Sophie McKenzie

Well done to Sophie McKenzie on winning in her category and also being named the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award. Our school really enjoyed the book, in fact they thought all 3 of the older category were worthy winners, and all the staff enjoyed it to!!

RHCBA

WOW what a ceremony and a great result for reading general!!

I was really lucky to not only enjoy a great ceremony but to meet some really great people at this years Red House Children's Book Award Ceremony. The ceremony is always one of the massive highlights of the year and this year was by no means an exception. The whole atmosphere was buzzing from the very moment that the children started to arrive. You could feel their anticipation as they met their favourite authors and gathered numbers of signatures from those whose books they had spent the last year reading and enjoying.

For me it was great to see so many people having fun and enjoying themselves in the name of books and reading. That is what the Award to me is about. It's not just a recognition of all the books that have been read through the year and all the work that the organisers and children have put into it. But its also a recognition of great writers, writing books that we enjoy and ultimately it's about reading. Celebrating a love and enjoyment in its art and giving something back to that act which has given us so much pleasure!!

All in all a great day and very enjoyable with a very worthy set of shortlisted authors and winners. Special congrats go to Sophie McKenzie - Blood Ties is a great book!

Literacy Trust

I met with the Literacy Trust yesterday to talk about how we as organisations can work together. It seems silly that there are so many organisations out there all trying to get reading seen as an important issue and getting as many people reading as possible, that we are not working together to achieve our aims.
The meeting was extremely useful and highlighted ways that in the future we might be able to build more of a partnership.
It is my belief that by working with other organisations the potential impact for the Federation is massive. Not only are we able to reach a wider range of areas but also of children and families. The Literacy Trust is interested in the Literacy of families and especially those families in areas where literacy is a problem. Through the work we do we are already reaching some of these areas but as always we want to do more and get more children reading.
Hopefully in the months to come we will be able to meet with most of the bodies involved in reading and builld the relationships between us, which in the end will benefit readers and potential readers, which is what we are all aiming to do!!

Telegraph Article

On wednesday there was an article in the Telegraph on what it is that makes children read. As a school librarian that is reasonably active, I was quite taken aback by how the article stated that reading does not happen in schools and that it is at home where children are learning to read and being engaged in reading. I can only imagine that this is a side swipe at the curriculum and lack of whole book reading that occurs, something that Michael Rosen commented throughout his Laureateship. But the article did not mention at all the work that goes on in libraries. Sometimes a school library is the only place where a child will have access to books. The article praises parents for the work they do but there is no mention of other organisations such as the Federation, Literacy Trust, Booktrust etc where so much work goes on. Anyway moan over, it is nice to see more about reading in the national press, you just wish that maybe the articles reflected real life better!!

Two Laureates

I was lucky enough to go and see both Michael Rosen and Andrew Motion talk at the British Library yesterday on poetry in childhood and both of their experiences of poetry when they were young. The talk, as is what you expect from two dedicators of changing the curriculum to support more poetry, focussed a lot on what children in schools are receiving now. One of the main points made was how little interaction both Laureates had with poets and authors in their repective youths and that they never had a writer visit their schools. They both agreed that this gave them a massive disadvantage. As they were saying this I couldn't help but think of all the authors our groups manage to get into schools to give students the opportunity to see what a real life writer is like. I can only imagine the impact that this has on the children that get to see these authors and have them enthusing them about the art of writing itself.
I know when I was young we never had a visit from an author either and there was always a sense that people who wrote books were either dead or were these great people who were so inaccessible that if I ever wanted to become a writer then it was something that would be very hard to achieve. Now I'm not saying it is easy to become a writer in terms of published work, many a writer will tell you that they have a whole file of rejection letters, but what I have come to realise is that authors are just like you or me. They are not inaccessible at all in fact quite the opposite. In my school library I try and get as many authors as possible to come and talk to as many students as possible. The comments I get back from the kids is amazing and you can really see the impact it has on their reading and their writing. So far this year our author visits are in double figures and when we run them we have people clambering at the doors to get in. The teachers all want their classes to see the author and its not to get a free lesson its because they know the impact that it has on the students.
The fact that the Federation brings so many authors to so many children is a massive achievement. Everyone that runs a session with children and authors knows the positive impact that it has, not only in the short term but also in the long term. There are so many different ways that author visits can influence people. Nowadays I am still enthused to go away and read an authors book and even to believe that maybe one day I might be a writer. If this is the effect on me then imagine what it is like for all the children to realise that becoming an author is actually an achievable thing and something they can strive towards.

Well i think i my just have recovered from conference!! thank you to everyone for all their lovely comments over the weekend and I hope that people will enjoy following me over the course of the next year. Like I said in my speech at the close of conference every year we go to a magical place to meet old friends and make new ones and to be enthused about the year that lies ahead of us to go and do the best s we can to fulfil our promise of bringing books to as many children as possible. As we sit and listen to the wonderful authors talking and then discuss with friends old and new what we have seen and heard we leave conference with renewed expectations as to what we can achieve in the future. We are all volunteers who do these roles with our hearts first because we know it is the right thing to do, we know the difference we make even if others don't. Conference allows us remember this, as we are surrounded by people just like us, people passionate about reading and books we are recharged, reinvigorated to go and encourage new readers and expand those already reading. Conference really is a magical experience and one that takes a couple of days to digest!!

Well as the conference starts to loom ever closer and with my speech having its final touches made to it I am full of hope for the next year. After the NYR reading has been more in the spot light recently and whether or not you feel the NYR was a success or not, more people are talking about reading. This can only be a good thing, and gives the opportunity and opens doors for other great work to be showcased. I am hoping that we as a Federation will continue to build on the good work we do and that this will develop further readers and reading communities through our national and local work!