Books are books right? They all look the same, feel the same and smell the same? Well, no. If you take the time to open a Barrington Stoke titles you will be aware that you are looking at a book with a difference. The pages are well banana coloured, the chapters short and easily accessible, the font just the bit easier on the eye and the page set up just that bit simpler to follow.
Is this a fluke? Has the world gotten a little bit stranger?
Nope- this is how Barrington Stoke see the world or indeed how they want their readers to see the world.
As a fluent reader from an early age I find it difficult to comprehend just how hard it must be for some pupils with specific reading issues to pick up and read a book.
If words danced in front of your eyes and shapes and order lost their meaning would you keep going? Barrington Stoke books and those like them make reading easier. Please don’t just take my word for it take the words of my S1 class a mix of fluent and not so fluent readers who were up for the challenge of reading some of my over 200 different Barrington Stoke titles.
We started with a very honest lesson about how we saw ourselves as readers and what reading meant to us. Several pupils would not class themselves as readers at all with one or two saying they didn’t read at all. For some reading was a pleasure which they often indulged in after school for others just another bit of classwork.
Our challenge was to read 3 titles over the course of 3 months. So far, after 3 weeks most pupils have read 2 titles. I could not be prouder and neither could they.
I chose one lesson to be reflective- How are they getting on? What do they like and what don’t they like? How do they see themselves now?
Here are some quotes from my brilliant readers to speak for themselves –
Here is what they had to say when I asked them I have ( or have not) enjoyed reading this Barrington Stoke book because:
I just enjoyed it I don’t really know why.
It is very interesting because there are lots of characters in it and a lot of different storyline.
It was really interesting when it came to the Saturday game because I didn’t know what Blake was going to choose. This book made me not want to stop.
It was about football
The font is much easier to read
The books are short and really exciting to read!
It is very interesting and mysterious and at some moments it can be a little bit funny
I have never read a book like this
The pages are different colours and it is easier for me because I have Meares Irlen.
It was really exciting and I wanted to know what happened next.
I have loved this book because it was a horror/sport/romance novel. It covered lots of different types of things which kept me interested.
it is quite upsetting at the fact that Matthew hasn’t got a lot of money and is getting bullied, but I found it interesting when he got the new uniform and the bully ended up being the one who got bullied.
I found the story to be interesting. I wanted to know whether or not he would be able to convince people he was really ill.
I like the story.
It is really exciting and tense. You don’t know if he is going to succeed or not.
These books are better because it’s a better font because my dyslexia I find it harder for me to read fonts
I can not tell you how proud I am of these pupils willing to give this project a go and being able to see the results.
Who knows how far they will go after this?
