alongside attainment. And, for many pupils who experience bullying or who feel socially isolated from their peers, the library is a nurturing environment in which they can be imaginative, creative and playful. According to the American Association of School Librarians (2011), 70% of 4887 school librarians surveyed reported that they had some experience of tackling bullying. This included increased incidents of cyberbullying on social media. Far from being ‘social suicide’, the school library can be a haven, and books and reading for pleasure can have immense therapeutic value. As one of my Year 10 pupils commented a few years ago, ‘Never mind about reading for pleasure, Miss. It’s about reading for survival.’ So, how exactly to foster the limitless sense of discovery and creativity that Brooks Kirkland highlights? How can school libraries across all sectors pull in, and actively engage with, reluctant readers?

Case Study 8.1: Thornhill Community Academy For Mark Naylor, Librarian at Thornhill Community Academy, the School Library Association’s (SLA) pupil librarian training programme has been integral to raising reading achievement with 11- to 15-year-olds across Key Stages 3 and 4. (The Pupil Librarian Toolkit was launched to celebrate International School Library Day in 2008 and is free to download for UK and international members of the Association: www.sla.org.uk). The Dewsbury, Yorkshire secondary school, which

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converted to academy status in 2012, faces several challenges in a local authority with significant pockets of social and economic deprivation. Conversion to academy status is a complex process which involves devolved powers, increased fiscal control and changes to school governance. According to the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), the proportion of pupils at Thornhill Community Academy for whom the additional Pupil Premium funding provides support is above average; almost 60% of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, which is well above average for schools in England and Wales; and just over 40% of students are girls, which is lower than average (Ofsted, 2015). As a former teaching assistant dedicated to improving literacy levels and supporting reading for pleasure, Mark slightly modified the SLA toolkit to better fit pupil needs. The toolkit requires all participants to produce a portfolio of their work and submit a review of what they have learnt during the programme (usually a period of two years). Reflection and self-evaluation are key to this process. In terms of retention, the programme has achieved positive results. While pupils inevitably develop their personal, organisational and social skills, and learn to work collaboratively, there is an additional positive benefit in terms of increased enjoyment of reading and an improvement in critical thinking and analytical skills. Mark notes: Some students entering the programme are high calibre and achieve the standards required quite easily. Others are more challenging and require direction and support: often some of these children would be more reluctant readers. Engaging this latter group in the training programme fosters ties with the library. Also, they become involved in handling stock and this helps them gain a broader perspective of various reading materials. Good behaviour and attitude, and an affinity with the library, goes a long way in encouraging children to use the library well and helps them develop an interest in books and reading.

(Naylor, 2017)

The programme has seen the involvement of 89 pupils between 2010 and 2017, many of whom embarked on their training as reluctant or less-able readers. Thornhill Community Academy’s initiative demonstrates the effectiveness of a focused training programme where enrichment, rather than intervention, is a core aim. While the overall initial dropout rate is reported as 24%, the student librarian programme’s retention rate is an impressive 93%. It is set up to be inclusive and open to students of all ability levels. The programme has also benefited a significant number of boys during the past seven years; of the pupils who successfully completed the training programme, 38% were boys and 62% 130

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were girls (Naylor, 2017). Weaker participants receive staff support in terms of numeracy skills, writing and assembling their portfolio and understanding key concepts. Pupil librarians are also encouraged to be active in the stock-selection process, making peer recommendations and providing support to the new intake from feeder primary schools in the area. Pupils themselves acknowledge the successes and benefits of the programme. Since I have been a student librarian I have learned to read much better. I have learned how to find books in the library and this has helped me to find books that I enjoy reading in class. At first I didn’t enjoy reading in class but now I do.

(Mubeen, Year 9)

I first became involved with the library when I was in Year 8. I have since benefited from the library in improving my reading skills which were not very good at that time. I enjoy reading books from the graphic novel collection and these have helped me to recognise longer words and understand them. This has helped me to improve my vocabulary and English skills. We don’t have reading lessons in English in Year 11, but I still like to use the library to borrow books to read in my own time. I feel this helps me to continue to improve my skills rather than playing games on the computer. I enjoy reading as a leisure activity. I find that it helps me to relax from the work load and stress of my exams.

(Nkosi, Year 11)

Sitting alongside the SLA pupil librarian programme at Thornhill Community Academy is the Stan Lee Excelsior Award, which has been particularly effective in improving levels of engagement with boys (www.excelsioraward.co.uk). This is the only nation-wide award for graphic novels and manga in the UK and gives secondary school pupils the opportunity to read and enjoy a range of cuttingedge illustrated material, rating each of the eight short-listed titles. Thornhill Community Academy library is a hub for this reader-development initiative and it has been run successfully since 2013. The scheme has raised the profile of illustrated text as a valid reading choice, particularly among boys at the school, and has provided the impetus for setting up a dedicated graphic novel reading club, with a group of 15 pupils involved in focused weekly sessions for a full term. Pupils involved were chosen based on data obtained from the school’s library management system (i.e. which boys had previously borrowed graphic novels); this was then correlated with pupils targeted for reading intervention on the special educational needs register. The reading club was so successful that it ran 131

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for a second successful year and allowed for further development of the school library’s graphic novel collection. The role of Thornhill Community Academy’s library in raising the overall profile of reading for pleasure through direct pupil involvement and innovative stock promotion/displays is evident. Of 297 new fiction titles bought for the school library for the 2017 academic year, 97% were issued within a three-week period, and 39 pupil recommendations were made during the same period (Naylor, 2017). Visits to the library are timetabled for English groups during lesson time, which offers additional opportunities to read for pleasure and to make peer recommendations. The school library as the heart of the school community is clear here: reading is regarded as an essential life skill, but also as an enjoyable, stimulating leisure activity which is freely accessible to all pupils, regardless of their interests or ability level. A non-prescriptive approach to reading and a stimulating environment in which pupils can explore a range of reading material outside ‘pure text’ has real, demonstrable value.

Ensuring that pupils don’t feel excluded from books, that barriers to reading can at least be set aside, if not demolished completely, is the role of every school librarian. Achieving this is no mean feat, so approaching reading from a different perspective – focusing on visual literacy and the value of ‘reading’ images and illustration – can be a powerful tool, and one which has lasting impact. For the past several years the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Kate Greenaway Medal shadowing programme has been at the forefront of exploring visual literacy and the important links between illustration and text, introducing a generation of pupils to the power of image and the huge extracurricular benefits of the scheme (see also Chapter 9). In the joint report produced by CILIP, Carnegie UK Trust and the Open University, the benefits of both the Carnegie and the Greenaway strands of the shadowing scheme are highlighted. Chief among these are increased pleasure and enjoyment in reading and an enhanced desire to read. The report also finds that ‘These benefits are of particular significance in contexts in which reading for pleasure might not otherwise enjoy high social status’ (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012).

Engaging the reluctant and less-able through illustrated text As Sue Cowley points out in her book Getting the Buggers to Think (2007), 132

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‘Images offer us a great way into developing creative thinking skills, and particularly into looking at the area of interpretation.’ They also provide a rich sensory stimulus for pupils who have difficulty accessing text. Reluctant or less-able readers very often benefit from access to illustrated material; this can also be a ‘way in’ for pupils of all ages to explore difficult issues (such as death/bereavement, disability, racism, gender fluidity), and so has the benefit of building empathy and emotional resilience. Because illustrated text can effectively straddle all genres and now is considered to include traditional picture books and early readers, fiction, narrative non-fiction, graphic novels and manga, there is a breadth of material to engage pupils of all ages and abilities. Marcus and Julian Sedgwick’s stunning graphic novel Dark Satanic Mills (2013) is an innovative introduction to the poetry of William Blake; or how about Wolf Erlbruch’s beautiful, thought-provoking consideration of death in Duck, Death and the Tulip (2008)? John Marsden and Shaun Tan’s The Rabbits (1998) is a contemporary classic which has been used by Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Power of Reading programme (CLPE, 2017) to explore the negative effects of colonisation and forced assimilation. Jeannie Baker and Sarah Garland have developed their own, unique illustrative styles to explore other cultures and the refugee experience in Mirror (2010) and Azzi in Between (2013). Each employs a visual linchpin to draw the reader into the story; in their respective narratives, the carpet and the bean are the embodiment of family, cultural identity, continuity and hope. Books like these, which may or may not contain written narrative, can be important additions to the school library. They provide a rich, thoughtprovoking experience for pupils who might require a ‘high interest, low ability’ read and are ideal choices for a reader’s group.

Case study 8.2: Kirklees Engage 400 project It was upon the twin premises that illustrated texts can effectively engage reluctant and less-able readers and that a school library should contain a wide range of such material that the Kirklees Engage 400 project was set up and delivered as a pilot in 2016. The visual literacy element of the project meant that this was not another intervention aimed at pulling up reading levels, but an enrichment initiative. It was aimed at developing the reading enjoyment of the 8% of Year 6 pupils who were Working Toward, but not At their age related reading level.

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Engage 400 was delivered by Kirklees schools library service (www. businesssolutions-kirklees.co.uk/booksplus) in partnership with Kirklees public library service, Huddersfield Art Gallery and Yorkshire poet Conrad Burdekin, with full funding from Kirklees Partnership Services. Local primary schools with pupils meeting this assessment criterion (working towards but not at) were invited to register small groups to participate in the programme, which took place during the 2016 summer term. Getting pupils out of the classroom, in this case to Cliffe House Outdoor Study Centre, was integral to the programme’s success, as was the reading list for the two half-day sessions (see Appendix 8.1). This featured past CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal winning titles from 2005 to 2015 and the Kate Greenaway Medal long list from 2016. Lower-ability and ‘plateauing’ pupils, in addition to those with a poor level of engagement, were introduced to a range of illustrated material and encouraged to discuss different artistic techniques, symbolic content and illustrative style (some of which also feature in the Kate Greenaway Medal criteria). Technical aspects of book production and design were also explored: binding techniques, paper stock and typography were of appeal to pupils with an interest in design technology. The sessions were designed to be complementary and flexible in content, the first of the two encouraging discussion and collaborative work, with minimal written content being produced. All pupils were given an unruled notebook in which to record their thoughts, impressions and drawings, although use of these was optional. The second half-day session allowed the same pupils to put their thoughts and ideas into practice, creating their own illustrated text, either individually or in small group work, with support from the guest poet. School staff agreed that the Engage 400 project helped to underpin reading skills and supported reader development in a way that differs from school-based interventions. As is noted in the Bringing Reading to Life: Engage 400 project report: ‘The children enjoyed working hard on their books, which allowed them to be creative and helped with concentration and positive outcomes’ (Brumwell, 2016). Two books which had significant impact throughout the Engage 400 project were Grandad’s Island by Benji Davies (2015) and Barroux’s Where’s the Elephant? (2016). Both appeared on the Kate Greenaway Medal long list in 2016; neither of these titles is one that older pupils would ordinarily encounter in a school setting, as they fall within the bounds of the traditional picture book, which is usually perceived as aimed at younger readers. Where’s the Elephant? is particularly inventive, taking the convention of the Where’s Wally (known as Where’s Waldo in the US) series of books by Martin Handford, with which most children are familiar, and using it to explore the issues of deforestation and conservation, all 134

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without the use of text. As its natural environment is destroyed, the elephant becomes easier to find, and white, empty space gradually creeps across the pages, replacing the bold washes of colour which Barroux uses throughout. This approach to an issue is, then, very different from what pupils would expect to encounter in a classroom, and one which explodes the outdated notion that illustrated texts are aimed at solely pre-schoolers or emergent readers who may require strong illustrative support. During the half-day visual literacy session pupils were encouraged to use some of Sue Cowley’s (2007) prompts as discussion points: • • • • • • • • • •

‘Where is this?’ ‘What is happening in the picture?’ ‘What might have happened just before this moment?’ ‘What could happen just after this moment?’ ‘Which characters can you see in the picture?’ ‘Is there anyone or anything else outside the picture?’ ‘Can you see any buildings or other constructions?’ ‘What type of people might live in these buildings?’ ‘What objects can you see in the picture?’ ‘Could these objects have any double meanings? If so, can you think what these meanings are?’ • ‘What colours are used in the picture?’ • ‘How do the colours add to the mood or emotion in the picture?’ • ‘Are there any hidden messages in the picture? What are these messages and how are they put across?’ Pupils also looked at six of the key judging criteria for the Kate Greenaway Medal: • • • •

Is the artist’s personal style creative and distinctive? Does the style work with the subject? What use is made of covers, end-papers and title page? Are there recurring visual themes or images that enhance the reader’s understanding of the book? • How well does the book either offer the reader new experiences, or reflect their pre-existing experiences? • What is the overall impact of the book on the reader? (www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/awards-process.php#criteria) Discussions encouraged pupils to think about books and storytelling in a different way and prompted a debate about how illustration can be used in works of narrative non-fiction. Most pupils involved in the project associated non-fiction with the use of photographs, maps, graphs and charts rather than artwork and

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illustration. Again, Where’s the Elephant? and William Grill’s Shackleton’s Journey (2014) helped participants to consider illustration as a means of appreciating and understanding fact-based text. The Engage 400 project did fall short of reaching all targeted pupils within the local authority, largely due to significant timetabling issues for schools in fitting the project around booster sessions and other targeted support for statutory national testing at Year 6 in the summer term. Feedback about the session content and its impact was uniformly positive, however, highlighting the importance of illustrated material in helping to broaden reading interests and develop empathy. Getting reading out of the classroom was key to the overall impact of Engage 400, but this is the type of reader-development project that could (and should) be delivered in a school library. Having a dedicated collection of illustrated texts in the school library can be key to engaging reluctant readers and is also a positive response to banding books solely according to age and reading level (which often happens in UK primary school classrooms and is, arguably, only useful as an assessment tool). The overall mood of the Engage 400 project was one of celebration, with all participants coming together at a final event in July 2016 to discuss their insights and experiences. Many pupils chose to share their written work at this point and it was an opportunity for schools involved to make recommendations for the future development of the project. Chief among these were the following. • Begin sessions in the autumn term and incorporate them into an annual programme of reader-development activity for primary school pupils (i.e. to enhance activity around World Book Day, leading into the Summer Reading Challenge). • Restructure the programme to run on a 10-week cycle (comparable to the CILIP Kate Greenaway shadowing model in schools), rather than in half-day blocks. • Roll sessions up to include secondary schools and develop the project as a transition model for Year 7 pupils. • Offer schools the opportunity to badge up the Engage visual literacy project with Discover and Explore entry-level Arts Award qualifications (www.artsaward.org.uk). • Continue to develop the visual literacy focus of the project, in line with regional activity across West Yorkshire (i.e. the proposed visual literacy festival for 2017–18). • Promote the Engage project at regional and national conferences, literacy co-ordinator network meetings and teacher training days. • Develop an Engage toolkit for school librarians, containing session templates and reading lists suitable for primary and secondary schools, so that the project can be delivered in-house. 136

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All the suggestions made show that school librarians and teachers interested in promoting reading for pleasure within their schools believe the school library can be a cultural hub within school, and one in which a range of creative activities can take place. It’s not just about providing a structured readerdevelopment programme, or a one-off project. For many pupils, it’s far more basic: to find out what they enjoy reading (and what they don’t) in a safe environment. As one pupil from South Crosland Junior School eloquently remarked at the end of the project, ‘I’ve loved today, sharing my thoughts and feelings with everyone.’

Case Study 8.3: Parklands Girls’ High School An informal survey of secondary school pupils at Parklands Girls’ High School in 2006 (now Leeds East Academy) when I was the school librarian asked pupils what would encourage them to use the library more. What could I offer to make infrequent users or non-users come into the library and benefit? Surprisingly, better or more information technology was not a factor, but the following were: • • • • • •

better opening hours improved access during lesson time more ‘senior’ fiction greater input into stock selection more after-school activities and author events better seating.

All the suggestions which pupils made related directly to improving their experience in the library, not necessarily as a teaching and learning space but as a safe, comfortable environment in which to spend their leisure time. None required a bigger library budget, just looking closely at existing expenditures and managing the budget more efficiently. For example, departments were asked to assume responsibility for printing costs from their own budgets; likewise, multiple hard copies of UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) guides, which were very expensive and only used by pupils in their final two years of school (Sixth Form), were no longer purchased from the library budget. School library development was very much pupil led, and that is really the first step: asking pupils about what they want and finding creative ways of making that happen. It is not always easy, but if reading for pleasure and pulling in reluctant pupils is a priority, make sure that you are responsive to their

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suggestions wherever possible. Some of the above suggestions will be common across school settings and at Parklands they were addressed as follows. • The school library was already open from 8:00 to 16:00, with two full-time and one part-time members of staff, but we extended hours during exam time and whenever there was a special event taking place (such as Open Evenings). • Consultation with the Head of English resulted in each English group in Years 7 through 9 having a half-lesson timetabled in the library each week to support reading for pleasure. Year 7 tutor groups were on a rota to have one morning session in the school library from 8:40 to 9:00 each week. • The fiction collection was overhauled completely to include a Junior collection (Years 7 through 9), a Senior collection (Years 10 and 11) and an adult collection (Sixth Form and staff). A separate collection of illustrated books and graphic novels was set up, which included material for older pupils. • Pupils were encouraged to request books and we set up a reservation system like that in place in most public libraries. We subscribed to Leeds schools library service so that additional copies of ‘top 10’ reads (e.g. Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses series) could be borrowed on a termly basis via the secondary school book exchange programme. Pupil librarians from Years 8 through 10 were given discretionary spending powers and participated in biannual stock-selection visits to Waterstones booksellers. Pupils were also encouraged to contribute to displays and to the termly library newsletter. • A readers’ group was set up for Year 9 pupils, which met weekly during dinner time. This soon became unworkable, due to both uptake and the school timetable, so sessions were rescheduled to once weekly after school. In 2007 the group was split, with junior and senior readers’ groups meeting weekly after school and a Sixth Form debate group meeting once per half term after school. Readers’ groups were involved in CILIP Carnegie Medal shadowing in the summer term, with a pilot Kate Greenaway shadowing project for bottom-set Year 7 English pupils in 2007. The senior readers’ group was involved in piloting the Leeds Book Award 11 to 14 category in 2007 and thereafter participated in this annually. Author events and theatre trips took place mainly after school, with support from parents, and included participation in Morley Literature Festival in 2007 and 2008. • Seating was increased to include a small Sixth Form study hub, with sufficient seating for up to 60 pupils and 18 ‘comfy’ chairs. It is important to note that none of the ‘improvements’ made to the school library to support reader development and promote reading for pleasure required an increase in the school budget, just allocating it differently and listening to what pupils (rather than staff) wanted. Very few of the pupil requests were 138

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unreasonable and almost all of them were sustainable, ensuring that the library became a vibrant space with a positive atmosphere, with stock reflective of the diverse nature of the school and which offered breadth and diversity.

Like Thornhill Community Academy, the Parklands, then and now, is situated in an area of significant social and economic deprivation, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Pulling in those reluctant readers, pupils who may also be dealing with learning difficulties or other challenges, is hugely important for their future economic prospects and emotional wellbeing. One key message from Reading: the future (Thomson, 2008), a report produced by the National Literacy Trust, is just as valid today: ‘It is, therefore, very important to see the reader as the customer and to shape services around the needs of the reader. Readers are not all the same.’ Neither are reluctant or non-readers, those pupils who fail to engage with books or who simply don’t want to. School librarians are uniquely placed to make a difference by listening to pupil needs and by effective partnership working with colleagues.

Conclusion This chapter is intended to provide some effective strategies and positive models for engaging with reluctant readers. Continuing professional guidance and support for school librarians working in primary and secondary school settings in the UK can be provided by the School Library Association (www.sla.org.uk) and via CILIP’s School Libraries Group (www.cilip.org.uk/ special-interest-groups/school-libraries-group). Many schools library services also have a training and consultancy offer, which can provide professional guidance on reader development; however, national coverage is patchy because, sadly, not all local authorities in the UK still have a dedicated schools library service nor indeed do all countries benefit from these valuable services. As Bridget Hamlet (2011), an American teacher who is now a UK librarian, said: School Library Services (SLS) allows for a central collection of resources which can be shared across schools within a specific geographical or metropolitan area. For schools struggling with funding a library this is a very cost-effective solution. One aspect of the service is a librarians’ forum which meets every two months and is absolutely invaluable to my development as a school librarian; I would be like a small boat lost at sea without the SLS forum’s support, guidance and camaraderie. The expertise and passion of the SLS librarians is unrivalled; 139

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they inhabit a completely unique role somewhere between public libraries, local authorities and schools and manage to maintain effective programmes and services amongst such varied stakeholders. I never came across anything like it in Wisconsin or Minnesota, including no mention of such a service during my school librarianship courses. Developing an SLS would be my first priority if I were a school librarian in the USA.

The case studies offered in this chapter demonstrate key elements of engaging with reluctant and less-confident readers and what can be learnt more generally. Giving pupils responsibility and encouraging them to make peer recommendations is a great hook and supports reader development. Listening to key front-end users and stakeholders (your pupils) and being more customer focused can offer huge benefits and opportunities for reflection and for sharing good practice with the school community at large. Focusing on visual literacy and the power of illustrated text to connect with reluctant and less-confident readers adds depth and meaning to the overall reading experience. Making illustrated texts accessible to pupils in a school library setting is important on several levels. Images or illustrations can underpin and enhance text and highlight key concepts. They can make the difference between rejecting reading (which author and former teacher Daniel Pennac asserts as one of the rights of every reader, and something adults tend to do regularly) and being rejected by reading. In The Rights of the Reader (2006) Pennac insists that ‘To be excluded from books, even the ones you can do without, is terribly sad: a solitude within solitude.’

Appendix 8.1: Engage 400 visual literacy reading list Antony, S. (2014) Please Mr. Panda, Hodder Children’s Books. Baker-Smith, G. (2010) FaRTHER, Templar. Barnett, M. and Klassen, J. (2014) Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Walker Books. Barroux (2015) Where’s the Elephant? Egmont Books. Becker, J. (2010) Mirror, Walker Books. Bently, P. and Oxenbury, H. (2015) Captain Jack and the Pirates, Puffin. Broome, J. and Scott, K. (2014) Animalium, Big Picture Press. Browne, A. (2014) Willy’s Stories, Walker Books. Byrne, R. (2014) This Book Just Ate My Dog! Oxford University Press. Clary, J. and Roberts, D. (2015) The Bolds, Andersen Press. Collins, R. (2015) There’s a Bear on My Chair, Nosy Crow. Davies, B. (2015) Grandad’s Island, Simon & Shuster. 140

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Daywalt, D. and Jeffers, O. (2015) The Day the Crayons Came Home, Harper Collins. Erlbruch, W. (2007) Death, Duck and the Tulip, Gecko Press. Gaiman, N. and McKean, D. (2009) Crazy Hair, Bloomsbury. Gaiman, N. and Riddell, C. (2014) The Sleeper and the Spindle, Bloomsbury. Garland, S. (2013) Azzi in Between, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. Graham, B. (2015) How the Sun Got to Coco’s House, Walker Books. Gravett, E. (2005) Wolves, Macmillan. Gravett, E. (2007) Little Mouse’s Book of Big Fears, Macmillan. Grey, M. (2006) The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon, Jonathan Cape. Grill, W. (2014) Shackleton’s Journey, Flying Eye Books. Harrold, A. F. and Gravett, E. (2014) The Imaginary, Bloomsbury. Jeffers, O. (2014) Once Upon an Alphabet, Harper Collins. Klassen, J. (2012) This is Not My Hat, Walker Books. Lawson, J. A. and Smith, S. (2015) Footpath Flowers, Walker Books. Marsden, J. and Tan, S. (1998) The Rabbits, Hodder Children’s Books. Ness, P. and Kay, J. (2011) A Monster Calls, Walker Books. Pinfold, L. (2011) Black Dog, Templar. Rayner, C. (2008) Harris Finds His Feet, Little Tiger Press. Riddell, C. (2014) Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death, Macmillan. Sedgwick, M. and Sedgwick, J. (2013) Dark Satanic Mills, Walker Books. Tan, W. D. (2015) Lili, Fat Fox.

References American Association of School Librarians (2011) School Libraries Count! www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/researchandstatistics/slcsurvey/ 2011/AASL-SLC-2011-FINALweb.pdf Brumwell, A. (2016), Bringing Reading to Life: Engage 400 project report, Kirklees Council. Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (2017) The Rabbits Teaching Sequence YR 7, https://www.clpe.org.uk/sites/default/files/the-rabbitssequence%20%283%29.pdf [Accessed 01 March 2017]. Cowley, S. (2007) Getting the Buggers to Think, Bloomsbury, 160–2. Cremin, T., Swan, J. and Mukherjee, S. J. (2012) Report to Carnegie Trust UK and CILIP on a two-stage study of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme, www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/CKG%20Shadowing%20OU% 20Research%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf Hamlet, B. (2011) There and Back Again: restoring reading to the classroom. In Court, J. (ed.), Read to Succeed: strategies to engage children and young people in reading for Pleasure, Facet Publishing. 141

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Howard, J. (2011) Ignoring the Evidence: another decade of decline for school libraries, www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada. Morgan, N. (2015) School Libraries or Public Libraries? Heartsong Blog, www.nicolamorgan.com/heartsong-blog/school-libraries-or-public-libraries. Naylor, M. (2017) Personal correspondence (9, 13, 22 March 2017). Ofsted (2015) Thornhill Community Academy Trust, https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ ELS/138959. Pennac, D. (2006) The Rights of the Reader, Walker Books. Rushowy, K. (2015) ‘Perfect storm’ Means Painful Cuts for Toronto’s Catholic School Board, www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2015/03/02/perfect-storm-meanspainful-cuts-for-torontos-catholic-school-board.html. Streatfield, D., Shaper, S. and Rae-Scott, S. (2010) School Libraries in the UK: a worthwhile past, a difficult present – and a transformed future? Main report of the UK National Survey, CILIP, www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/fullschool-libraries-report_0.pdf. Thomson, A. (2008) Reading: the future, The National Literacy Trust, 49.

Books mentioned Baker, J. (2010) Mirror, Walker Books. Barroux (2015) Where’s The Elephant? Egmont. Blackman, M. (2001) Noughts and Crosses, Doubleday. Davies, B. (2015) Grandad’s Island, Simon & Schuster. Erlbruch, W. (2008) Duck, Death and the Tulip, Gecko Press. Garland, S. (2012) Azzi in Between, Frances Lincoln. Grill, W. (2014) Shackleton’s Journey, Flying Eye Books. Handford, M. (1987) Where’s Wally, Walker Books. Marsden, J. and Tan, S. (2010) The Rabbits, Hodder. Pennac, D. (2006) The Rights of the Reader, Walker Books. Sedgwick, J., Sedgwick, M. and Higgins, J. (2013) Dark Satanic Mills, Walker Books.

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9 Not just for the avid reader: inclusive Carnegie and Kate Greenaway shadowing Amy McKay and Joy Court

Introduction Each year the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) awards the CILIP Carnegie Medal for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people and the Kate Greenaway Medal for an outstanding book in terms of illustration. In 2017 the Carnegie Medal is 80 years old and the Kate Greenaway Medal is 60, making them the UK’s oldest and, arguably, most prestigious awards for children and young people’s books. Since the revision of eligibility criteria in 2014, which allowed books in translation to be nominated,1 it can also be argued that these medals have a truly international audience and significance. CILIP also manages the accompanying CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Awards (CKG) Shadowing scheme and its associated website (www.ckg.org.uk). ‘Shadowing is the best thing in the book world, join in!’ author Patrick Ness tweeted on 18 April 2015. Is it any wonder that he would be so enthusiastic when ‘From its origins in the early 1990’s this unique, but now often emulated, scheme has grown in size, scope, prestige and sheer effectiveness in engaging thousands of children and young people in the UK and around the world in reading for pleasure.’ (Court, 2016) But a two-year Open University (OU) study of CKG Shadowing, commissioned in association with the Carnegie UK Trust and published in 2012, ‘support(s) a general perception that more “high-ability” readers tend to be selected, or are attracted to shadowing, particularly in the case of Carnegie’ (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012). Yet this same piece of research also demonstrates conclusively that ‘CKG shadowing is highly flexible and adaptable, with the potential to work effectively across a range of settings and to be tailored to the preferred ways of working of group leaders and the interests, ages and abilities of diverse sets of young readers.’

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This chapter will demonstrate, with highly practical suggestions and examples from live shadowing groups, that the opportunities offered by shadowing are just as relevant, if not more, to hard-to-reach readers – those that are either reluctant or struggling, or both – as they are to traditional ‘shadowers’. CKG Shadowing can be a highly effective way to create a genuinely inclusive community of readers, and the lessons learnt from shadowing can have a more universal application.

What is shadowing? Children and young people ‘shadow’ the judging process for the CKG medals; the rigorous and transparent nature of this is one of the reasons why these awards are held in such high esteem. Young people taking part in the scheme are known as ‘shadowers’. They read, discuss and review the books on each short list and engage in reading-related activity in their groups and online. Reading activity takes place from March to June – from the moment that the short lists are revealed until the final winners’ announcement. CILIP surveys the group leaders each year and the website shows that a recent poll reveals that: • 89% of shadowers have been introduced to new books and authors by the Carnegie and Greenaway short lists; • 70% talk more to their librarian while shadowing; • 79% of shadowers think about the books they read more, because of their experience of reading and discussing the Carnegie and Greenaway short lists; • 88% of shadowers read in their spare time and in the evenings. Between 2010 and 2015 there has been a 20% increase in registered shadowing groups, with 5,516 registered groups as of January 2016. As Court indicated in her article for The School Librarian (2016), this growth is likely to have been supported by the key findings of the Open University (OU) research project led by Professors Cremin and Swan (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012) which showed that shadowers display: • • • •

increased pleasure and enjoyment in reading an enhanced desire to read wider reading repertoires engagement with high-quality books

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• increased confidence in voicing their views about books • wider cultural and historical awareness • a commitment to, and interest in, writing reviews, the quality of which will likely be influenced by the shadowing scheme. The 2012 report also found that shadowing offers the opportunity for shadowers to: • • • •

learn through dialogue develop their discussion and debating skills develop their interpretation and analysis skills work with a wider than usual range of other young people.

Lastly, the report found that shadowing supports the development of a strong reading community and positive reader-to-reader relationships between group members and between young people and adults. It is obviously imperative that we should widen access to the shadowing scheme when it offers proven advantages such as these! This is especially so when the results are considered alongside the general recognition – ever since the publication of the OECD (2002) report Reading for Change – of continuing research evidence that reading for pleasure has a positive impact on attainment and the life chances of every child. Reading for pleasure also has a dramatic impact on well-being, as evidenced most recently in an extensive study published by The Reading Agency (BOP Consulting, 2015). This study has demonstrated that in addition to educational advantage, reading for pleasure brings a range of benefits to individuals and society and can increase empathy, improve relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression and the risk of dementia, and improve well-being throughout life.

Hard-to-reach readers Kylene Beers (1998), when setting out to understand why some children just do not read, categorised readers as follows: • Avid: ‘I like reading and I always will.’ Enjoy reading and like being identified as readers. Plan to read in the future. • Dormant: ‘I’m too busy right now.’ Like to read but don’t make time for it. Have positive attitudes toward reading. Will read for pleasure when they have the opportunity. 145

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• Uncommitted: ‘I might be a reader, someday.’ Believe reading is boring because they only see it as a skill. Don’t care for it much but could grow to like it. • Unmotivated: ‘I’m never going to like reading.’ Actively dislike reading and express negative attitudes about people who read. • Unskilled: ‘I can’t read.’ Does not identify as readers and define reading as ‘figuring out words’. Avid would indeed be a good description of the traditional CKG shadower, but the remaining four categories could be defined as ‘hard-to-reach’. Blake, Hale and Sherriff (2011), when talking about public library projects set up to engage the ‘hard-to-reach readers’, suggested a number of top tips for success, and Cremin Swan and Mukherjee (2012) found that: [T]hese correlate closely with the ways in which school librarians and other group leaders organise CKG shadowing groups. Blake, Hale and Sherriff’s (2011) recommendations include: 1 Recognise that young people have busy lives– this is seen in CKG shadowing in the ways group leaders are flexible about the pace at which students read, the recognition of exams and the desire to avoid putting additional pressure upon them. 2 Make libraries spaces where folk want to come – this is seen in the physical environment, the relaxed atmosphere, the non-hierarchical seating arrangements, and the inclusion of food and drink in CKG groups. 3 Build relationships to help them engage in discussions about reading – this is a strong element of the CKG work, voiced by young people and group leaders and evidenced through observation. 4 Offer volunteering opportunities and accreditation – while different in manner, our recommendation in Chapter 12 to develop student group web representatives (whose role could be part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme or feed into ICT qualifications) connects to this. 5 Allow work to be student led – this is seen in the CKG groups in the student led discussions and the agency group members exercise regarding which books to read in which order and whether to write book reviews for example. 6 Activities should be practical, relevant, informal and creative – this is seen in the wealth of additional activities undertaken, such as book quizzes, Skyping authors, watching video clips from the website, talking with visiting judges and so forth. 146

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7 Be attentive to student need – this is evident in the CKG group leaders’ responsive work, fine tuning their activities according to group members’ interests and abilities, and in the reading recommendations made to group members. 8 Be passionate and enjoy your work – this is seen in the enthusiastic way in which the CKG group leaders welcome students, share their love of literature and facilitate the shadowing group.

The ‘hard-to-reach’ also feature in the Shadowing Toolkit and related video material which can be accessed on the CKG Shadowing website. The Carnegie UK Trust funding which enabled the OU research project also financed the production of these resources in order to share the good practice discovered during the research and to provide enhanced support for group leaders. The toolkit is organised into the following four sections, of which the fourth is the most pertinent to this chapter. 1 2 3 4

CKG shadowing group: a sense of belonging Learning through dialogue: CKG discussion The CKG scheme as part of the wider reading culture Reaching the ‘hard to reach’: diversity and ‘hard to reach’ groups

Amy McKay, school librarian at Corby Business Academy, participated in the research as a case study during Phase Two of the research. The researchers specifically said ‘The selection of these case study groups was designed to ensure as diverse a range as was possible’ (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012). Corby is a mixed-gender and mixed-ability group in a comprehensive school in the East Midlands. The school includes students from different cultural backgrounds and has a relatively high number of students eligible for free school meals. For Amy: ‘A strong plus point of CKG Shadowing when working with hard-to-reach readers is that there are no rules. Group leaders have the freedom to run their shadowing sessions and guide their shadowers in whichever ways work best for them.’ Corby Business Academy was selected as a case study because of its use of mixed-ability groups, the advantages of which are highlighted in toolkit 4: In the relaxed atmosphere of a shadowing group (see toolkit one), less able readers can use the more able group members as a model for their own responses. While in a lesson, the sense that there is a ‘pecking order’, and a feeling that they are being ‘marked’ for what they say might make less able readers keep their thoughts to themselves, the freer and more equal environment 147

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of shadowing means that they feel more able to voice their opinions. The informal atmosphere of the shadowing groups means members who are struggling to finish a book can be encouraged to persevere by their peers. The encouragement of other members is often a better incentive to read than a teacher saying ‘you have to read this’. Not everyone can read a book in seven days, so it is not a good idea to pick a single book to discuss in any one session. This may exclude slower readers. Try encouraging different group members to read different books simultaneously. This way, each member can talk a bit about the book they are reading, and encourage members who have not read that book yet to start reading it.

For many hard-to-reach readers their only experience of reading will be within a target-driven classroom environment; shadowing offers them the chance to read, consider and discuss books without the pressure of having their opinions marked. This distinction that the researchers identified between reading associated with Shadowing and reading within the classroom and the curriculum was a strong feature of the report (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012); see Figure 9.1.

Figure 9.1 Perceived contrasts between reading in English lessons and reading in extracurricular shadowing groups 148

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The prestige associated with the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals brings with it the likelihood of substantial press attention each year. In turn, this offers readers the positive experience of being involved in a high-profile national event. This was identified in the very earliest iterations of CKG Shadowing by Jane Inglis, at the time the librarian from Borehamwood School in Hertfordshire, who describes the essential motivation behind school involvement with the Carnegie Medal in an article credited for being one of the earliest descriptions of the shadowing process: Whatever one thinks of book prizes and shortlists, there’s no doubt that the hype surrounding a prestigious award like the Carnegie Medal generates a glamour and excitement that can be used to motivate children to read.

(Inglis, 1993)

Many hard-to-reach readers will feel overwhelmed when faced with a library of beautiful books – how will they possibly know what to choose? Shadowing narrows that choice to a much more manageable maximum of 16 books to choose from, all verified by professional librarians as outstanding examples of children’s literature. When students are routinely assigned books to read without any opportunity to act on their own judgment, many end up dreading the reading and often fail or refuse to complete it. But when we provide students with choices (even within parameters), they make their own decisions and they feel empowered and important. Empowering students to choose in these early experiences sets them up for success as lifelong readers.

(Skeeters et al., 2016)

As the OU research report shows: [W]hat was evident from the data was that the shadowing groups gave the young people an extra impetus to read outside the reading required for school, and an additional reason to read for pleasure. This point must be considered in light of the busy schedules that young people have. In this context, young people interviewed as part of our research suggest that reading for pleasure is sometimes difficult to schedule into their weekly routine and perceive that the shadowing scheme provides a focus and a reason to prioritise reading.

(Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012)

Annual attitudinal surveys conducted at Corby Business Academy reveal that those students involved in shadowing show an improvement of 71% in their 149

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attitude to reading and are 58% more likely to continue to read for pleasure afterwards.

How to hook them in At this point you may well be asking how you actually get ‘bums on seats’ and start shadowing with hard-to-reach readers. Amy says: An essential tool in a successful CKG group leaders’ arsenal, when working with such young people, is quite simply, activities. Whilst the traditional book club model of sitting in a circle and discussing books will, no doubt, be attractive to capable, keen readers, it can be the stuff of nightmares for hard-toreach readers. So, shadowing group leaders must be both inventive and creative in their programmes if they are to appeal to these readers. Where polite discussion and debate doesn’t work, daft games and exciting activities just might.

Janet Duggan, headteacher of Corby Business Academy and an English teacher, endorses this approach: Being involved in CKG shadowing has engaged many of our students; however the greatest testament to this exercise is how many reluctant readers have been inspired to come along to a variety activities linked to CKG. This has resulted in many of them voluntarily picking a book and reading.

Making use of shadowing site resources As Butler, Simpson and Court (2011) tells us ‘in the early part of the last decade, the shadowing scheme underwent a series of changes and updates – most significantly in relation to the development of the website’. Each new revision, the latest in 2016, has resulted in more features available for group leaders to use to enhance and grow their group activities. As Amy says, ‘The CKG shadowing site is the first port of call for any group leader planning shadowing activities; on here you will find a wealth of suggestions and resources to inspire your shadowers. All provided for free!’ These are the website highlights for Corby Business Academy. A dedicated web page for your group. As well as uploading traditional style reviews of short-listed books, shadowers have the option to visually personalise their web pages, post status updates, add photos, write blogs, create polls for other 150

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shadowers to complete and contribute towards a reading barometer that shows their favourite short-listed books. In the age of social media most, if not all, children and young people will be accustomed to creating and managing an online presence and the shadowing group web pages provide an opportunity to connect with the tech-savvy generation. There is even the opportunity to select shadowing web page managers – a perfect role for readers who may not feel inclined or able to contribute their own reviews initially but who will enjoy managing the contributions of others. Corbin, 14, was selected as a web page manager in 2015 and says: ‘I didn’t really like reading before I became a shadower, but I didn’t mind joining the group because I was allowed control of the web page. I liked being in charge of what we put on our page and reading what everyone else wrote made me want to read When Mr Dog Bites. Now I read all the time.’ The Greenaway Gallery. Every year hundreds of images are uploaded to the gallery, which showcases artwork inspired by the short-listed books. This is a great means of providing struggling readers with a creative outlet. Author videos. Short films of short-listed authors and illustrators discussing their work are released on the CKG website throughout the shadowing season. These videos provide the opportunity for shadowers to gain greater insight into the short-listed titles and to be inspired to try the books by the authors and illustrators themselves. Reader development and visual literacy activities. These resources are commissioned by CILIP and created by children’s literature, literacy and visual literacy specialists. Even when running shadowing group meetings that do not follow a traditional book club format, these resources can be invaluable in planning and deciding what you want your group to focus on. This is particularly relevant at the start of the shadowing season, when group leaders are unlikely to have read all of the short-listed books. Downloadable membership cards, certificates, door hangers and bookmarks. Giving these out at meetings will give shadowers a sense of belonging.

Non-book-specific activity suggestions Shadowing activities fall into two broad categories: those that can be repeated every year regardless of which books are short listed and those that are book specific. Non-book-specific activities are easier for shadowing group leaders to plan in advance of the short list announcements, as the individual book details can be swiftly added once known. Examples of tried and tested activities that engage hard-to-reach readers include: 151

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• Creating videos. Where once young people might have aspired to be footballers or pop stars, the modern route to fame has, for many, switched to vlogging, and book vlogging in particular is immensely popular. Today’s reluctant readers are also members of the YouTube generation. Connect with them by offering them the chance to imitate their heroes and become vloggers themselves. Vlogs could take the form of diaries that chart their shadowing journey, updated every session and self-directed. Vlogs can also offer the opportunity for struggling readers to contribute reviews without the scariness of putting pen to paper. Best of all, you can upload your film to your CKG web page so other shadowers can join in the fun. • Fashionable fiction. Cosplay is a big deal for many young people involved in fandoms and it is a phenomenon that most shadowers will be aware of. Have shadowers make costumes that represent their favourite characters and host a library catwalk show. Alternatively, provide plain white T-shirts for each shadower and challenge them to decorate them by taking inspiration from one or all of the short-listed books. Once completed, they will have wonderfully unique shadowing ‘uniforms’ to wear at future meetings. • Pleased to meet you. Introducing the new short-listed books to our target shadowers for the first time can be a nerve-wracking and pivotal moment. You want them to be excited by the books on offer, but they’re more accustomed to backing away from books. Activities that pique interest and showcase how much fun future shadowing meetings will be work well here. A simple activity to try is to cover the books in brown paper and stick a copy of the blurb onto it. Have shadowers decide what the book is about, what the title could be and what the front cover might look like. Award small prizes for those who are closest (or farthest) from reality – this is where the free downloadable resources become really useful. Alternatively, take shadowers back to their earlier childhoods and play CKG musical chairs, but rather than musical hits use the author and illustrator interviews on the website for ‘music’. Beforehand place a different short-listed book under each chair. Every time they secure a chair they must turn to a random page in the book and read one paragraph (or sentence for struggling readers) before the game continues. The game will soon intensify as shadowers battle to get to the chair containing the book they’re most interested in. The winner has first choice of which book to borrow and read first. 152

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Librarian Jenny Hawke (2016) of Bromley Libraries has re-worked another childhood favourite to play with shadowers as an introductory activity – CKG Twister.2 Jenny tells us: When I first started the teen reading group three years ago at Petts Wood Library I thought we would read books, have a chat and eat snacks. However, it was clear once we started that not everyone wanted to do this and I realised that playing a few games would put people at ease and hopefully would encourage them to read more. Shadowing the Carnegie Award each year offers plenty of opportunities to play games for all to enjoy and I regularly devise my own games and activities. Most of these have been successful, particularly with those teens who have been reluctant to read or who have found reading a struggle. For example, each Christmas and at the start of the shadowing process I wrap up Carnegie nominations or short-listed books in fancy paper and place them randomly on the spots of the game Twister, the game is then played and if someone lands on a spot with a book they have to unwrap it using one hand or even one foot! They then can read the first page if they want to, but there’s no pressure to do this, it just adds another twist.

• Playlists. Create playlists for each or some of the short-listed books. If you have target readers with a good general knowledge of music this is a great opportunity to them to show off to the rest of the group. If there are no really musically knowledgeable shadowers in your group, this is an exciting chance to discover new music together. Most importantly for our target readers though, this is an activity they can fully relax with: the music, rather than the books, is key for a little while. Once your playlists are compiled you’ll have some fantastic background music to enjoy during shadowing group sessions. • Meet other shadowers. Many shadowing group leaders already organise CKG Celebration events that take place towards the end of shadowing season. These celebrations typically involve different shadowing groups from the local area getting together to discuss their opinions on the books and vote for their chosen winner. All readers will benefit hugely from taking part in such an event and typically our target audience will not have experienced reward trips and events connected with reading. If a CKG Celebration event is not already held in your local area, you can use the Shadowing in Your Area section of the CKG website to identify other local groups you could connect with. International groups without other local shadowing groups could hold virtual celebrations via Skype. 153

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In Corby, Northamptonshire, the CKG Celebration takes place at a local secondary school on the Friday morning of the week before the announcement ceremony. Approximately 50 shadowers attend from five different schools. Across the morning they take part in small group discussions of the books, a quiz based on all short-listed books, bookpushing and, finally, a vote for their chosen winners. Book-pushing involves shadowers voluntarily talking to the whole group for a maximum of one minute with the intention of persuading others that their chosen book should win. Organiser and librarian Wendy McCabe (2016) explains: I really believe that the annual CKG event engages students who might not have had the confidence to shadow any other books awards, as it gives them a sense of belonging to a group and allows them to participate in the same way as all of the group members. It gives them the confidence to read and increases their desire to read.

• Popular culture. Demonstrating an understanding of popular culture and the interests of children and young people goes a long way when connecting with hard-to-reach readers. As Toolkit 4 says ‘Young people are often far more literate in other kinds of culture than in traditional books and literature. Activities which link shadowing to familiar forms of culture can be an effective tool in getting young people to engage in books.’ For example, put the shortlisted books to the test and challenge shadowers to determine which has the CKG X-Factor. This activity can be run over a number of shadowing sessions, with every session having a different theme, just like the TV show. Themes can be general in the first couple of sessions with title, blurb, front cover, first chapter etc. being judged; as the sessions progress the themes can intensify to include criteria points, such as character development, depiction of setting and plot structure. The shadowers each ‘mentor’ a different book and must demonstrate to each session why their chosen book excels in the chosen theme. Non-competing shadowers form the judging panel (fancy dress and celebrity judge characteristics highly recommended) and vote for which books they feel best meet the theme each week. Typically, the losing books are eliminated and do not compete in the next round. However, if you wish to have shadowers compete every week a score board can be created to track the number of votes each book receives. The last book standing, or the one with the most votes in the last session, is your group’s CKG X Factor champion. 154

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• Quizzes. Once shadowers have each read a number of short-listed books a group quiz can be a great way for them to demonstrate their book knowledge and for you to gauge the level of their understanding. However, regular quizzes may not be enough to entice our target readers, who may feel anxious at the prospect of being tested. Counteract this anxiety and reluctance by offering a quiz in a different format, as in the following examples. — Quingo is a mix of bingo (lotto) and a quiz and is a firm favourite with many reluctant and/or struggling readers. A bingo sheet is created, but rather than numbers in every box alternate boxes have the answer to short-list themed questions in them. So, rather than just shouting out numbers, the bingo caller will ask questions as well. Questions asked can be as difficult or as easy as the personalities and abilities of the shadowers require. For Greenaway in particular visual answers can be used on the bingo sheets for very low-ability shadowers. The game should progress in the style of a typical bingo game, with players competing to complete first one line of answers, then two lines and, finally, a full house. Shadowers can decide if they want to be kind and share the answers they know or megacompetitive and silent. — Pass the Parcel (or Hot Potato) is a childhood favourite and a game that even the surliest of shadowers will enjoy once prompted. Rather than putting dares with the lollipops in between layers, include questions relating to short-listed books. To keep the lollipop, shadowers must answer the question correctly. Corby shadower Bradley, 13, says: ‘Once we started at secondary school it was like we had to grow up and not have fun anymore, so I really like playing pass the parcel in book club every year. It’s fun like we used to have at parties. I always try to know all the answer so I can have the sweet.’ • Edible treats. While we would never suggest bribery as a means of engaging young people, a little food-based coaxing can be very effective. In the annual survey into shadowing conducted by CILIP, shadowers and shadowing group leaders always report that biscuits are an important part of their meetings. Food and its appeal can be further embedded into shadowing activities to appeal to a wider range of shadowers and to provide fun and new experiences. Many books refer to the favourite foods of characters or foods specific to the setting; use these references to liven up 155

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shadowing meetings with baking sessions or tasting events. You could even use an entire short list to provide a buffet of tasty treats that reflect the books. For instance, in 2015 a Carnegie short-list buffet could have included: croissants (Rooftoppers), olives (The Wall), berries (Ghost Hawk), soda bread (All the Truth that’s in Me), Jolly Rancher sweets (Liar and Spy), rice paper (The Bunker Diary) and chapattis (The Child’s Elephant). Challenge shadowers to match the foods to the books! This is an element of group activity which is backed up by the findings of the research report, which noted: Eating together was seen as a significant feature, commented on by group leaders and group members . . . food and drink are not normally consumed in lessons, or in fact in libraries. Particularly in the case of younger group members, eating and drinking in the library may have slightly counter-cultural connotations.

(Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012)

Greenaway shadowing Most of the discussion up to this point has been around shadowing of the Carnegie Medal but shadowing the Kate Greenaway Medal comes into its own when trying to engage with this particular audience. As Amy says: Greenaway shadowing is a gift for shadowing group leaders working with struggling readers. All illustrated books that meet the criteria are eligible, so although it’s unlikely that any Greenaway short list will be entirely comprised of picture books, at least some will be. Most reluctant readers have fallen out of love with reading, rather than never having loved it, so using picture books with older reluctant readers is a strategy for reminding them of a time when reading was something they enjoyed. Furthermore, the nature of a picture book is that there will be less text – making them an important tool in appealing to struggling readers and calming any reading anxieties. Regardless of the format of short listed Greenaway books, the visual aspect can prove essential in hooking a hard-to-reach reader.

• Role models. A reluctance to read or difficulty doing so often means that a young person will have had difficult and negative experiences throughout their school career. They will certainly rarely, if ever, be held up as a positive example to other students. Greenaway shadowing has the potential to change this and offers the opportunity to give your target 156

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readers the chance to be reading role models for younger students. Shadowers should firstly choose a short-listed picture book that they would like to read to younger students. If the selection of short-listed picture books are not suitable or large enough consider titles from the long list instead. Once books are selected shadowers should practise reading the book aloud. This practice gives them the opportunity to focus on the importance of pronunciation, tension building and emphasis. The repetition of practising reading the text will also help them to, at least partially, memorise it, thus greatly reducing any anxiety when it comes to reading aloud to an audience. Contact a local primary school and organise a visit to it by your shadowers. During the visit shadowers should each read to small groups of younger students, moving around carousel style. Reading to small groups rather than a whole class will further help to reduce any nerves and provide a more personal connection to their audience. See Figure 9.2 for a lovely example of this in action. Shadowers will leave with a positive sense of having contributed to their community, and the warm glow of hero-worship that young students often inspire. Corby shadower Jordan, 14, remembers: ‘I’m not very good at reading so never thought I’d be picked to go on a trip and read to the children, but I was happy that I was. I spent ages making sure I knew all the words and could read them out in a good way. They looked at me like I was special when I was reading to them and it made me more confident when I had to read out loud in lessons afterwards.’

Figure 9.2 Year 8 reluctant reader Jake reading to Year 4 students 157

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• Relaxation. Even the keenest of readers begin to read for pleasure less once course work and exams start looming; most become bona-fide reluctant readers or dormant as defined by Beers (1998). Greenaway shadowing is an excellent strategy for remaining connected with these young people and ensuring that they still read a little and remember the joy that reading offers. At Corby Business Academy they hold short Greenaway shadowing meetings for Year 10 and Year 11 students once a week. As described by Amy ‘In these 20-minute sessions, we read a short-listed book to them and, if time permits, discuss its qualities and themes. No pressure, no expectation that they contribute lots of time and effort, just great stories and a little downtime.’ These shadowers report that the sessions are important to them as they give them the chance to switch off and return to the wonderful world of storytelling. Matthew, 16, says: ‘Greenaway shadowing helped me a lot as a Year 11 student, at a stressful time it was nice to take time out and look at books without being marked on them. It meant I could keep up with reading and analysing techniques too.’ • By maintaining this link with Year 10 and Year 11 students we increase our chances of encouraging them to continue reading for pleasure during the exam years and ensure they continue to see the library and reading as enjoyable and part of their world.

Greenaway shadowing and looked after children (LAC) Blake, Hale and Sherriff (2011), when defining the hard-to-reach reader with reference to younger people, include LAC (children in local authority care) as a specific group. LAC can often experience frequent changes of location and home base and this can lead to significant disruption in their education and to low literacy rates. A pilot project has been set up by the North West region of the CILIP Youth Libraries Group (YLG) utilising Greenaway Shadowing with two groups of children and young people, one based in Manchester working with older children looked after in residential care homes and the other based in Lancashire with younger children looked after by foster-carers. In addition to generating outcomes around improving overall literacy, the project with foster-carers will also aim to build on the power of sharing books to develop and improve attachment. It is hoped that if this project is successful, then it will be a model that could extend to the rest of the UK. The full proposal can be seen in Appendix 9.1.

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Book-specific activities Each year and each new short list will present new inspiration for activities with a shadowing group. It can be difficult for group leaders who perhaps will not have read the short-listed books before to quickly come up with ideas. However, the good news is that CKG Shadowing is a community of group leaders ever willing to share good ideas with each other. In the Group Leaders section on the website you can find ‘Ideas – what to do’, which has a downloadable collection of activity suggestions specifically linked to the current short list. These are put together by group leaders who also happen to be CKG judges or part of the YLG team that look after the awards and are privy to the details of the short list before it is made public. You can see a sample of these from 2016 in Appendix 9.2. Book-specific activities are an excellent way of encouraging our target readers to more closely consider a certain book before deciding to read it. In order to appeal to these shadowers the activities offered must be fun and different to their classroom experiences. In time you can build an archive of resources from previous winning and short-listed books; wonderful texts that you can use to engage shadowers before the shadowing season starts. In recent years the following activities have been used in Corby Business Academy to successfully engage hard-to-reach readers. • The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks – The subtlety of The Bunker Diary’s end, when the main character, Linus, is reduced to eating his dead friend, is missed by many first-time readers. Have shadowers consider Linus’s predicament by hosting your own exotic meat evening. Meats such as ostrich, crocodile, zebra and kangaroo can be bought on most UK high streets, but are far from a staple part of most shadowers’ diets. Before the shadowing session purchase and prepare a selection of exotic meats, then have those shadowers who want to join in taste one meat at a time. Do not reveal which animal it is from until participants have all tried it. Now, show them a picture of the animal and ask them how they feel. Interesting thoughts on vegetarianism and why it is considered acceptable to eat some animals and not others will ensue. Finally, present them with the last meat (we suggest something bland) and have a picture of Kevin Brooks as the reveal. Reactions differ from each group; some will be unfazed and go back for more, others will be revolted and others will merely be concerned that they’ve broken the law. Play along that the meat was human for as long as possible, talking to them about the circumstances Linus found himself in and whether they feel his 159

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cannibalism was justified. Obviously, do make sure to tell them the truth before they leave! After taking part in this activity shadower Tom, 13, remarked: ‘That was great, though the crocodile tasted nasty. I’d never thought about why we only eat some meats before and am definitely going to read the book now.’ The ambiguity of The Bunker Diary infuriated and delighted readers in equal measure, but, regardless of their reaction to it, all were left asking many questions. To provide shadowers with possible answers and to encourage them to a deeper consideration of the text, Amy invited a local criminologist into school to discuss it with them. Heather Lindley read the book before the visit and spoke to students about real-life kidnappings and her views on the motivation of the kidnapper(s). The discussion brought the book to life for shadowers and encouraged many to re-read it in an attempt to find their own clues. • Trash by Andy Mulligan – The mystery central to Mulligan’s Trash focuses on book codes and these provide a great shadowing activity. The characters find a seemingly indecipherable code that they must crack in order to move on in their adventure; eventually they realise that the code relates to a copy of the Bible and they must use the numbers listed to unlock the code. Create your own book code using previously short-listed books and have shadowers solve them. Here’s one based on Trash to start you off: 95.5.19.17.14.1.4/39.7.7.11.17.20.15.2.11.13.49.8.2.20.14.26.4./ 134.10.3.15.14.9.28.20.9.3.1.11.2.24.5./ 49.3.14.7.1.16.4.5.15.13.8.20.25.8.4.22.30.3.11./ 31.6.12.14.28.4.2.12.13.18.11.25.21.4.15. Trash by Andy Mulligan, ISBN 9781849920568 (the code will work only with this edition). The first number in each section is the page, the next number is the line when working downwards, the next the letter when reading the line from the left. The line and letter numbers alternate until the end of the word is signalled by /. Then you start on the next word. Once shadowers have solved your codes, challenge them to compile their own. • A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton – The eponymous bear in Shelton’s novel has some very strange tastes in food; his favourite sandwich is broccoli, gooseberry and sherbet. Give shadowers the chance to see if the bear is right by bringing broccoli, gooseberry and sherbet sandwiches to a shadowing session. Once they’ve all grimaced, and the 160

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brave have chanced a nibble, challenge them to create their own weird sandwiches. Provide a selection of non-complementary, atypical sandwich fillings and set them to work. The rules are: they can use a maximum of three fillings, the fillings must not traditionally be eaten together and they must be willing to try their creation at the end. A surprise hit for our shadowers was sweetcorn, whipped cream and beef paste sandwiches.

Conclusion Sometimes the hard-to-reach readers don’t just need the right book at the right time, they need to be persuaded to open the right book at the right time, and creative games and activities are a great persuasive tool and one that could just as easily be applied outside of the shadowing experience to any project that is trying to engage struggling readers. But the most important asset of all for any of these readers was also identified by the OU research report, and that is people like those who run the CKG Shadowing groups. ‘The group leaders visited and observed are skilled at building young people’s desire to read, contributing to their reading lives and learning opportunities.’ One librarian interviewed described their role as follows: I think . . . a librarian is about building those relationships, which teachers do as well but I think in quite a different way. I think students often see you as somebody to go to in school, partly because you are always there . . . and so they will talk about all kinds of stuff with you which automatically makes them much more comfortable in a sort of book group situation like this. It is a strange kind of role . . . I mean you hear everything from them about what is going on at home and what is going on with their friends and you get to know them much more as a person I think than a teacher would. (Cremin, Swan and Mukherjee, 2012)

So, as Amy says in conclusion, ‘Be creative! Be inventive! And, most importantly, have fun! Remember to give yourself a pat on the back regularly because shadowers are not obliged to read every short-listed book and if your passion and enthusiasm have encouraged just one hard-to-reach reader to read and enjoy just one short-listed book, then congratulations, you’ve succeeded! You’ve shown them that books are for them too and that reading really can be enjoyable.’ 161

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Appendix 9.1 LAC Greenaway Shadowing proposal (page 1)

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Appendix 9.1 LAC Greenaway Shadowing proposal (page 2)

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Appendix 9.2 Sample book specific activity suggestions from CKG website (page 1)

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Appendix 9.2 Sample book specific activity suggestions from CKG website (page 2)

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Notes 1 www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/awards-process.php#criteria 2 Based on the Hasbro game www.hasbro.com/en-us/brands/twister

References Beers, K. (1998) Choosing Not to Read: understanding why some middle schoolers just say no. In Beers, K. and Samuels, B. G. (eds), Into Focus: understanding and creating middle school readers, Christopher-Gordon. Blake, A., Hale, J. and Sherriff, E. (2011) The hard to reach reader in the 21st century. In Court, J. (ed.), Read to Succeed: strategies to engage children and young people in reading for pleasure, Facet Publishing. BOP Consulting (2015) Literature Review: the impact of reading for pleasure and empowerment, https://readingagency.org.uk/news/The%20Impact%20of%20Reading%20for% 20Pleasure%20and%20Empowerment.pdf. Butler, K., Simpson, E. and Court, J. (2011) Promoting Excellence: shadowing the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals. In Court, J. (ed.), Read to Succeed: strategies to engage children and young people in reading for pleasure, Facet Publishing. Court, J. (2016) ‘The Most Brilliant Thing in the World of Children’s Books’: the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, The School Librarian, 64 (3), 133–5. Cremin, T., Swan, J. and Mukherjee, S. J. (2012) Report to Carnegie Trust UK and CILIP on a Two-stage Study of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme, www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/CKG%20Shadowing%20OU% 20Research%20-%20Full%20Report.pdf. Hawke, J. (2016) Personal communication, 18th December. Inglis, J. (1993) Shadowing Carnegie, http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/82/ childrens-books/articles/other-articles/shadowing-carnegie. McCabe, W. (2016) Personal communication, 18th December. OECD (2002) Reading for Change: performance and engagement across countries. Results from PISA 2000, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/54/33690904.pdf. Skeeters, K., Campbell, B., Dubitsky, A., Faron, E., Gieselmann, K., George, D., Goldschmidt, B. and Wagner, E. (2016) The Top Five Reasons We Love Giving Students Choice in Reading, English Leadership Quarterly, February, 6–7, www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/ELQ/0383-feb2016/ ELQ0383Top.pdf.

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Books mentioned Berry, J. (2013) All the Truth That Is in Me, Templar. Brooks, K. (2013) The Bunker Diary, Puffin. Campbell-Johnson, R. (2013) The Child’s Elephant, David Fickling Books. Cooper, S. (2013) Ghost Hawk, Bodley Head. Mulligan, A. (2010) Trash, David Fickling Books. Rundell, K. (2013) Rooftoppers, Faber & Faber. Shelton, D. (2012) A Boy and a Bear in a Boat, David Fickling Books. Stead, R. (2012) Liar and Spy, Andersen Press. Sutcliffe, W. (2013) The Wall, Bloomsbury.

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10 Listen up! How audiobooks support literacy Rose Brock

Introduction For many readers, experiencing a well-told story is satisfying on many levels. Librarians and educators who work with children and teens dedicate a great deal of time to attempting to make the right match between reader and book, and while the right pairing can be a richly rewarding experience, for some, traditional reading of print can be both difficult and unsatisfying. For young people who have access to them, audiobooks can be an appealing, alternative format to printed books. Audiobooks provide a favourable option while promoting literacy by focusing on the art of listening as a means to engage with and experience stories and the world at large. As Cardillo et al. (2007) offer: ‘Learning is most effective when it is a multisensory experience’ (43). An important question worth considering is: what part do librarians’ play in offering tools and materials that develop and promote literacy? Within the context of the larger literacy landscape, the role played by librarians is essential; as former US Commissioner of Education Harold Howe states, ‘What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it thinks about education’ (Howe, 1967). With this in mind, how do librarians promote the development of listening in the context of supporting literacy for the population they serve? In particular, when it comes to providing access to audiobooks for young people, librarians are the gatekeepers of those library collections which may be the sole access point for patrons who cannot buy audiobooks for themselves. The role of librarians in library collection development is profound; their knowledge of the value and importance of multiple media guides their choices, decisions and programming, so having a clear understanding of the value of audiobooks as tools of literacy is essential in order for them to be able to provide robust and relevant audiobook collections for young people. 169

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A brief history of audiobooks Although most audiobooks were initially introduced as accessibility tools for the visually impaired, their history dates back to the Victorian era (Camlot, 2003). Discussions of the earliest ‘talking books’ appeared in 1878, when Thomas Edison in The Phonograph and its Future (1878) remarked, ‘The advantages of [talking] books over those printed are too readily seen to need mention. Such books would be listened to where now none are read. They would preserve more than the mental emanations of the brain of the author; and, as a bequest to future generations, they would be unequalled.’ The United States National Recording Registry recognises a phonograph recording of the poet Dylan Thomas reading his work in a 1952 session with Caedmon Records as the project that kick-started the audiobook business (Rubery, 2016; Montagne, 2002). Much like in the United States, the history of audiobooks in the United Kingdom began with services for the blind. In 1935 Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Joseph Conrad’s Typhoon, and The Gospel According to St John were recorded and distributed. For two decades the focus on spoken-word recordings remained on serving those with visual impairments, but in 1960 a ‘talking book player’ was introduced in the UK which brought audiobooks to a larger audience the world over.1 Since then, the audiobook industry has flourished. The continuing evolution of the audiobook format (from LPs to cassettes to CDs to downloadable files) now allows for greater ease of access, and reported annual audiobook sales in the United States are now over 1.7 billion dollars (Audiobook Publishers Association, 2016). This phenomenal growth is worldwide, with the global audiobook industry valued in 2016 at 2.8 billion dollars.2

Significance of audiobooks as tools of literacy For years in educational circles, a debate raged on as to whether listening to audiobooks ‘counted’ as real reading for students, especially with regard to audiobooks and their place in classroom instruction and as general tools of learning. While this very topic continues to be considered by some, recent headlines have heralded the benefits of audiobooks, including New York Magazine’s August 2016 selection, ‘As Far as Your Brain is Concerned, Audiobooks Are Not Cheating’ (Dahl, 2016). The Wall Street Journal, CNN and a number of other global media outlets have joined in to sing the praises of the benefits of audiobooks. While this current wave of audiobook affection is 170

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encouraging and technology has afforded ease of access to spoken-word books for listeners of all ages, how does this discussion translate to instructional practice in the literacy landscape at large? Although the ‘listening to audiobooks as reading is cheating’ myth appears to have been dispelled, what does that mean for those charged with language and literacy influence and instruction? Can they help children and teens to benefit from reading instruction and practice that engages in listening? The answer is a resounding yes. For emerging readers, audiobooks offer particular assistance, an audio scaffold between the spoken and written word. Audiobook reading enables unskilled readers to gain far greater exposure to print text than is possible by traditional reading methods. In addition to enhancing literacy skills by expanding comprehension capabilities, building vocabulary, providing models for fluent reading, and encouraging independence, audiobooks offer opportunities to develop critically important listening skills. As Tompkins and Hoskisson (2001) assert, listening remains the most frequently used communication form at all levels of education. Listening is fundamental to learning all the other competencies within the language arts: reading, writing and speaking. The benefits of listening are many. Listening plays a vital role in communication; in fact, it is the first language skill to be acquired (Wolvin, 2000). It is a highly complex, interactive process by which spoken language is converted to meaning in the mind. Why is listening so important? The United States Department of Labor established a commission to identify what critical skills were essential for high school graduates to function effectively in the workplace. The basic skills of mathematics, reading, writing, speaking and listening were determined to be at the core of preparation of graduates (ACT, Inc. Workforce Development Division, 2000, 167). These universal skill sets are vital for success in the workplace and in the larger picture, life in general, anywhere in the world. Audiobooks help young people to develop listening skills such as: • processing auditory information • expanding attention spans • understanding the correct pronunciation of English, dialects and nonEnglish words • guiding interpretation of paralinguistic features (vocal qualities). (Serafini, 2004; Vardell, 2005; Wolfson, 2008).

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Research also suggests that audiobooks aid in reading comprehension, and studies in this area have shown that audiobooks make the participants focus on listening, which strengthens their processing of auditory information and lengthens their attention spans. Audiobooks provide good reading role models, and through this model of fluid phrasing and cadence listeners will be assisted in their comprehension. In addition to the development of listening skills, audiobooks also offer a multitude of instructional benefits, including: • options for meeting individual interests • a level playing field for a wide range of learners and abilities, including alternative sensory modalities for children with visual impairments • practice for students in using simple technology • the human factor, a personal connection, a sense of intimacy • providing an appreciation of fluent (even professional) models of oral reading • help with developing higher-level and critical thinking, interpretation and imagination • motivation, interest and winning over ‘aspiring non-readers’ • exposure to a variety of genres. (Serafini, 2004; Vardell, 2005; Wolfson, 2008)

Audiobooks connect cultures An important additional benefit of audiobooks is the opportunity to use them to authentically connect and represent culture. A frequent challenge for librarians and educators working with children and teens is finding and sharing literature that is culturally sensitive and authentic, and audiobooks can be just the right tool. Well-produced audiobooks help to build bridges between cultures, adding definition and resonance to stories with authentic voices and affecting drama, as well as being used as powerful tools of literacy. Oral storytelling is a powerful means of connection because it fosters empathy and expands the imagination of listeners. The audiobook medium provides meaningful opportunities for authentic, multicultural experiences with literature, complete with exposure to precise language, distinct dialects and accurate characterisation of people. Multicultural stories on audio also help to enrich the listener’s experience and make it easier to appreciate cultures different from their own. As Tom Barthelmess, librarian and advocate for the Hear Diversity campaign, shares, ‘Just as young people need to see themselves in the stories they consume, they 172

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need to hear themselves as well. The conscientious casting of talented, representative narrators ensures that what kids hear through the audiobook experience reflects what they hear in their real lives’ (Barthelmess, 2017). The best audiobook producers are keenly aware of this opportunity, too. Audiobook producer Dan Zitt from Penguin Random Audio states, ‘We have had a long history of casting audiobooks by trying to find the most authentic first person voice for each book we publish. Because of this tradition, the diversity of our acting pool has become increasingly more important to the growth of our publishing program, and how well we serve our authors’ vision’ (Zitt, 2016). When audiobook producers and representative narrators work closely together (often with significant feedback from the author), the opportunity to create stories that enhance the telling of diverse stories is hugely impactful for listeners of all ages, as children need and deserve to hear authentic representations of people from their own communities and of people they have yet to meet. This representation is not just important; it’s essential, and the best audiobooks offer listeners ways to feel connected to their own experiences and the world at large. While audiobooks have demonstrated audience appeal, pedagogical value and an ability to effectively and accurately channel and connect listeners to culture, it is still important to highlight the research that has focused on their effectiveness as tools of literacy.

Studies of audiobooks as tools of literacy In Becoming a Nation of Readers the US Commission on Reading stated categorically, ‘The single most important activity for building success in reading is reading aloud to children’ (Anderson et al., 1985, 23). Building on this, the following studies and articles have been published about the place of audiobooks in literacy. Gene Wolfson notes two middle school audiobook studies in his article ‘Using Audiobooks to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Readers’ (2008). Wolfson writes, ‘In 2003, Forest Grove Middle School demonstrated that audiobooks could be used as an essential component to improve recreational reading. Consequently, the International Reading Association awarded the school their Exemplary Reading Program Award’ (Wolfson, 2008, 5). Wolfson also highlights another audiobook literacy programme, at Monroe Middle School, where audiobooks were used to immerse students in the reading experience, resulting in improved reading scores for four successive years (Brown and Fisher, 2006). 173

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‘Audio-assisted Reading with Digital Audiobooks for Upper Elementary Students with Reading Disabilities’, a dissertation by Esteves (2007), focused on how audio-assisted reading had been used as an effective instructional intervention for students with learning disabilities. The goal of Esteves’s study was to compare the efficacy of audio-assisted reading with digital audiobooks against the traditional practice of sustained silent reading in terms of reading fluency rates and reading attitude scores with upper elementary students with reading disabilities. The results showed that while both groups demonstrated growth in reading fluency, the growth of the treatment group outweighed that of the control group. Additional studies and articles that focused on using audiobooks with the learning-disabled included Matvy (2000), who focused on how various technologies (including audiobooks) can be used to assist students with dyslexia by fulfilling the daily reading and writing requirement of students. In their study ‘Effects of Audio Texts on the Acquisition of Secondary Level Content by Students with Mild Disabilities’, Boyle et al. (2003) examined the effects of a using a CD-ROM audio, alone and combined with complementary reading strategies, on the academic performance of secondary students in content-rich history classes. They found that the use of the audio text had a significant effect on secondary-level content acquisition. Evans’s work also highlights the use of audiobooks with students with disabilities. In her article Changing Channels – Audio Assisted Reading: Access to Curriculum for Students with Print Disabilities (Evans, 2010), she offers a succinct step-by-step programme which focuses on using recorded books, along with the corresponding book in print, as a method which allows the reader to use all available avenues of sensory input simultaneously to acquire and process information. The effectiveness of audiobooks has also been studied with those acquiring English, particularly their use in improving the literacy skills of English Language Learners (ELL) at secondary level. Programmes have used audiobooks with ELL as a strategy to improve listening, speaking and writing skills (Lopez, 2005). Goldsmith discovered that the Earphone English programme, based at Berkley High School in Berkley, California, found that students showed improvement in their oral reading skills, critical thinking, vocabulary, syntax and speaking ability (Goldsmith, 2002). In her article, Open The Way to New Stories, New Interests, and a New Language: using audiobooks with English language learners, Goldsmith asserts, ‘Exposure to a wide variety of professional readers has a positive influence on listeners who are developing spoken language skills. In addition to providing engaging characters and 174

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evocative plots, audiobooks offer new English speakers much needed exercise in listening to oral English’ (2009). Lesesne also addresses the issue of audiobooks as a tool for ELL students. She suggests, ‘Listening to audiobooks can help students hear how a fluent reader sounds. Listening to books, especially for those who are learning English, teaches them about the pacing of oral language, pronunciation, and even idiomatic expressions’ (Lesesne, 2007, 221). Audiobooks have been utilised as a tool for enriching language-art teaching as well. In her article ‘iPods as Reading Tools’, Bomar (2006) details the use of audiobooks uploaded to iPods as a means of developing reading skills. She states, ‘I have noticed that when my students read a story and listen to it on their iPods, they have a better grasp of the main ideas and are better prepared to discuss the theme and plot.’ In ‘Bridging the Gap: Integrating Video and Audio Cassettes into Literature Programs’, Avery, Avery and Pace (1998) found audiobook integration to be an effective tool for enriching literature programmes in English classes. Their study focused on students using listening to enhance understanding of character, themes, journal writing and as a tool for relating literature to current social issues, as well as a means of teaching to multiple intelligence levels. Carstens’ (1996) study revealed that audiobook listening also improved recall of facts and ideas, as well as increasing the time spent reading and the listener’s comfort with the level of difficulty of reading materials. The identification of auditory-based learners, based on examples of student work and student preferences, was used to propose a reading programme that integrates the use of recorded literature. In addition to the use of audiobooks for language-arts instruction, Brown (2002) and Hipple (1996) reported a study of collaboration on audiobook usage by English and social studies teachers to focus on historical themes as a cross-curricular link. Casbergue and Harris (1996) address the value of audiobooks in ‘Listening and Literacy: audiobooks in the reading program’. Their article aimed at teachers who are considering whether to invest in audiobook libraries for their classrooms outlines the benefits of audiobooks. The literacy benefits for students include enlarging their vocabularies, increasing their general knowledge of the world, enhancing their understanding of story structure, written language conventions, vocabulary and aspects of cultures. Casbergue and Harris also offer a list of potential audiences for audiobooks beyond the typical student; these include students with special needs, those who are not fluent in English, poor readers, easily distractible children and gifted students. Certainly, for young people, audiobooks offer incredible opportunities to 175

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help build bridges to literacy, but it’s also important to recognise that audiobooks may work as tools of motivation, helping them to redefine themselves as readers.

Studies of audiobooks as tools of reading motivation The effectiveness of audiobooks as a means of reading motivation has also been the subject of a number of studies. In an analysis by Franklin (1996), reluctant readers were shown to be more willing to listen to an audiobook alone, or to listen while following the printed text, than to read the print alone. In some cases, students who had the necessary skills but lacked reading motivation were often motivated to read ahead of the accompanying audiobook. In ‘They Want Their MP3’ (Minkel, 2004) describes the increases in motivation of students in the classroom of Duane Ban, a reading teacher in Grand Ronde, Oregon. Bean reported increased interest in listening to audiobooks on MP3 players, as well as a marked improvement in Oregon’s standardised reading test. Beers (1998) found that teachers play a critical role in making audiobooks a successful part of instruction in their classrooms. Using audiobooks as a motivational tool to engage with students was largely dependent on the strategies employed by the teacher. Those who used them to make connections and build scaffolding with reading, writing and thinking were the most successful. Readers may follow the text while listening to an accompanying audio recording of that text; by tracking the text, the reader is involved in the process of visual word recognition through the support of the continuous audio prompt. Silent reading is simulated and the burden of decoding words, recalling them and reading them aloud is removed so that the pleasure of reading for meaning can be experienced (Byrom, 1998). Audiobooks provide equity in access to the reading experience, as limitations due to the challenges of the work of reading are minimised, and often the reading experience can be one of pleasure. While it’s a process, for struggling readers, ‘reading with your ears’ allows those who struggle with decoding or comprehension a genuine opportunity to simply enjoy and engage with a story; while they meet the needs of busy people, audiobooks play on one of our most basic desires, to aurally process information. Audiobook listening can also be a gateway for young people into reading with their eyes. As classroom teacher Pernille Ripp (2016) shares, ‘Often times, my developing readers harbor enormous hesitancy when it comes to veering out of their known text. They are quick to dismiss, abandon and feign 176

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disinterest, all in the interest of saving face and saving them from yet another reading disappointment. However, students finding success within the audiobook world are building their courage, their stamina, and their desire to pick up print texts.’ Given the body of data that demonstrates the value of audiobooks as tools of literacy, it is also important that those charged with collecting and selecting resources for instruction or curriculum subject teaching include audiobooks in their collections.

Audiobooks and teaching As audiobook expert and middle school librarian Mary Burkey explains, ‘Children and teens live in a world where literature is being transformed into new and engaging formats. As the very definitions of reading and book are rewritten, new digital formats allow a reinterpretation of literacy. The ability to shift seamlessly from image to text to sound will be part of every young person’s transliterate education’ (Burkey, 2012, 76). With many children and teens having their own smart technology, and 1:1 technology-device school programmes becoming more commonplace across the globe, learners’ opportunities to listen and learn are growing. Educators and librarians are wise to be aware of these benefits and to take advantage of them. When educators are open to the medium, then streaming of audiobooks for young readers can be found in a variety of places, including school libraries, public libraries and digital audio-service providers. In particular, when it comes to providing access to audiobooks, classroom teachers are often the gatekeepers for students, choosing or denying the opportunity to utilise audiobooks in direct classroom instruction and offering students listening engagement opportunities during ‘Free Voluntary Reading’ or ‘Silent Sustained Reading’ classroom time. Attitudes towards utilising audiobooks for instruction vary, but both the United States’ Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and in Reading and the US Department of Labor have determined that listening is a critical skill, worthy of development. Given that listening has been indicated to be a vital part of learning and career readiness, literacy teachers need to promote the development of listening in the context of supporting students’ learning. See examples in Box 10.1.

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Box 10.1: Sample audiobook-focused classroom activities Where in the world? Using active listening to map a story’s setting Authors typically use the opening chapters of their story to introduce readers to some of the important characters in the story, as well as the landscape in which the story takes place. In this activity, children will consider the story’s initial setting by listening to the initial book chapters. As they listen, have them mark the map they’ve been given as a way to better understand the story’s setting. Supplies: A map of the story’s setting with notable landmarks (if applicable), highlighter pens. Directions: 1 Provide each child with a map specific to the book’s setting and a highlighter pen. 2 Play Chapter 1 of the selected audiobook. 3 Each time a landmark is mentioned, highlight it. 4 After listening, lead a discussion about the significance of these places (or objects) to the story. 5 Offer listeners the opportunity to predict other places that may come into play in the story.

Sketchnoting: visual note taking from listening Sketchnoting, in its purest form, is creating a personal visual story as one listens to a speaker or reads a text. As you play an audiobook selection for students, have them listen for key details and illustrate symbols, sayings or favourite details that stick out in their minds. As you listen, periodically pause the audio to allow students to share their notes.

What’s in a word: active listening practice using The BFG In Roald Dahl’s beloved classic The BFG, Dahl makes up all kinds of words, like ‘snozzcumber’ and ‘scrumplet’. While listening to a selection, have students keep a running list of words with which they are unfamiliar. Pause the audiobook and engage in a class discussion about which words are traditional words in English and which are part of Dahl’s creative inventive vocabulary. For both, use context clues to create easy-to-remember definitions of those terms. For added fun, allow students to create wild new words of their own, and be sure to offer opportunities to share!

As previously noted, the benefits of including audiobooks in libraries and listening in classroom instructional time are many; for listeners, audiobooks build and enhance vital literacy skills such as fluency, vocabulary, language 178

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acquisition, pronunciation, phonemic awareness and comprehension – skills that often boost reading scores. For emerging readers, audiobooks offer particular assistance, an audio scaffold between the spoken and written word. Audiobook reading enables unskilled readers to gain far greater exposure to print text than is possible by traditional reading methods. Using audiobooks in the classroom is sound instructional practice, as listening together offers opportunities for shared literary experiences and provides a springboard for conversation about a book. Equally important, an audiobook can help learners to develop critical thinking and active listening skills, and listening together allows students to become collectively engaged in a shared story in a manner that promotes a sense of intimacy and human connection.

Audiobook resources A number of resources provide tools to help those working with young people to incorporate audiobooks into their teaching practice, or simply to highlight the benefits of audiobooks for their students. The following are publications that provide reviews of audiobooks and audiobook-focused programmes that serve children and teens. Inevitably these are mostly US based but many can be accessed online. Regular reviews that evaluate audiobooks for young people are provided in US library trade journals and magazines such as School Library Journal, Booklist magazine, VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) and AudioFile magazine. AudioFile is a print and online magazine dedicated entirely to the audiobook format. The mission of this publication is to recommend and review audiobooks, original audio programmes, commentary and dramatisations of the spoken-word format, as well as to profile audiobook narrators and authors. AudioFile selects and publishes ‘best’ lists and presents the Earphone Awards to truly exceptional titles that excel in narrative voice and style, characterisations, suitability to audio and enhancement of the text. Educator and librarian Mary Burkey, an audiobook authority, runs the Audiobooker blog at audiobooker.booklistonline.com. Burkey’s book, Audiobooks for Youth: a practical guide to sound literature (2012) and the book collaboration by Sharon Grover and Lizette Hannegan entitled Listening to Learn: audiobooks supporting literacy (2011) are outstanding selections for those wanting trade resources about audiobooks and young people. Also, British audiobook historian Matthew Rubery’s comprehensive The Untold Story of the Talking Book (2016) provides a wealth of fascinating history of audio-recorded literature as it traces the path of innovation from Edison’s recitation of ‘Mary 179

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Had a Little Lamb’ for his tinfoil phonograph in 1877, to the first novel-length talking books made for blinded World War I veterans, to today’s billion-dollar audiobook industry. Rubery’s work also focuses on the social impact of audiobooks, including how ‘reading’ is defined. As audiobook production has evolved, the celebration of the best in audiobooks has been marked by the creation of a number of awards which recognise the best in audiobooks for children and teens. These include awards bestowed by the American Library Association (ALA), by audiobook publishers and by the recording industry both in the US and in the UK. These awards can help to signpost librarians and teachers to the best resources available. See Appendix 10.1 for more detail about the range of awards. As the audiobook industry is diverse, it’s helpful to know about publishers that specialise in producing and publishing audiobooks for young people. While a number of print publishing houses successfully produce audio versions of their titles, companies such as Listening Library, Recorded Books, Full Cast Audio and even Audible specialise in producing only audiobooks. If you are looking to develop the audiobook collection for your library or classroom collection, the audiobook publishers listed in Appendix 10.2 are excellent sources. In addition to these fine resources and publications about audiobooks, three other tools are particularly noteworthy for those working with young people.

Sound Learning Project The Audiobook Publishers Association offers the Sound Learning Toolkit,3 which provides a wealth of curricular resources to help guide teachers into developing effective listening lessons, as well as providing ideas for using audiobooks for reading incentive programmes and managing summer reading expectations. The website hosts a wide variety of materials for educators, including videos of teachers engaged in audiobook lessons with students, student testimonials about why audiobooks are their chosen method of reading and reproducible worksheets and classroom activities with listening focus.

Guys Listen Jon Scieszka, an American children’s book author and the 2008 US Library of Congress Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, includes audiobooks in 180

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his national literacy initiative, Guys Read/Guys Listen. The focus of Scieszka’s Guys Listen programme is to highlight the role of audiobooks in motivating youth as readers through the art of listening. Since the 1990s, much has been written about boys and literacy. Educators, librarians, researchers and parents are concerned about the reading habits of boys, and national attention in the US has been given to many studies in which the findings consistently confirm that young males lag behind their female counterparts in reading. After gathering feedback from boys across the US, Scieszka was inspired to create the Guys Read/Guys Listen project. His mission is clear: he wants to entice and motivate boys of all ages to become readers by letting them choose what they want to read and expanding the traditional definition of reading to also include audiobooks. Scieszka believes that by allowing ‘guys’ to ‘plug in’ to experience great stories, it will motivate them to enjoy novels and literature which they may have been unwilling to try out before. Enticing boys to tune in to a fictional story or non-fiction work is at the heart of the Guys Listen project. Supporting listening as a valid educational experience can help to move boys down a path where literacy and achievement will come together to bridge the gender gap that currently exists in reading. Through the Guys Listen site (www.guyslisten. com), boys of all ages have a place to share their favourite audiobooks and explore new possibilities in the world of listening. Selections of audiobook samples are available for previewing and audiobook recommendations are arranged by both genre and age range. Most importantly, boys are encouraged to take risks by embracing words: written words and spoken words. And that’s at the heart of the Guys Read/Guys Listen literacy project: motivating ‘guys’ to be curious about words, books and life.

SYNC AudioFile magazine sponsors SYNC – a free summer audiobook programme for teens (13+). Each week SYNC gives away two complete audiobook downloads, each being high-interest titles based on themes. In the summer of 2016, 30 titles were given away to listeners. SYNC is dedicated to introducing the listening experience to a teen audience and highlights that required summer reading for schools can be completed by listening. Visit SYNC at www.audiobooksync.com.

Conclusion Since their conception, audiobooks have had the capacity to benefit learning 181

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in profound ways. As librarians and audiobook experts Sharon Grover and Liz Hannegan state, ‘Current audiobook productions – with their high production values, stellar narrators, and wide variety of formats – can be one avenue to reach these reluctant or struggling readers, as well as their proficient peers who are looking for more time to include reading in their busy schedules’ (Grover and Hannegan, 2011). In the past, access and audiobook delivery devices created challenges for those seeking to use this format, but with technological developments and the capability of smartphone devices, a great book experience for young people may be simply a touch away. Given that audiobooks provide a favourite option for many while promoting literacy, and an authentic way to connect with and experience stories, librarians and those who work with youth in educational settings now have a real opportunity to develop audiobook collections and support programmes to promote learning and literacy. If you haven’t tried incorporating audiobooks into your library’s or classroom’s collection, now is the time for both sound learning and happy listening!

Appendix 10.1: Audiobook awards There are a number of awards that specifically evaluate and recognise the quality of audiobook production for children and teens. In the US, the ALA’s Odyssey Award (ALA, 2017a) is an annual award given to the producer of the best audiobook for children and/or young adults available in English in the United States. Established in 2008, the Odyssey Award is jointly given and administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) divisions of the ALA and is sponsored by Booklist magazine. In addition to choosing a winner, the selection committee also selects honour titles. As part of the rationale given for the creation of the Odyssey Award, the ALA offered: Listening is an important skill to be both taught and learned. Children of this century live in a world where media is a dominant form of communication (25 million iPods sold last year), and imagination’s greatest champion in this technological realm is the spoken word. Through the years our cultures have been nurtured and our customs passed on by storytellers: audiobooks carry on that tradition. In addition, with all of the audiobooks available today, and with the increasing number being produced, we believe it is essential for ALSC and YALSA to provide the same level of support for this nonprint format that they 182

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have historically provided for print materials, by creating an annual award for the best audiobooks in the field. We believe that by doing so, ALSC and YALSA can not only assist their members to better serve their library patrons, but also raise the profile and standards of audiobooks by having those honored serve as models toward which all audio producers can aspire. (American Library Association, 2017a)

In addition to the Odyssey Award, two other ‘best’ lists of audiobooks for children and teens are published by the ALA each year. The YALSA offers a list entitled ‘Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults’ (ALA, 2017b). Established in 1999, YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks committee selects and annotates an annual list of notable audio recordings significant to young adults from those released in the past two years. In addition, the ALSC publishes an annual list entitled ‘Notable Children’s Recordings’, established in 2004 (ALA, 2017c). Both ALA lists include comprehensive lists of evaluation standards for the selection of audiobooks that exhibit qualities such as: • respects young people’s intelligence and imagination • demonstrates venturesome creativity • depicts excellence through the effective use of voices, music, sound effects and language • maintains high standards in aesthetic and technical aspects. As part of the National Book Awards (www.nationalbookawards.co.uk), selecting the best of British publishing, the Audible.co.uk Audiobook of the Year Award is given to an unabridged audiobook released for the first time. The audiobook must be fiction, children’s, a non-fiction work or poetry by a UK author and of longer duration than one hour. Similar to the recognition given to ‘best’ audiobooks in the US, judging is based upon the quality of the content, the reading and the production and the winner of the award is not simply an audio version of a bestseller. Since 1996, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) has sponsored the Audie Awards,4 bestowed annually for outstanding audiobooks in 30 categories, including three separate award categories for children and youth (for children aged 0–8, children aged 8–12 and teens). Other Audie Awards bestowed by the APA do not specifically highlight audiobooks for children and teens but, rather, relate to types of writing, including abridged and unabridged fiction and non-fiction and such genres as romance and mystery. 183

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Additional Audie Awards recognise excellence in different styles of narration and production, such as multi-voiced performance and production values. Over the years, both the structure and the categories of the awards have occasionally changed, but excellence in production of audiobooks for children and youth continues to be highlighted by this organisation. Another award that highlights quality audiobook production is the Grammy Award (www.grammy.org). The recording industry’s most prestigious award, the Grammy, is presented annually by the Recording Academy and is awarded by the voting membership to honour excellence in the recording arts and sciences. This peer honour is awarded by and to artists and technical professionals for artistic or technical achievement, not sales or chart positions. The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959, and although it has undergone several minor name changes over the years, since 1998 it has been awarded as Best Spoken Word Album. The category also includes audiobooks, poetry readings and storytelling. For those who work with youth, understanding both the value of audiobooks and the role they play in the literacy landscape, as well as knowing which audiobook titles are considered the finest offerings in the year’s selections, is important, as is being well versed in audiobook resources and access points for youth.

Appendix 10.2: Audiobook publishers Audible, www.audible.co.uk Bolinda Audio, www.bolinda.com Brilliance Audio, www.brillianceaudio.com Cinco Puntos Productions, www.cincopuntos.com Crabtree Publishing, www.crabtreebooks.com Findaway World, Playaways, findaway.com Full Cast Audio, fullcastaudio.com Hachette Audio Books, www.hachetteaudio.com Harper Audio, harperaudio.hc.com Listen & Live Audio, www.listenandlive.com Listening Library, www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/kids-and-teens Live Oak Media, www.liveoakmedia.com Macmillan Audio, us.macmillan.com/audio Recorded Books, www.recordedbooks.com Scholastic Audio, https://shop.scholastic.com/shop/en/teacherstore/nav/ shop/Scholastic%20Audio/4294607368 184

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Simon and Schuster Audio, www.simonandschuster.com/audio Smithsonian Books, www.smithsonianbooks.com Sourcebooks, www.sourcebooks.com Spoken Arts, www.spokenartsmedia.com Tantor Audiobooks, https://tantor.com Warner Brothers, www.warnerbros.com Weston Woods, westonwoods.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/ catalog

Notes 1 www.silksoundbooks.com/history-of-audiobooks.html 2 http://goodereader.com/blog/interviews/global-audiobook-trends-and-statisticsfor-2016 3 www.audiopub.org/education/sound-learning 4 www.audiopub.org/members/audies

References ACT, Inc. Workforce Development Division (2000) Workplace Essential Skills: resources related to the SCANS competencies and foundation skills, Research and Evaluation Report, Series 00-B. United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration and the United States Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics. ALA (2017a) About the ALSC/Booklist/YALSA Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production, www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/odysseyaward/odysseyabout [Accessed 1 January 2017]. ALA (2017b) Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, www.ala.org/yalsa/audiobooks [Accessed 1 January 2017]. ALA (2017c) Notable Children’s Recordings, www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncr/ncrsubmissions [Accessed 1 January 2017]. Anderson, R. C., Hiebert, E. H., Scott, J. A. and Wilkinson, I. G. with contributions from members of the Commission on Reading (1985) Becoming a Nation of Readers: a report of the Commission on Reading, U.S. Department of Education, http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2048/docview/58149837?accountid=7102. Audio Publishers Association (2016) 2016 Audio Sales Survey Report, www.audiopub.org/uploads/pdf/2016-Sales-Survey-Release.pdf. 185

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Avery, K. B., Avery, C. W. and Pace, D. P. (1998) Bridging the Gap: integrating video and audio cassettes into literature programs, English Journal, 87 (2), 58–62. Barthelmess, T. (2017) Hear Diversity, Penguin Random House Audio, www.booksontape.com/hear-diversity [Accessed 1 January 2017]. Beers, K. (1998) Listen While You Read: struggling readers and audiobooks, School Library Journal, 44 (4), 30–5. Bomar, L. (2006) iPods as Reading Tools, Principal, May–June, 52–3. Boyle, E. A., Rosenberg, E. A., Connelly, V. J., Washburn, S. G., Brinckerhoff, L. C. and Banerjee, M. (2003) Effects of Audio Texts on the Acquisition of Secondarylevel Content by Students with Mild Disabilities, Learning Disability Quarterly, 26 (3), 203–14. Brown, J. E. (2002) Audio Books in the Classroom: bridging between language arts and social studies, The ALAN Review, 29 (3), 58–9. Brown, J. and Fisher, P. (2006) Balanced Literacy: one middle school’s experience, Principal Leadership, 7 (1), 38–40. Burkey, M. (2012) Audiobooks for Youth: a practical guide to sound literature, ALA Editions. Byrom, G. (1998). If You Can’t Read It then Audio Read It, Reading, 32 (2), 3–7. Camlot, J. (2003) Early Talking Books: spoken recordings and recitation anthologies, 1880–1920, Book History, 6, 147–73. Cardillo, A., Colville, B., Ditlow, T., Myrick, E. and Lesesne, T. (2007) Tuning In to Audiobooks: why should kids listen? Children and Libraries, 5 (3), 42–6. Carstens, A.-M. C. (1996) Differentiation in Student Responses to Literature Based on Auditory versus Visual Exposure, ERIC. Casbergue, R. M. and Harris, K. (1996) Listening and Literacy: audiobooks in the reading program, Reading Horizons, 37 (1), 48–59. Dahl, M. (2016) As Far As Your Brain Is Concerned, Audiobooks Are not ‘Cheating’, http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/08/listening-to-a-book-instead-of-readingisnt-cheating.html. Edison, T. A. (1878) The Phonograph and Its Future, The North American Review, 126 (262 May–June), 527–36. Esteves, K. J. (2007) Audio-Assisted Reading with Digital Audiobooks for Upper Elementary Students with Reading Disabilities, Western Michigan University. Evans, C. (2010) Changing Channels – AudioAssisted Reading: access to curriculum for students with print disabilities, Texas School for the Blind and the Visually Impaired, www.tsbvi.edu/braille-resources/70-changing-channels-audioassistedreading-access-to-curriculum-for-students-with-print-disabilities. Franklin, M. (1996) A Voice Is Worth a Thousand Words: using recorded books in a high school classroom, The ALAN Review, 24 (1), 49–55. 186

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Goldsmith, F. (2002) Earphone English, School Library Journal, 48 (5), 50–3, www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA213882.html. Goldsmith, F. (2009) Open the Way to New Stories, New Interests, and a New Language: using audiobooks with English language learners, www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/listeninglibrary/features/articles/ Audiobooks_and_the_ESL_learner.pdf. Grover, S. and Hannegan, L. (2011) Listening to Learn: audiobooks supporting literacy, American Library Association. Hipple, T. (1996) Horizons: audiobooks in the classroom, AudioFile, June, www.audiofilemagazine.com/article_archive/horizon.pdf. Howe, H. (1967) On Libraries and Learning, School Library Journal, 13 (2), 28. Lesesne, T. S. (2007) Why Listen at All? Voice of Youth Advocates, 30 (3), 221–3. Lopez, C. L. (2005) Getting Tuned In: iPod-enhanced reading a hit, San Bernardino County Sun, 16 October. Matvy, M. (2000) A Silicon Bullet for Dyslexia: a new solution for an old problem, Exceptional Parent, 30 (11), 52–6. Minkel, W. (2004) They Want Their MP3, School Library Journal, 50 (7), 22–3. Montagne, R. (2002) Caedmon: recreating the moment of inspiration label brought words of Dylan Thomas, other writers to life, NPR.org, 5 December, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=866406. Ripp, P. (2016) Why Audiobooks in the Classroom, https://pernillesripp.com/2016/01/07/why-audio-books-in-the-classroom. Rubery, M. (2016) The Untold Story of the Talking Book, Harvard University Press. Serafini, F. (2004) Audiobooks and Literacy: an educator’s guide to utilizing audiobooks in the classroom, Listening Library. Tompkins, G. E. and Hoskisson, K. (2001) Language Arts: content and teaching strategies, Merrill. Vardell, S. (2005) Using Audiobooks to Build Student Success, AASL Biannual Conference, Pittsburgh, October 2005, Panel presentation, www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/conferencesandevents/ confarchive/pittsburgh/UsingAudiobooks.pdf. Wolfson, G. (2008) Using Audiobooks to Meet the Needs of Adolescent Readers, American Secondary Education, 36 (2), 105–17, http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/file/view/EJ809473.pdf. Wolvin, A. D. (2000) Listening Education in the 21st century, International Journal of Listening, 14, 143–52. Zitt, D. (2016) Personal communication, 15 June.

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11 Reading the future Jake Hope

Introduction Research shows that reading is a determining factor when it comes to our futures. It affects our educational success, our employability and our engagement with society – our place as active citizens (Dugdale and Clark, 2008). Reading is changing, though, and this chapter will explore some of what is happening and the ways in which our approaches, strategies and even thinking might be positioned to meet future challenges, helping people to find paths to follow on their lifelong reading journeys. When reading and responding to texts we can subscribe to their tropes, ideas and traditions, we can subvert these by discovering different ways of doing things, or we can withdraw from them. This chapter will be concerned primarily with those who withdraw, but also with those who subscribe and who can valuably act as advocates, encouraging and enticing those who have withdrawn. It will explore how reading experiences can be framed in appropriate and alluring ways.

What happens when we read? When we read we are connecting with ideas and thinking that extend our sense of understanding and identity beyond its previous confines. Reading allows us to become bigger, broader and more rounded individuals than before. Stories and information shape and determine not only who we are but the very world in which we exist. When Freud and Jung were looking for lenses through which to explain and communicate their thinking and theories on the human mind, it was often mythology that provided the framework. ‘It has become quite clear to me’, Jung wrote to Freud in 1909, ‘that we shall not 189

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solve the secrets of neurosis and psychosis without mythology and the history of civilisation’ (McGuire, 1974). Stories are a way to give structure and form to our ideas; they record them and allow for their easy retrieval and interpretation. They have been crucial to all branches of knowledge – the sciences, humanities and the arts. If we are to take on the role of champions, advocates and baton-bearers for reading, we need to be clear about what we are promoting and recommending. Moreover, we need to be clear about just why it is so important and the roles that reading can play in our own lives. More than just shaping who we are, reading and language are the building blocks for our empirical world and sense of self, and so they are the tools through which we are able to explore these. Just as writing offers a way for society to record and give shape to its ideas and learning, reading offers opportunities for these to be communicated and understood across the chasms of geographical boundaries and different generations. If an individual withdraws from reading, they set themselves aside from all manner of learning, knowledge and experience that can help to provide not only context and meaning in their lives but also opportunity. There is often a dichotomy between those who are readers and those who are not. It can be difficult for those who have experienced the ways in which reading can enhance and enrich lives to imagine what it must be like not to read, or some of the frustrations and obstacles facing those who may not be viewed as readers in the traditional sense. The landscape of reading and literacy has changed dramatically in the modern age. Access to reading material has increased significantly. The internet means that news, legislation, scientific research and a wealth of poetry and prose are now instantly accessible. This is a wholesale change from the early days of reading, when it was largely restricted to a powerful elite related most commonly to wealth or religion. Ready access to information and the written word is an enormous and massively powerful tool, but one that society needs to be equipped for and capable of utilising in order to unlock its full potential. Reading skills are the key to this and are hugely empowering and enabling.

Why do we need change? Meaningful change often takes time and concerted effort. For these reasons, it is important for it to be purposeful and for there to be a sense of the outcomes that are aimed for and the progress and milestones that are needed 190

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to attain them. Numerous changes in the context of reading have altered the landscape and, accordingly, the way in which we approach some of the activities and challenges of encouraging reading development. Despite all the good intentions that exist around the teaching and promotion of reading, the methods that we have used in the past are no longer equal to the rapid pace of technological change and the speed with which society has had to adapt in order to meet it. Do we need to alter our approach towards reading and find better ways to infer meaning from the manifold forms of content with which we are now presented and to meet their challenges and opportunities? The formats in which reading materials are both presented and accessed have altered radically. While there are positives in this – ease of accessibility being a key benefit – the increasing demands of both education and leisure pursuits on people’s time mean that it is a challenge to make reading enticing as a recreational activity. How do we approach these changes, and what strategies and techniques can we put in place to achieve this? In order to meaningfully answer this, we need a common understanding of what reading is.

What is reading? Rather than an absolute definition, a rigidly applied set of criteria regarding what reading is and can be, perhaps we need a philosophy for the set of actions and practices that take place when we engage in reading. A philosophy based not so much on a rigidly structured and universally applicable set of criteria as on mind, empathic response and emotion. We need a philosophy that recognises the way that texts are able to fizz, sparkle and come to life, lodging themselves firmly in our subconscious and subtly altering our lives from the moment we first encounter them. This philosophy needs also to acknowledge the unique qualities that every reader brings to a text and the different interpretations they hold in consequence of that – interpretations that may even vary at different points in their lives. In short, the philosophy needs to place the reader at the very centre of this dialectic. In this sense, the reader is like an archaeologist sifting through the soils of the past to unearth the artefacts and treasures of bygone ages. Readers brush aside the dust and dirt to uncover information, accessing ideas and knowledge, discovering different ways of understanding, thinking and piecing together myriad trace memories to form a unique and personal comprehension.

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What is a reader? It is easy to think of reading in a limited way, as something that is exclusive. Indeed, historically there were many reasons for this – as we have noted, an association with power, authority and wealth. If we consider the world around us, everything that we see and encounter is built up of texts. Texts are a series of stimuli that have acquired and accrued a sense of meaning. Everyone that is able to operate socially is a reader and is engaged in a range of techniques, processes and strategies to unpick meaning from the world that surrounds them. This can be as simple as reading the faces of people that we see around us, inferring their state of mind and feelings. It can also be complex and abstract such as gazing at the sky and seeing patterns and images in the clouds, building stories or states of recognition from these. Patterns, meanings and language are an inherent part of the way we perceive and build awareness and understanding from our world. Reading is far more than just a fundamental life skill; it is an integral and inherent part of what it means to be alert and alive and to function within and as part of society. Start to view reading in this way and suddenly even those that might have been termed struggling readers are recognised for often having highly adept and sophisticated strategies for reading, for unpicking meaning and understanding from signifiers that surround them in the world. The foundation stones for more conventional constructions of what reading is are already firmly in place. It is fascinating to think how terminology has been shaped and shared to show greater levels of compassion and understanding toward groups that have been marginalised by the mainstream. This is particularly noticeable with issues related to mental health. So many of the terms of times past are, quite rightly, now seen as stigmatising and limiting – idiots, imbeciles, feeble minded, retarded, sub-human, lunatics. Just as these words are obsolete and with the passage of time have become distasteful and horrifying in the way that they objectify, is it also possible that some of the language and discourse that we regularly engage in when talking about reading is equally weighted? Could there be a case for moving towards terminology that is more liberating, inclusive and empowering, rather than constraining and exclusive in tone? Our language when we discuss reading needs to recognise a spectrum, and all socially functioning individuals should be recognised as having a place on that spectrum, regardless of their exact position on it. Some of the language that we use in common parlance – illiteracy, non-reader, struggling, reluctant, low ability – implies a value judgement and de-skills and undermines the fundamental practices and values upon which reading is built. For those 192

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readers who most need their skills and confidence building, this approach can prove to be the most destructive.

What are the limits of reading? Stories and ideas find manifestation in many different forms. Are some of these more valid and valuable as a base for reading than others? While there is no right or wrong answer to this, it is worth asking ourselves the question, and considering the ramifications of our response and its impact on others and on the levels of meaning and knowledge available through these different forms of stories and ideas. In the study of literature there has always existed an established canon of texts, but advances in linguistics, critical theory and cultural studies show that any text holds some level of worth and intrinsic meaning. Readers are now exposed to a vast range of different textual constructions, to layers of meaning that need unpicking through a wide range of formats and platforms. Alongside traditional written language, can any or all of the following be considered reading? Encountering the spoken word – this could be listening to a radio play, hearing a lesson, even chancing upon a conversation or an anecdote on the bus or train. In each of these examples an idea or construct is communicated and then understood. If we infer meaning from the spoken word, whether live or recorded, are the ideas and information taken from this symptomatic of what it means to be reading? Extending from this, what about music? It could have lyrics, but it could also be more abstract; nonetheless, it still makes use of patterns and motifs – arguably a language of sorts. Can we read images? These may be accidental or intended, they may be captured in a static photograph, in a moving picture such as television or film, they may be driven by technology and the need to convey tone and emotion, as in gifs and emojis. Again, they may be more abstract and take the form of graphic art, or sculpture, but nonetheless rely heavily on their own interior logic and on a structuring of tone, colour and form. Surely this is another type of communication and, by extension one that can be read? Can reading be playing? If a computer game has a storyline that develops and progresses according to a sequence, can this be seen as reading? If we read figures and information from cards as part of a game, are we not interpreting and responding to an established pattern of meaning, again reading a situation or scenario? Can reading be living? We encounter so many signs and symbols in our 193

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daily lives that we unpick and respond to meaning from them almost as a reflex. Look in the back of almost any item of clothing and the label undoubtedly has symbols that identify the most appropriate ways to wash and dry it. When a door lacks a ‘push’ or ‘pull’ label, we almost instinctively know the action required to open it by noticing whether the door has a handle or a finger plate. A red traffic light means stop, green means go and images with a cross through them indicate a prohibition. These symbols are almost universal and are embedded in our consciousness from an early age. All of these different types of reading and forms of content can be used to build powerful and lively social and creative activities that allow questioning and stimulation. These can provide pathways and springboards that lead to more traditional constructions of reading. The Reader Organisation in Liverpool runs a variety of programmes aimed at shared reading aloud and has demonstrable evidence for the difference this can make in reader engagement and enjoyment. For an example, see ‘Adam’s Reader Story’.1 Ask yourself what activities or clubs in your library would fit with the above definitions of reading and how they might be used to create pathways into other types of reading and engagement.

The democracy of reading means a system of choice Having explored some of what a reader is and what reading can be, we perhaps need to return to the question of how plans can be put in place that can help to achieve change in how we promote reading. An approach is needed that embraces the wealth of information that people are now reading and the different forms and formats in which it occurs in our daily lives in contemporary society. Traditionally, when we think of struggling or withdrawn readers, there has been an incentive to direct and lever attention towards a type of text, and its perceived construction and level of complexity and sophistication, rather than towards the reader. One of the challenges we must face if we are to encourage reading for the future is to place the reader at the centre of what we do. In doing so we need to recognise that reading is not simply about attaining a measurable level of ability and comprehension but involves progression, and reading for challenge and to impart information and understanding. Equally important, it will likely involve some regression. The term is used here without value judgement but, rather, to suggest reading material that is below the highest level at which a reader may be capable of reading, or, indeed, a return to material that has been previously encountered and read. 194

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Regression helps to affirm understanding; it often allows a closer reading, and one in which the mechanics of composition can be ascertained more fully. Multi-award-winning author and critic Philip Pullman describes himself as a ‘passionate believer in the democracy of reading’ (www.philippullman.com). This suggests the idea that reading can be and is for everyone. If reading is a democracy, then, as advocates and champions for the activity we need to understand that a core foundation for any democracy is choice. We need to enable and empower readers to have choice in the material they read, to feel able to choose to read content that stretches and pushes themselves; but also, at times, to choose content that enables them to feel comforted and cosseted, particularly at points in life when other changes may mean that solace is to be found in familiarity. Another important part of choice is being able to browse, to dip into and out of content; being able to recognise that if a text is not on a subject that is of interest or relevance to us, or that if we discover that its style is not one we find accessible, then we can choose to say no. In the process of discerning our interests and tastes as readers, finding what holds less appeal is an important part of delineating that which holds greatest appeal. Likewise, there will also be formats and types of content that hold more or less appeal. The ideal for a 21st-century reader living in a multi-media environment where access to information is so often multi-modal is to have the necessary skills to infer meaning and information from a range of sources and platforms, to be able to choose between these and to find the right one for the right type of reader and situation. Equally, the reader needs to know where to seek support and recommendations in order to find the books and series that are most likely to match their wants and needs. Author and former teacher Helena Pielichaty discusses passionately the importance of choice and matching children’s interests and enthusiasm both inside and outside the classroom: Like many children’s authors, I was a teacher first. Throughout my training (I did a four-year course), it was drummed in to me that the best way to engage children was by ensuring they were interested in the subject. If I managed this, I wouldn’t have any ‘disruptive’ behaviour, ‘disruptive behaviour’ being something to be avoided at all times. In practice this was easier said than done but the one point when it was a doddle to avoid ‘disruptive behaviour’ was when it came to reading aloud and silent reading. Back then teachers had the freedom to choose any book they liked as long as it 195

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was suitable for the age range. I would often disregard the contents of the school book cupboard and take in a newly-published book I’d really enjoyed or one that linked to a topic. Examples include ‘The Machine Gunners’ by Robert Westall, ‘The Trouble with Donavan Croft’ by Bernard Ashley and ‘The Diary of a Killer Cat’ by Anne Fine. Those times were pure magic and it was woe betide anyone who stuck their head round my classroom door to break that spell during those sessions. If someone were to ask me what I think the main difference in the junior school classroom is between now and 20 or 30 years ago I’d say that there are far too many interruptions and messages and breaking off from what you’re doing these days. Teachers need to be left alone to get on! Silent Reading needed different rules from reading aloud. Silent Reading was when everyone (me included) simply read a book we’d chosen ourselves, for half an hour, in total silence. I soon noticed some children were unable to do this and became bored and fidgety. They were either the ones who’d chosen a book at random and then found their attention waning half a paragraph in or the ones who’d chosen a book well above their reading level. I realised that choosing a book is a real skill and time needs to be allowed to help children find that book that is perfect for them. One of my pet hates is teachers or parents who prefix ‘. . . choose a book’ with ‘Hurry up and . . .’ No, don’t ‘hurry up’ – take your time, kid. Flick through the pages, read the blurb, try the first page – does it sound good? Can you read it without it making you feel worried about the words? Leave it, then – come back to it later, maybe. Feel confident enough to disregard it and pick up another title . . . Children need time to browse and to discover there are books out there for them. They need the opportunity to find out for themselves that not all books are boring or too easy or too hard or about magicians when you like BMX bikes or about dinosaurs when you like pirates. They need to know they won’t be judged if they’re in Y6 and fancy a picture book or a comic. They need to know if they want to spend half a term reading Roald Dahl and Roald Dahl only that’s perfectly all right. But they can only reach that stage if they are pointed in the right direction. Children need to be swamped by books. They need book-loving teachers and access to libraries and librarians and trips to bookshops. They need to meet authors and watch YouTube clips of Potty Poets reciting their potty poems. They need to have fights about which was better – Harry Potter the movie or the book? (Pielichaty, 2016)

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Pathways to reading Visual literacy Reading can be one of the least immediate of all art forms. A closed book is just that, a closed book. It reveals nothing until read. For those that have lessdeveloped skills or confidence in the written word, this can present a tangible barrier, an obstacle. One element that can act as a bridge is visual literacy: the use of illustration, photography or graphic elements to aid reader engagement and involvement. The origins of reading recorded material most likely lie with visual literacy. Cave paintings like those at Lascaux, France depict animals that are being hunted. This could be a prehistoric diary of sorts, recording and recounting a hunt. Hieroglyphs and ideograms used pictorial symbols as a language base, each symbol representing a word. The Rosetta stone brought together ideograms and runes and at this point we can see a shift towards our standard notion of writing and alphabets in the modern sense. This progression continued with illustrated and illuminated works – often religious tomes and tracts – where the images lend an idea of the importance, power and value of writing even among those who were unable to decode and impart meaning from the words. This may provide us with an understanding as to why a stigma might have grown up and been passed down concerning illustrated works, that somehow they are more basic and ‘cruder’ in form. The illustrations were something that almost everyone could see and understand, whereas the ability to read language was the preserve of a privileged elite. This is similar to the genesis of the many expletives which derive from Old English, which came to be seen as a low language following the Norman Conquest, while many French words came to be seen as a higher, more refined means of expression. In spite of or, more accurately, because of, this perception, there is still a great role for visual, as distinct from verbal, representation. Visual representation can act as a hook into reading, offering a point of access to texts and, furthermore, lending them an immediacy that the written word does not have. This immediacy can be highly valuable for less-confident readers and those whose skills are developing. It provides an indication of the types of subjects and themes in a work. Furthermore, visual literacy can tell the story and, often, can embellish or interplay with the narrative development. Visual literacy can offer us information and diagrams to aid our understanding and interpretation of complex ideas and concepts. There are three main types of visual literacy, and each can be useful when working with less-confident readers. 197

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• Aesthetic: This is a literacy of style and is concerned with architecture, fashion and beauty. It communicates a language of structure that draws upon materials, sciences and advances in technology. Fashion and beauty embody ideas of body image, gender and even implied sexuality. This is something people subscribe to on a subconscious level in terms of their clothing, their tastes in décor. People often ‘write’ and ‘read’ aesthetic visual literacy with an effortless fluidity. • Instructional: This tries to teach or impart a particular message or method for undertaking a given act or action. Examples are diagrams or blueprints for building a model; instruction manuals showing how to build items of furniture or toys; and maps, which can offer geographical guidance. Instructional visual literacy is often able to move beyond the barriers presented by conventional language when moving between countries. • Visual narrative: Will Eisner, in one of his most seminal titles, ‘Comic Books and Sequential Art’ (Eisner, 1985) introduces the notion of sequence as being of key importance to narrative. Sequence can be used to depict geographic movement – movement through a given space – or temporal movement – movement or progression through a sequence in time. Sequencing can be achieved by illustrations alone, through the placement of images that complement – or indeed contradict – one another by their juxtaposition, or can be achieved in conjunction with and through interplay with the written word. Utilising all three visual literacy types can help to build motivation and confidence, allowing access to instruction and to narrative. This can be helpful to libraries in terms of building strategies to engage less-confident readers and those whose skills are developing. As part of a year-long promotion based on visual literacy, Picture This, organised during my time as Reading and Learning Development Manager for Lancashire County Council, I began a project called Picture a Story, which can still be found in the current offer to schools (Lancashire County Council, 2016). The project concept was that images by illustrators and story openings would be used consecutively alongside a collection of books, including some by the illustrators themselves. Children would be encouraged to explore the way words and pictures work together to tell and develop stories and characters, and would then be stimulated to continue the stories from the pictures and story openings by telling their own story through words and pictures. The project has included sessions with an artist and a storyteller to 198

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help develop children’s skills and thinking around how the story develops and unfolds and the way that pictures can help to communicate this. By giving a sense of purpose and creativity and by encouraging the sharing of their stories, the project has stimulated active involvement and has built genuine appetite, enthusiasm and love for both reading and writing. The exploration of picture books and graphic novels provides an entry point for all readers, even in instances where some children have few to no spoken and written English skills. See Appendix 11.1 for some evaluations and pupil work from the project.

Book ownership It may sound obvious, but access to reading matter is essential in helping to build a reading culture. National Literacy Trust statistics show us that book ownership is decreasing: ‘80% of children who read above the expected level for their age have books of their own; this figure drops to 58% for children reading below their expected level’ (Clark and Hawkins, 2010). Without ready access to a variety of content across different platforms and in different forms, it is unlikely that readers will succeed in fully engaging with the types of information and opportunities available in the 21st century. Libraries and librarians can play a huge role in terms of helping newer audiences to value and collate their own collections to which they can turn and return, combating the finding that 3 in 10 children do not own any books (Clark and Poulton, 2011). Libraries can support access to and ownership of books through book fairs and author, poet or illustrator events where the books are available for purchase afterwards. This is crucial, because often without this element in place, or copies available for loan through libraries, the visits become an hour of entertainment and fail to fulfil their role as catalysts to ignite a personal motivation for reading. One of the biggest benefits of live literature events is often the legacy of a spike in reading for pleasure that invariably results. The library service can sometimes be resistant to promoting book sales, but change in attitudes has always been part of what libraries are about. Although promoting book sales and book ownership may seem to be at odds with some of the traditional roles of the library, nonetheless it fulfils a valuable need. Book ownership does not have to be promoted purely through sales. During her time as Children’s Laureate (2001–3), Anne Fine developed the My Home Library website, an excellent initiative to promote the collection and curation of books and one that, arguably, has become more rather than less relevant 199

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since its inception. It is certainly one that should be publicised and promoted by libraries. Here Anne Fine discusses the background to the project and the impact it has had. Becoming the Children’s Laureate was the most wonderful opportunity to make good on a plan I’d been hatching for years. Libraries were crucial to my childhood – havens of enrichment and enchantment. Having books freely to hand mattered more than anything else, and I read many over and over. As an adult, I’d realised libraries ranged from the great national libraries to the class reading corner. So my idea was to encourage children, who now had so many wonderful second-hand books available so cheaply or handed on to them free, to create their own even more personal ‘home’ libraries. Everyone adores old bookplates. But my idea was that the added temptation of freely downloadable modern designs would encourage the collection and ownership of books. As the Laureate, I at last felt in a position to cadge favours on behalf of the countless children I hoped would benefit. So I wrote to a host of our best loved and most respected illustrators and cartoonists, begging for freshly designed, attractive bookplates for a modern world. The artists came up trumps. We currently have a showcase of over 250 bookplates of all sorts and for all ages which can be freely and easily printed off by children, families and schools. It’s now fifteen years since I was the Laureate but the website has continued to be hugely successful, here and all over the world. I’m thrilled to think that since 2007 some 1.2 million people have viewed the bookplates and been encouraged to gather their own collections of favourite reading matter. Not everyone has the free and easy access to books that turned me into a skilled and passionate reader, and I think of www.myhomelibrary.org as perhaps the most valuable legacy of my two years in office. (Fine, 2016)

Access to live literature Authors, illustrators, poets and storytellers are all able to bring stories and words to life, often with incredible dynamism, forging connections that can be very personal for their audiences. This can help to dispel negative stereotypes around reading and show how lively, thought-provoking and genuinely life-affirming and changing it can be. Award-winning author Jon Mayhew runs workshops in schools, inspires pupils to enjoy reading, is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow for the University of 200

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Chester and has written articles for the Children’s Writers and Artists’ Yearbook. As a former teacher he is well aware of the power that his sessions can exert in compelling and changing attitudes to books, reading and stories. He spoke a little about his background and the factors that motivate the work he undertakes and the importance and power of story. I taught for twenty-five years, seeing the power of a good story and how that could change the course of a child’s learning. As a children’s author, I visit many schools, talking about the power and fun of reading and hopefully inspiring children to become readers. My own experience as a reader isn’t unusual. As a child, I lost interest in reading because of a rigid and rather dull reading scheme. It was going to a library with a friend every Saturday morning that brought me back to books as a teenager. I also had a love of Marvel Comics which I didn’t see as reading and neither did my parents. I share this story with pupils and it resonates with them. I also offer some strategies for getting back into the ‘reading habit’. Reading is an essential tool in life but it’s so much more than that. Good reading skills are essential for the health of our nation. Being able to read IKEA instructions is one thing but a good reader can detect bias, knows when they are being manipulated and can make their own mind up about things. There is more choice in what to read now and books are cheaper than they ever were when I was young. Having said this, the range of books children read can often be depressingly narrow. Teachers don’t always have the knowledge of which children’s books to recommend and so stick to the staples. I think that reading is something that’s perceived as a thing you do in primary school and once children go to high school, many ditch the habit. The causes of this are many, I suspect, peer pressure is one but also, reading hasn’t always been presented as a pleasurable, fun activity in schools. It’s been broken down into skill levels, texts being chopped up into passages that are for analysing. I think this is changing now but when, in a squeezed curriculum do teachers read a story to their class? Librarians do an amazing job at this when they are supported and funded well by their managers. There is a wide range of books available that are aimed at less confident readers, some of them look great and others have childish and patronising covers. Probably the commonest mistake I encounter is the way all of these books are lumped together in one section. The more inspiring books then find themselves judged in the same way as their childish-looking neighbours. In a way it would be nice to see them amongst the mainstream books. Moving pupils on to texts other than the usual suspects, I genuinely believe that a teacher reading to pupils is a powerful thing. A teacher reading something 201

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different, something engaging and powerful and leaving the children wanting to hear the next instalment as soon as possible would do more to foster a love of books than anything else. And I don’t just mean in primary. Everyone enjoys hearing a good story well read.

(Mayhew, 2016)

Capturing the verve and vitality of readers Staff recommendations are key, but by encouraging users themselves to become engaged in this process the power of reader-led promotion can be harnessed. This can be as simple as review sheets – on or offline – and excerpts used to showcase readers’ encounters and interactions. Moving on, this can mean creating specific reader-recommended displays and showcases, or it can be a more formal and involved process such as book awards that encourage discussion, debate and the flow and exchange of ideas and thoughts following reading. Finding ways for readers to spread their passions and enthusiasms through word of mouth empowers them as champions and advocates and helps to create a critical mass. Reading groups can, of course, be a useful way to capture this enthusiasm. Although they can be focused around written content, they can equally well be based on shared reading, the spoken word or other formats.

A soft approach to reading promotion For many who have never visited a library, the mere action of stepping over the threshold can create a barrier. Libraries can often appear formal or imposing and may not immediately feel welcoming or attractive to all users. This was Lancashire County Council’s experience when working with children looked after in residential care homes. The young people were very vociferous about libraries not being for them, nor matching their needs or wants. However, through a carefully planned programme of outreach work that showcased the range of materials on offer, and through activities that encouraged active participation and engagement, it was possible to involve them and eventually to encourage membership and use of the libraries for a wide range of reasons – for study support, for borrowing films, music and books. Part of this involved working with performance poet Lemn Sissay on a creative project in which the young people were able to express themselves creatively. This was produced as a book and audio CD that was housed by the libraries, giving a personal resonance to the sites and a sense of connection. See Figure 11.1 for coverage of this project. 202

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Figure 11.1 Lancashire County Council Newsletter – report of project with poet Lemn Sissay

Making reading relevant Reading has to be relevant to the backgrounds, lifestyles and interests of those undertaking it. If materials are seen as esoteric, they are far less likely to be engaged with. Part of this has to do with the collection itself, the choice that is on offer and ensuring that it holds interest and appeal for a wide range of people in terms of both their abilities and their interests. Alongside the collection itself, it is also important to think about the way that materials are presented. What kind of activities and promotions can be built that provide added value and excitement? An example of this is the World Book Day celebration planned at Preston North End stadium (Figure 11.2). It had long been an ambition of mine to plan an event in a football stadium, an event where the sheer quantity of people would generate infectious enthusiasm and excitement in its own right. World Book Day (www.worldbookday.com) seemed to be the ideal vehicle for achieving this. Working in conjunction with the football stadium management it was possible to get photographs of players reading, release 203

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them onto social media and encourage and instil values around the worth and intrigue of reading by creating positive role models. The event itself was intended in particular to create appeal and excitement among less-confident or less-keen boy readers. This was achieved spectacularly and the verve and lively response from schools in electing to take part in the event was incredible. Around 100 primary and secondary schools and over 5000 children created an excitement for reading quite unlike any other and that generated its own momentum by creating an impetus and desire to read. Finding ways to attach reading to the interests and preoccupations of readers is an excellent way to engage less-keen readers. Helena Pielichaty, author of the Girls FC series discusses the ways in which her experiences in the classroom helped to inform some of her approaches to writing.

Figure 11.2 Promotional Flyer for World Book Day event 204

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I subconsciously took my teaching experience into my writing. I wanted to find ways to keep my readers’ attention in the same way I wanted to keep my pupils’ attention. I didn’t want anyone who picked up one of my books to put it down again half way through the first page so I always try to make my first page grab the reader and hoist them in to the story. I have also been quite conceited when it comes to subject matter. I didn’t want to write about anything that had already ‘been done.’ Of course, that’s impossible – everything’s ‘been done’ but at least I try! That’s where the idea for Girls FC came along. Nobody seemed to be writing about girls’ football. Sure, there’d been Narinder Dharmi’s Bend it Like Beckham but that was for older girls and was written as a tie-in for the film script. Where female footballers did appear in junior fiction, they were either ‘tomboys’ or scored a winning goal to show superiority to boys. I knew girls’ football didn’t work like that and set about pitching an idea for a series. In all, I wrote twelve books in the series and also had a spin-off with Collins Read On series called Here Come the Girls – a non-fiction history of the women’s game aimed at reluctant 11–13 year-olds. What was wonderful was the feedback from girls who played football. This quote was from a mum whose daughter, Lizzie, turned out to be one of my biggest fans. She wrote: It all started one Christmas when an old family friend sent my daughter, Lizzie, the second book in the Girls FC series. They had been in Lingham’s, the award winning independent book shop in Heswall on the Wirral. They knew she was football mad and sent it to her as a gift. Prior to this, Lizzie wasn’t interested in reading although we had loads of books and we read to her every night. She would nag me to read one more chapter and offered to read one chapter herself if I did. It soon became her reading on her own. She was hooked, we had to buy the full set. She eagerly awaited each new release and read them time and time again. She had finally found something she could relate to. From my point of view as a mother I was delighted to see her reading at last. I found the stories warm and realistic. The girls didn’t always win, but they tried hard. Good positive role models for girls everywhere. The books also deal subtly with real issues like broken families, learning disabilities and racism. The series if marketed better would attract many more readers – especially among the increasing number of young female footballers like my daughter.

(Pielichaty, 2016)

Conclusion Lizzie’s story is powerful and shows the difference that it can make to encounter books that meet one’s needs and interests. The 21st-century world of reading is a complex and sophisticated one to navigate. In much the same 205

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way that visual literacy and storytelling can create pathways on our reading journeys, working on computer games with a narrative, films and music can all provide jumping-on points for different formats, encouraging and stimulating a depth of field and focus. In an age of rapid technological change and societal adaptation, in order to meet that need we have to be clear about what libraries are and can be. They are powerhouses of ideas, they are engines for creative thinking, understanding and social cohesion. Through their ability to form relationships and to build social and creative activities, they create new audiences; they are able to move beyond the mere transaction of a book loan, to a deeper, richer and more sustained level of engagement. They give impartial support and provide access to a vast wealth of learning and understanding, often shaped as stories. Questioning our own attitudes and preconceptions can be a valuable way to build new routes and pathways for lifelong reading journeys. To help us achieve that, perhaps we need a manifesto that sets out our stall for the reader.

A manifesto to make reading for everyone Everyone is a reader – regardless of their background or what others might think or say. Everyone is reading throughout their lives – frequency and formats may change at different points. Everyone encounters texts in a variety of ways – we all need the skills and confidence to infer meaning from these. Everyone needs choice – over both the format of the content they read and the subject matter it contains. Everyone needs support at points along their reading journey – this might be support with the mechanics of traditional literacy, or it might be recommendation and guidance on what might suit their tastes. Everyone reads to seek comfort at times – from a reassuring read or from a familiar one. Everyone reads to be challenged when this feels right for them – this can aid learning, enriching lives and stretching our understanding. Everyone is free to read at the pace which is right for them – some readers are hares, others are tortoises; just as in Aesop’s fable, the fastest is not always the best. Everyone should have access to content to read to borrow, buy or keep. Everyone benefits from social and creative opportunities tied to reading.

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Appendix 11.1 Lancashire County Council: Picture a Story

Note 1 www.thereader.org.uk/reader-stories/adams-reader-story.aspx

References Clark, C. and Hawkins, L. (2010) Young People’s Reading: the importance of the home environment and family, National Literacy Trust. 207

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Clark, C. and Poulton, L. (2011) Book Ownership and Its Relation to Reading Enjoyment, Attitudes, Behaviour and Attainment, National Literacy Trust. Dugdale, G. and Clark C. (2008) Literacy Changes Lives: an advocacy resource, National Literacy Trust. Eisner, W. (1985) Comic Books and Sequential Art, W. W. Norton. Fine, A. (2016) Personal communication, 16 December. Lancashire County Council (2016) Simply Schools, http://learningwithplm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/15417-BMAGSimply-Schools-Brochure-FINAL.pdf. Mayhew, J. (2016) Personal communication, 19 December. McGuire, W. (ed.) (1974) The Freud/Jung Letters. The correspondence between Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung, Princeton University Press, 279. Pielichaty, H. (2016) Personal communication, 21 December.

Books mentioned Ashley, B. (1974) The Trouble with Donovan Croft, Oxford University Press. Dhami, N. (2002) Bend It Like Beckham, Hodder. Fine, A. (1994) The Diary of a Killer Cat, Puffin. Pielichaty, H. (2009) Do Goalkeepers Wear Tiaras?, Girls FC, Walker. Pielichaty, H. (2012) Here Come the Girls, Read On, Collins Educational. Westall, R. (1975) The Machine Gunners, Macmillan.

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Index

additional needs 6, 8, 119 see also disability hearing loss 6–8, 119 visual impairment 2–6, 19 American Library Association 20, 180, 182, 183 Odyssey Award 182 American Association of School Librarians 129 APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) Libraries Beating Heart of the School xxix Literacy xxi Report to Members of Parliament xxiii Arts Award 136 ATL (Association of Teachers and Lecturers) xxix Audiobooks 10, 25–6, 169–85 Audiobooker blog 179 awards 182–4 cross-curricular uses 175 cultural representation 172–3 empathy 172 Guys Listen 180–1 history of 170 motivating readers 176–7 publishers 184–5 QR codes 10 reading role models 172 resources 179–80 review journals 179 role in literacy learning 173–6 scaffolding readers 171, 179 second language learners, support for 174–5 SYNC audiobook programme 181 teaching use 169–72, 173, 175, 177–9; Sound Learning Toolkit 180 authors xxiii, 12, 19, 46, 80, 87, 89, 113–14, 173, 195–6, 200 controversies 123–4 culturally sensitive guidance for 122 events 49, 138, 199, 200 shadowing, promotion of 143, 144, 146, 151 World Book Day 136, 203

awards 143, 202 see also CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals audiobook awards 179, 180, 182–4 Diverse Voices 113, 114 Leeds Book Award 138 library promotion of 115, 128 Marsh Award 112–3 Stan Lee Excelsior Award 131–2 Beanstalk 67–85 approach to helping young readers 68–70, 78, 83–4 children 71–3 funding for 73 history of 67–8 impact 81–2 in South Africa 82–3 library partnerships xxxii, 68, 76, 77, 79–80 organisational structure 69 OSCAR 81 Reading Records 81–2 ReadUp 85 Theory of Change 75 trained reading helpers 68–70, 73–4, 75–8, 83 Vision 84 Bedford, Jan 80 Belgrave, Susan 67 bibliotherapy (biblio-counselling) 98–103 12 step programme 101–2 volunteering 102 impact 102 Blyton, Enid 123 Book Bundle Circulation Project 93, 97–8 Workbook 99 book clubs 29, 133, 150, 151, 155 see also Reading Club and reading groups book(s) see also reading materials accessibility 10–12, 16, 21–2, 55 access to 18, 20, 94–7, 137; audiobooks 182 activities related to 7, 20, 47, 49, 59, 76, 95, 121, 137, 146, 150; after-reading 95, 98, 99, 102; book-specific 159–61, 164–5

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book(s) see also reading materials (continued) attitudes to xxviii, 33, 96, 100, 102, 119–22, 130 awards 28–9, 112–3 babies, sharing with 9–10, 158 Beanstalk Book Box 69–70 Book Bundle Circulation Project 93, 97–8, 99 booklists 28, 111, 118–19, 140–1 bookplates 200 book talk xxvi, 49, 24, 94, 101, 102, 146 character break down statistics 22 choice see choice comics xxx, 56, 92, 93, 196, 198, 201 cultural sensitivities 122–4, 172 design of 11, 12, 16, 134 diversity of 44, 92, 98, 120, 172 diversity in 14, 22, 107, 109–10, 112, 114, 116, 133 dual language 79, 116, 120 dyslexia friendly 12, 79 e-books 12, 51 EGN (educational graphic novel) 92 empathetic response to 101, 108, 115 gifting xxx, xxxi, xxxii, 94, 97, 120 see also Bookstart graphic novels xxx, 11, 26, 92, 131–2, 133, 136, 138, 199 illustrated 11, 53, 61, 92, 131, 132–6, 138, 140, 156, 197–9 inclusive xxxii, 12–13, 14–15 in home xxx, xxxi, 18–19, 20, 77, 94 in translation 87, 112–3, 116, 120, 143 joke books 23, 59, 70 Korea, publishing boom 87, 89 library resources for range of abilities 55, 79, 107, 119–20 quality of ixx, xxx, 79, 84, 89, 98, 144, 183 non-fiction 15, 24, 26, 42, 56, 133, 135, 205 number published (UK) 10 ownership xxxi, 93,94; My Home Library 199–200 picture books xxx, 11–12, 14, 23, 24, 26, 30, 92, 102, 114, 123, 133–4, 156, 196, 199 playscripts 49, 80 print size 11, 12, 120 QR code 10 read-alouds 24, 28, 173 for Reading Club 56, 59, recommendations 14–15, 30, 102, 131, 132, 138, 140, 147, 181, 202 relevance to children with profound disabilities 9 reviews 26, 103, 118, 144–5, 146, 151–2,

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202; vlogging 152 selection by students 131, 137, 138 selection policies 116–18 teachers’ attitudes xxviii, 20, 92 time for 18, 24, 29 Bookstart xxxi, 120 Bookshine 6–8; books for 7–8 Bookstart Star 8; books for 4–5 books 2; features of xxxii, 2, 11, 12; touchand-feel 3–6, 7, 10 Booktouch 2–6; pre-school children 3–5 children with additional needs 8 library partnership xxx, 2, 11 origins of 1 pack 1 use of puppets 8 BookTrust xxii, xxx Bookstart 3–10 Diversity in Publishing network 111 Time to Read xxx BOP Consulting xxvii, 145 Braille 3, 4, 10–11, 16, 120 Buchwald, Emilie 20 Building Communities of Readers 46 Burkey, Mary 177, 179 campaigns Citizen Action for Reading 89 Hear Diversity 172–3 Just Read xxi Morning Reading 89 RO. GO xxi, xxiii, xxiv, 84 Time to Read xxx Vision for Literacy xxi Carlsen, G. Robert 17 Carnegie Medal see under CILIP Carnegie UK Trust 147 CBI (Confederation of British Industries) xxii, xxx Chambers, Aidan 35–6, 111 Childs Play 5–6, 15, 16 choice xxviii, xxix, 2, 26–8, 35–6, 40, 47, 80, 149 essential to readers xxviii, 18, 29, 40, 41–2, 43, 149, 194–6, 206 librarians help with 77 parents allowing xxx teachers view of xxviii non-fiction availability 42 CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals) xxviii, xxix, 132, 139 Carnegie medal 143, 149; Shadowing 49, 132, 138, 143–66

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CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals) (continued) Kate Greenaway medal 134, 143; Shadowing 49, 132, 138, 143–66, 156–8, 162–3; criteria 135; Greenaway Gallery 151 SLG (School Libraries Group) 139 YLG (Youth Libraries Group) 119, 158, 159 CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting) xxxi Clear Vision Books 3, 16 Cleverdon, Dame Julia xxxiv CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) 111 Power of Reading xxvi, 133 Reading for Pleasure – what we know works xxvi Cooperative Children’s Book Center 22 Corby Business Academy 147, 158, 159 attitudinal survey 149 Headteacher support 150 Cowley, Sue 132, 135 David, Alison xxx deaf children 5, 6–8, 13 definitions 7 sign language 8 DfBIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) xx disability xxxii, 9 see also additional needs in books 12–13, 14, 112, 117, 133 reading 52, 55, 56, 63, 119; audiobook help 174, 176–7 disadvantage, socio-economic see also poverty impact on reading xxiii, xxiv, xxv, 96, 100 international levels of xxvi, 82 predicted rise in xxiv Pupil Premium funding 130 school libraries, positive effects xxix, xxxi, 139 diversity A Place at the Table 115, 118 acquisition policies 116–7 awareness promotions 110 controversies 123–4 definition 109 Diverse Voices 113, 118–119 Diversity Matters conference 111 gender 107, 110, 114, 118, 133 Hear Diversity 172–3 in books 14, 22, 107, 109–10, 112, 114, 116, 133 in publishing 111, 113–16 libraries, importance of 107, 115

obstacles to 114 of authors 114–5, of readers 107, 119–20, 147 reflecting community 117, 120 traveller communities 113, 120–1 Dombey, Professor Henrietta xxv, xxvii Douglas, Jonathan xxi, xxvii dyslexia 12, 13, 14, 38, 52–3, 63, 71, 76, 79, 174 Egmont xxx EAL (English as Additional Language) see ELL Eisner, Will 198 ELINET (European Literacy Policy Network) xix Declaration of European Citizens’ Rights to Literacy xix ELL (English Language Learners) 23, 72, 79, 120, 174–5 empathy xxvii, 101, 102, 108, 115, 124, 127, 133, 136, 145 Empathy Lab 108 EU (European Union) xix High Level Group of Experts on Literacy xxiv, xxvi, xxxi Fair Education Alliance xxi narrowing the gap xxiii Fine, Anne 196, 199–200 Finland xxxii, 51–64 estimate of pupils with reading problems 53 hobby opportunities for children 62 libraries 51, 53, 63, 65, 54; reading dog 51, 55, 62, 65; Seinäjoki public library, work with schools 51–2, 54, 55 language 53 Flaubert, Gustav xx Frances Lincoln 113–15, 116, 118–19 games see also activities Beanstalk, use of 68, 69, 70, 73, 77–9 computer games 131, 206 Korean traditional 99 Reading Club, use of 56, 57–60, 61, 62 Reading Together with the Library, use of 95 shadowing, use of 150, 153, 161, Hamburg Declaration xix see also UNESCO Hamlet, Bridget 139–40 Han Sang-Soo 90–1 hard-to-reach readers 144, 146–7, 148, 149, 151, 161 see also reluctant readers activities as hook for 150–6, 159–61

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hard-to-reach readers (continued) definition 145–6 LAC (looked after children) 158, 163 picture books as hook 156 Hawke, Jenny 153 health links to literacy xx, 201 Heaslip, Peter 114 Help2Read 82–3 Holdaway, Donald 37, 44 Hoffman, Mary 114, 115–16 home book-rich xxxi, 200 influence on reading xxiv, xxvi, xxx, 18, 20, 56, 57 Beanstalk children’s experience 71–3, 77 illiteracy 82, 192 link to health xx, xxv localised opportunities to tackle xxi illustrators 87, 89, 113–15, 151, 198, 200 Inclusive Minds xvii, 118 Independent Review of Teaching of Reading xxv independent reading xxviii, xxx, 10, 28, 34, 44, 45, 48, 96 Inglis, Jane 149 inequality xxiii, xxv see also disadvantage Just Read campaign (UK) xxi Just Read, Morning Reading 90–1 Kids and Family Reading report (UK) xix, xxviii, xxx; (US) 27 Kate Greenaway Medal see CILIP Kent and Medway 79–80 Kirkland, Anita Brooks 129 Kirklees Engage 400 Project 133–7 Partnership Services (SLS) 134 Ko Jung-Won 100–3 Korea (Republic of) xxxi, xxxiii, 87–104 bibliotherapy programme 98–103 Book Bundle Circulation Project 97–8 Citizen Action for Reading 89 Daegu case study 91–2 education fever 87 enjoyment of reading, low levels of 88 immigrant families 94 libraries 94, 95, 100, 126; attitudes to 88, 94, 96; children’s libraries 89, 93, 96; school libraries 87, 89, 97 Miracle Library Project 89 Morning Reading Movement 89–93 National Library for Children and Young

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People 89, 93–8 PISA results 88 publishing boom 87–9 Reading Together with the Library 94–7 school librarians, lack of 98 School Library Reactivation Project 89 schools 87–9, 90, rural 97–8 LAC (Looked After Children) 158, 163, 202 Laird, Elizabeth 123–4 Lancashire County Council 120, 122, 158, 198–9, 202, 207 Lance, Keith Curry xxix, 21 language EAL/ELL 21, 22, 23, 71, 78, 79, 120, 174–5 difficulties for immigrants 72, 94 development xxi, xxiv–xxv, xxxi, 8, 76 dual language 116, 120 Finnish 53 Korean 94 listening skills, importance of 7, 171 other forms of 193–4, 197–8 reading aloud, value to 21 sign language 7, 8 Letterbox Library 16, 115, 118 LIFE (Literacy Initiative for Empowerment) xix librarians see also school librarians as reading models 48 as judges of awards 149 as biblio-counsellors 100–3 Beanstalk partners 80 Bookstart partners 2 children’s attitudes to 96 choice, help with 77, 176 concern about reading 34, 181 collection development, role in 169, 172, 182 cuts in schools 21, 46, 128 in primary schools in UK xxix knowledge of children’s books 46, 48, 55, 57, 80, 115, 147 knowledge of community 80, 112 pupil librarians 129–131, 138 professional development 46, 55, 63, 89, 91, 93, 127, 136, 139 responsibility xix libraries see also school libraries access to 127, 196 APPG on xxix attitudes to 19, 202 audits of 122 audiobooks in 177 awards, promotion of 115, 128 see also shadowing

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Beanstalk, links with xxxii, 68, 76, 77, 79–80 book sales 199 Bookstart, links with xxx, 2, 11 Bromley 153 Building Communities of Readers 46 classroom 20–1, 49, 93; ALA recommendations 20; limited choice in 41; Scholastic survey of 21 closures xxxi, 46 community of readers 29 cultural programming 110, 120, 121 cuts xxiv, 21, 46 curation of 21, 110 diversity 107, 115 Finland 51, 53, 63, 65, 54; reading dog 51, 55, 62, 65; Seinäjoki public library, work with schools 51–2, 54, 55 importance to society 206 investment in xxxiii, 89 Kent and Medway libraries 79–80 Korea 94, 95, 100, 126; attitudes to 88, 94, 96; children’s libraries 89, 93, 96; Miracle Library Project 89; National Library for Children and Young People 89, 93–8; school libraries 87, 89, 97 Lancashire libraries 120–1, Little Free Libraries 30 outreach 93, 96, 120–1, 202 range of materials 202 selection policies xxxii, 116–18, 137 support for disadvantaged xxxi teen-friendly 137, 101, 146 Wiltshire libraries 117 listening skills 171, 172, 179 value in workplace 171–2 literacy APPG on xxi, xxiii assessment-driven approach to 45, 47, 81–2 audiobooks, uses for xxxiv, 173–6, 182 campaigns xxi CLPE xxvi, 111, 133 classroom libraries, impact of 20 employment, relationship with xxiii, 189 EU High Level Group of Experts on, Report of xxiv, xxvi, xxxi family programme xxxi gender imbalances xxii Hour 44–5, 47 human right xix Impact on economy xxiii, 201 impact of disadvantage xxiv, 94, 96, 158 inequality in UK xxiii initiatives 181

international comparisons xxiii, xxxi, xxxi, xxxiii, 88 lack of, complaint from businesses xix, xxii learning xxiv, xxv, xxxi, 33, 35–7, 39, 48, 173–6; Beanstalk approach 68–70, 78, 83–4 librarians, impact of 48–9, 130 link with earnings xx, 189 link with health xx listening as support to 169–72, 173, 175 mixed-ability 147 National Literacy Forum xxi, xxvi, xxxiii; Beanstalk 84; goals xxi; policy papers xxi National Literacy Trust xxi, xxvii, 125, 139, 199 National Strategy (UK) 45, 46 in prisons xxii range of achievement (UK) xxiv RO. GO. campaign xxi, 84 teaching 44–5, 48, 177–8 teenagers xxii, xxxiii, 48, 100–3 training for Beanstalk 76 UKLA 46 visual 11, 132, 135, 136, 140–1, 151, 197 Vision For xxi, xxiv, xxv, xxix vulnerability score, UK local authorities xxiii World’s Most Literate Nations 51 Little Free Libraries 30 literature see books live literature see author events Lukukerhot see Reading Club Marsh Award 112–3 Mayhew, Jon 200–2 Meek, Margaret 36–7 Morgan, Nicola 127 Morpurgo, Michael xxii, xxx Morris, Jackie 113–4 Moss, Alex 82–3 motivation audio books 176–7 author events 199 school libraries xxx, 128 to read xxvi, xxvii, xxviii, xxix, 9, 36, 56, 57, 69, 172, 205 visual source of 198 National Curriculum xxvii, xxxi assessments xxii, xxxi, 40, 45–7, 49, 81, 133 reading for pleasure 47 National Literacy Forum xxi, xxvi, xxxiii Beanstalk 84 goals xxi policy papers xxi

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NLCY (National Library for Children and Young People) 89, 93–8 goals 93 Reading Together with the Library 95–7 Book Bundle Circulation Project 97–8 NLT (National Literary Trust) xxi, xxvii, 125, 139, 199 Naylor, Mark 129–32 NRP (National Reading Panel) 23 Neuman, Susan 20 OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) xxii, xxxiii, 88 OfSTED (Office for Standards in Education) xxix, 47, 130 OSCAR (Operations, Schools, Children and Reading helpers) 81 Otter-Barry, Janetta 112–16 OU (Open University) xxxiv, 132, 143–4 parents attitudes to illustrated books 11 feedback on Reading Club 61, 64 involvement in reading xix, xxiv, xxvi, xxx, xxxi, 2, 18–19, 20, 26, 37, 54, 56, 57, 94, 125, 128 Korean, pressure from 87–9 of children with additional needs 6, 9 Parklands Girls High School 137–9 Pennac, Daniel 35–6, 140 phonics screening test xxv, xxvi Picture This 198–9 Pielichaty, Helen 195–6, 204–5 PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) xxii, xxiv PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2012 xxiii 2002 xxvii Korean performance in 88 poverty 100 see also disadvantage in early years xxi, xxiv–xxv, 84 international levels of xxv predicted rise in xxiv Power of Reading xxvi, xxxi, 133 Print Matters More xxx Pullman, Philip 195 QR (Quick Response) Codes 10 reader development 128, 131, 134, 136, 138, 140, 151, 191, 202 reader(s) see also reluctant readers

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access 20, 129 advisory services 100 attitudes xxvii, xxix, 33, 37, 39, 40–1, 44, 54, 62, 96, 98, 100, 102–3, 128, 149 audiobooks, support for struggling 171, 179 avid 145 book talk, importance to xvi boys xxii, 56, 128, 130, 131, 180–1 Building Communities of Readers 46 community of 18, 28–30, 46, 50, 140, 145 diversity of 107, 119–120, 147 hard-to-reach see hard-to-reach and also reluctant readers empathy xxvii, 101, 102, 107–9, 115, 124, 127, 133, 136, 145 high ability 143, 150 interests, engaging with xxvii, 154, 195, 204–5 labelling of 38 librarians support for 48, 52, 127, 139 lifelong 17, 18, 21, 22, 28, 49, 149 live longer xx minority ethnic 125 motivation of see motivation ownership of books xxxi, 93, 94; My Home Library 199–200 parents’ role in creating 20 recommendations 30, 131, 132, 140, 147, 181, 202 reflected in books 22, 107, 125 rights of 140 self-esteem 36, 57, 157 struggling xxxii, 38–9, 53, 146, 151, 152, 194; terminology 192 successful 39 teachers as xxviii, xxix, 20, 46, 48 uninterested xxix, 39, 100, 127, 146 wider view of 190, 192 reading see also reading for pleasure activities 7, 20, 47, 49, 59, 76, 95, 121, 137, 146, 150; after-reading 95, 98, 99, 102; book-specific 159–161, 164–5 aloud xx, xxx, 18, 22–4, 44, 48, 101, 120, 173, 196; by children 40, 42, 43, 47, 57, 72, 157; impact on assessment 22; increase in vocabulary 23; second language learners 23, 174–5; shared xxxi, 2, 194 as a right xix assessment driven approach to 45, 47, 81– 2, 133 attainment (UK) xxii, xxiii, xxvii, xxxii, 44, 83, 133, 179; boys’ attainment in xxii, 127, 204

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reading (continued) attitudes to xxvii–viii, xxix, 22, 33, 37, 40, 44, 47, 49, 54, 62, 64, 68, 92, 96, 98, 100, 102–3, 125, 130, 150 audiobooks 10, 23, 171, 179 autobiography 17, 19 Becoming a Nation of Readers 173 community 18, 28, 50, 132, 145 context of 189–90 democracy of 195 difficulties see disabilities Diploma 57, 58 disabilities 52, 55, 56, 63, 119; audiobook help 174, 176–7 disadvantaged backgrounds, impact of xxiii, 94, 100, 130 dog 54, 57, 62 effect on maths, vocabulary and spelling xxvii enjoyment xxvii, xx, xxix, 34, 35, 48, 70, 88, 91, 96, 98, 131, 133, 137, 194; minority ethnic readers, higher levels of 125 see also reading for pleasure extracurricular 48 environmental 193–4 environment for 44, 89, 95 gaming as 193 gender imbalances xxii, 181 groups 79, 108, 131, 202 see also Reading Club groups in school 128, 131–2, 138, 143–66 see also shadowing habits, children and young people xxvii, 181, 201, 205; older people xx helpers 67–8 hooks xxiv, 140; activities as hook 150–6, 159–61; picture books as hook 156, 197 impact of home xx, xxiv, xxvi, 20, 73, 125 impact of schools 39, 127–132 impact on economy xxii impact on health xx images 132, 193 independent xxviii, xxx, 10, 28, 34, 44, 45, 48, 96 Kids and Family Reading Report xix, xxvii, xxx, 27 Korea, support for xxxiii, 87–104 learning to xxv, 19, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43, 52, 53 link to earnings xx, 109, 189 listening as reading 170–1, 176–7, 193 lists 28, 96, 111, 136, 140–1 Manifesto for 206 models of 18, 20, 23, 43, 48, 157

Morning Reading movement 89–93; Daegu Case Study 91–2; Principles of 90 National Reading Panel 23 one-to-one xxxiii, 39, 68, 72, 74, 75, 78, 83 on screen 12 organisations promoting xx–xxi philosophy of, need for 191 policies, school 41, 44, 47 Reading: the future 139 reading records 81–2 Reading Together with the Library 94–7; programme details 95; impact of 96 relaxation, effect of 90, 158 reluctance 33–49, 50, 76, 100, 127, 156 see also reluctant readers role models for 18–20, 44, 156–8, 172 schemes 41, 43, 45, 47, 74, 122, 201 social personal and intellectual outcomes of xxvii, 109, 130, 189, 201 SSR (Sustained Silent reading) 89–90, 174, 177, 196 teaching of xxv, xxxii, 43, 76, 191; assessment 45; audiobook support 175–6; comprehension xxv–vi, 72; decoding xxv, 53, 74; five pillars of reading instruction 23; Independent Review of Teaching of Reading xxv; National Curriculum xxvi; phonics xxvi; reading aloud to teachers 40, 42, 43 time for 18, 20, 24–6, 84, 149, 158 trained reading helpers 68–70, 73–4, 75–8, 83 visual impairment 3, 119–120 wider view of 192, 193–4 Reading Agency xxvii, 145 Summer Reading Challenge 136 Reading Club (Finland) 52–64 advocacy 63 attitudes of children 62 books 59 co-operation with schools 53–4 Diploma 57,58 feedback from children 62; parental 61 funding for 52, 62, 64 games used in 57–60 impact 63–4 manual 63 Marttila School Reading Club 60–1 organisation and running 56–60 reading aloud by children 57 target group 53–4 tutors 55 writing 60

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reading for pleasure xxvi, xxvi, xxvii–xxviii, xxix, xxx, 44, 47–8, 54, 88, 91, 98 see also reading-enjoyment author events 199 National Curriculum xxvi OECD evidence 145 Ofsted xxix reading aloud to children xxx, 48 Reading for Pleasure – what we know works xxvi relationship with other learning outcomes xxvii RO. GO. Strategy xxi, xxvi, xxix shadowing 132, 143, 149, 158 school libraries 127–8, 130–2, 137 timetabled lessons 138 reading materials organisation and relevance 40, 41–2, 43, 47, 49, 136, 201 diversity of 44, 70, 92, 130, 175, 194 non-book xxix, 18, 20, 49, 74, 76, 130, 191 Read On. Get On see RO. GO. ReadUp 85 reluctant readers 33–49 see also hard-to-reach readers audiobooks, role of 169–72, 182 Beanstalk support for 67–70, 76, 77, 79, 80 bibliotherapy with 100–3 definition of 34, 35–7, 43, 145–6 Finland 51–3 illustrated texts, value of 133–4, 136, 140, 156–8, 197–9 models of reading, need for 48 Print Matters More research xx Reluctance to Read 38–44 school libraries 127, 128, 130, 136, 139 shadowing 150, 152, 156, 158 vlogging 152 research xxi–iv ATL xxix ALA 129 audiobooks aiding comprehension 172 Blind Children UK 6 BOP Consulting xxvii British Cohort Data xx, xxx census data xxii, 110 classroom libraries 21 Daegu case study 91 DfBIS xx Egmont xxx Empathy Lab 108 evidence on literacy in UK xxi–xxiv evidence on reading enjoyment in Korea 88 impact of early years xxiv

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Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading xxv Kids and Family Reading Report xix, xxvii, xxx, 27 language skills and reading xxvi, xxxi NRP 23 NLCY 89, 93 NLT xxvii, 125 older people’s reading xx, xxiv OU 143, 146–8, 156, 161 PIRLS xxii, xxiv PISA 2002 xxvii; 2012 xxii poverty xxv puppets 9 reading aloud 22, 23 reading for pleasure xxvii reading on screen 12 reluctance to read 33, 38–44 RO. GO. xxii, xxiii, xxxi school libraries in the UK xxix, 21, 128 shadowing 143, 146–8, 156, 161 Softlink xxix TARS xxviii, 46, 48 Voices of Readers 17–18 RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) 3, 16 RO. GO. (Read On. Get On.) analysis of Assessment results xxii, xxxi Beanstalk support for 84 formation of xxi Ready to Read xxv research xxii, xxiii, xxxi Strategy xxi, xxvi, xxix Roald Dahl Foundation 3 Rose Report see Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading safeguarding 69, 76 Save the Children 77, 84, 32, 184 Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report xix, xxviii, xxx, 27 Survey of classrooms 21 school(s) Arts Award in 136 Beanstalk in 67, 69, 73, 77 Book Bundle Circulation Project 97–8 bullying in 129 Finland 51 independent reading in xxviii Korea 87–9, 90, 97–8 libraries in see School Libraries library links with 51–2, 54, 55, 57, 80

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school(s) (continued) reading for pleasure in see reading for pleasure secondary 36, 48, 84, 136 shadowing in see shadowing SLS support for xxix, 134, 138, 139–40 South Africa 82–3 teaching of reading see reading school librarians group leaders, shadowing 146, 148, 161 lack of xxix, 46, 98, 128, 146 reader promotion, role in 54, 128, 137, 139 supporting non-readers 48 tackling bullying 129 school libraries access to 21, 129, 137–8 attainment, link with xxix barriers, in school 128 Beanstalk 77, 79–80 choice, readers’ access to xxix curation of 21 cuts 46, 128 development, pupil led 137–9, 140 funding for xxix, 21, 128, 137, 139 impact on disadvantage xxix impact on reluctant readers 127–32 Finland 51 Korea, government policy 87, 89, 97 school librarians, lack of 98 not statutory 128 nurturing environment 129, 146 pupil librarians 129–31 research xxix, 21, 128 SLG see CILIP SLS support for xxix, 134, 138, 139–40 surveys, pupil 137 Scieszka, Jon 180–1 shadowing xxxiv, 49, 143–166 activities 150, 151–6; Twister 153; quizzes 155; book-specific 159–61, 164–5; cosplay 152; playlists 153 Carnegie 138, 153 celebration events 153–4 community of readers 144 comparison to class reading 148 food as hook 155, 160–1 group leaders, importance of 146, 147, 159, 161 Kate Greenaway 132, 156–8, 162–3 origins of 149 popular culture as hook 154 research 143, 144–5, 156 survey 144 toolkit 147–8, 154

website 135, 147, 150–1, 153, 164–5 Sissay, Lemn 202–3 SLA (School Library Association, UK) 46, 129, 130, 139 Seven Stories National Centre for Children’s Books 113, 114, 118, 119 SLS (Schools Library Service) xxix, 46, 120, 134, 138, 139–40 Stan Lee Excelsior Award 131–2 TaRs (Teachers as Readers) xxviii–ix, 46, 48 Teachers allowing choice in reading xxviii as readers xxviii–ix, 46, 48 assessment xxviii–ix, 20, 46, 48 ATL survey 45 in Finland 51, 55 knowledge of children’s literature 51 reading aloud xxix, 44, 45, 46, 201 special needs teacher 54, 63, 71 support for, by librarians xxxii, 48 terminology used 38 The Reader Organisation 194 Thornhill Community Academy 129–32, 139 socio-economic background 130 pupil librarians 129–131 Total Communication Method 8 traveller communities 113, 120–1 Trelease, Jim xix, 20, 22, 23, 30 UKLA (United Kingdom Literacy Association) 46 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Hamburg Declaration xix Literacy Initiative for Empowerment xix Persepolis Declaration xix Visual impairment xxxii, 170 audiobooks 172 Booktouch 2–6 pre-school children 4 visual literacy 11, 132–7, 140–1, 151, 197–9, 206; types of 198; Picture This 198–9 Volunteer Reading Help see Beanstalk volunteering 102, 146 websites 16, 22, 30, 32, 65, 147, 179, 199–200, 203 shadowing 135, 147, 150–1, 153, 164–5; website manager, pupil 151 World’s Most Literate Nations 51

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