A colourful free e-Book helping to talk through feelings around covid 19 with young children. Available from Oxford University Press here
Winnie and Wilbur Stay at Home from the popular series by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul is available as an e-Book with fun activities and can be downloaded free here
Great news! Mantra Lingua is a UK based publisher of award winning multilingual education resources and is offering free access to ebooks for home reading. Their ebooks come in 37 languages and you can enjoy the books free until 31st August 2020.
Click here to sign up and start reading.
The RED Book Award, now in its 14th year, was in danger of not going ahead because of the coronavirus, however it was decided to organise the ceremony on-line. Over 70 teachers and pupils gathered on Microsoft Teams on 27/5/2020 to join the 4 wonderful shortlisted authors:
Lauren James who wrote The Quiet at the End of the World
Matt Killeen who wrote Orphan Monster Spy
Gill Lewis who wrote The Closest Thing to Flying
Fiona Shaw who wrote Outwalkers
The Q & A session was excellent with the authors answering brilliant questions from the pupils. The ceremony was interrupted with some occasional ‘hand dancing’ by the librarians, teachers, guests and authors! The young people had written alternative endings to the shortlisted books and the overall winner, from Larbert HS, had written another ending to The Closest Thing to Flying, the author, Gill Lewis, said she was “blown away” by the writing.
And then it was time to open the red envelope to reveal the winning book:
The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James who was delighted and said it was her first regional book award win!
Congratulations Lauren.
Award-winning children’s author, Katherine Rundell, has launched The Book of Hopes: Words and Pictures to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain Children in Lockdown, which is hosted exclusively on the National Literacy Trust’s Family Zone.
Completely free for all children and families, the extraordinary collection of short stories, poems, essays and pictures has contributions from more than 110 children’s writers and illustrators.
At this time you may wish to read stories online as one of the many ways to digitally engage children and young people. Many publishers understand this, and have temporarily lifted or adjusted their copyright guidelines and permissions, please visit this website to find out which publishers have adjusted their policies. You will also find guidelines to follow from each participating publisher.
Don’t forget that many others are offering free resources and tools on their websites.
Due to the school closures, the deadline for sending submissions to the First Minister’s Reading Challenge has been extended to the 14th May 2020.
Your evidence of nurturing a love of reading can be in the form of a piece of writing, or a film, photo diary, presentation or mind map. It may not be what you had intended due to the lockdown, but Scottish Book Trust are really keen to hear about your good work.
Scottish Book Trust is also running an online webinar on 21st April on how to submit your Challenge entry, more information can be found here.
GOOD LUCK!
Barrington Stoke have pulled together all their free learning resources which can be found here
The resources are a brilliant way to support children and young people’s learning as well as offering them exciting opportunities, for example the Young Editors Scheme, where young people can download manuscripts before publication and shape what is published.
There is also a list of links to other useful sites to help learning at home.
Book Trust have developed this digital hub. It is packed full of free books, videos, games, recipes, competitions, quizzes and much more. Plus, watch live readings and draw-a-longs with celebrated children’s authors and illustrators..
Why not try RadioBlogging – daily shows with interactive activities to keep everyone busy and engaged, brought to you by Pie Corbett, Deputy Mitchell, Ian Rockey and Russell Prue. Just listen and blog, it’s live, fun and interactive with new educational tasks each day for children to engage with at home or in school. CLICK HERE to visit and listen to any of the previous RadioBlogging Shows.
Remember to visit the Scottish Book Trust website for loads of great ideas for reading and writing. You can also meet amazing authors and illustrators on-line – here is what’s on offer in April and May:
Tuesday 14 April, 11am Liz Pichon: Featuring lots of giggles and doodles, author and illustrator Liz Pichon explores the world of her well-loved character, Tom Gates. Suitable for ages 8-11.
Thursday 16 April, 11am Nikesh Shukla: Hear about Nikesh’s powerful novel The Boxer, the impact of experiencing racist abuse, and how sport can empower young people. Suitable for ages 12+.
Tuesday 21 April, 11am Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton: Have your drawing supplies at the ready for a fun-filled event with the team behind the hilarious Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam books. Suitable for ages 6-11.
Thursday 23 April, 11am Nick Sharratt: Learn how illustrator Nick Sharratt creates well-loved characters, such as Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker and Kes Gray’s Daisy. Suitable for ages 6-11.
Tuesday 28 April, 11am Julia Donaldson, Julia brings to life some of her best loved heroes and villains with costumes, puppets and song. Suitable for ages 3-6.
Thursday 30 April, 11am Kwame Alexander: Join multi-award winning author Kwame Alexander for a compelling discussion about his books and the power of poetry. Suitable for ages 12+.
Tuesday 5 May, 11am Emily Mackenzie: Draw along with this fantastic event, featuring a wonderful reading of Emily’s picture book There’s Broccoli in My Ice Cream! Suitable for ages 3-6.
Thursday 7 May, 11am Lauren St John and Elizabeth Laird: Explore the importance of looking after the oceans, and hear all about where these amazing authors get their inspiration from! Suitable for ages 6-11.
Falkirk Council’s Learning Resource Service has added e-books and unabridged e-audio books to the resources available to borrow for pupils and school staff. This is a brilliant way to develop and maintain a love of reading especially in the current situation where schools and public libraries are closed.
We have invested in a number of campaign titles allowing simultaneous access to certain titles e.g. Holes, The Wizards of Once and The Boy Who Grew Dragons.
| Also, BorrowBox has been working with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore to support the #HarryPotterAtHome initiative and we are offering unlimited loans to the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone until 30th April 2020. |
There are two main ways to log in:
Have a look at the really helpful videos available here to show how to sign in and borrow books.
A free information book was released this week to help explain the coronavirus to children, illustrated by the Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler.
You can access it here.
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