Thursday 28 August 2008

Booked Up - free books for yr 7s

On Monday 11 June 2007 the Department for Education and Skills is launching an exciting new national programme for England aimed at encouraging Year 7 children to read for pleasure. The scheme will be administered on behalf of the DfES by Booktrust, the independent national charity that encourages people of all ages to discover and enjoy reading.
Every 11 year old in your school will be able to choose a free book from a list of 12 specially selected titles. Funded by the DfES, the project is inspired by, and will build on the success of, the national Bookstart programme, which aims to provide free packs of books to every baby in England.

The Booked Up programme will give schools: a free book for every Year 7 pupil; supporting magazines, bookmarks and stickers; additional activities and promotional materials; and a website with further ideas and resources for you and your pupils.

Register by Friday 29 June 2007 to receive a free set of Booked Up books for your school.
All schools need to do now is elect a coordinator and register online, by telephoning 0845 606 4262 or by faxing 0845 606 4242.

Thursday 3 July 2008

Book Ahead!

Book Ahead is an initiative by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England, which aims to get enjoyable books into the hands of young children in Early Years settings to develop enjoyment in reading at an early stage, and also to strengthen the links between those settings and their local public and Schools Library Services.It is based on a booklist commissioned from the School Library Association, written by Julia Eccleshare, with contributions from other library organisations. The booklist is available free and each local authority in England has been funded by DCSF to purchase books from the list to use with Early Years settings such as playgroups and nurseries in their area.The full version of the booklist is available online, including search and index facilities, the introduction and the appendices. The whole booklist is also available to download as a PDF file.

www.bookahead.org.uk


Book Ahead was officially launched by Schools Minister Jim Knight in June 2008, and the books and booklists are being rolled out by local authority library services around England over the next few months.

Carnegie Medal Book Award

I have just finished shadowing the Carnegie Book Award (for the fourth time now too) and just want to say how much I enjoyed it. The mixture of delights that came my way through the choice of books was fantastic. I have once again been able to read new books that I would never otherwise have read and also had the opportunity to meet new authors/genres.

www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk

Fancy a swap?

How about swapping books? I've just discovered Read it Swap it website

http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/TheLibrary.aspx

It's wonderful!

Grab a bookmark

Bookmarks have always been a vital part of reading and as a child I always loved to collect them. No matter what book I had, I always had a bookmark on hand. Now even as an adult you will still find me with a bookmark and you will often find me designing my own too. A bookmark becomes your friend!

Special touches

Reading a book is wonderful enough but having something to accompany the book is even better. I always try to buy the story I am reading on audio - if it's available that is. Once I've read the book I then listen to the audio - what a wonderful way to help the story sink in even more.

National Year of Reading 2008

What have you been reading this year?
Books, newspapers, magazines, journals?

Doesn't matter what you have been reading, the fact that you have been reading means so much during this special year.