Inclusive Stories
Our last round of books focused on LGBT+ families and inclusive stories. All children deserve to see their own lives represented in the stories we share and books are a fantastic way to build empathy and understanding of others. The discussion was very positive and one of the most interesting points raised was that the LGBT+ family books were just accepted by the children as books about families in general and that we, as adults, can put our own preconceptions onto books. The children didn’t see a label, they just saw families and children like them. My Friends and Me by Stephanie Stansbie is wonderful as it shows a whole range of different families: LGBT+, single parents, foster parents, step families and many more.
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Tag: Literacy
Sharing books on-line
Over the coming weeks, Kelpies (imprint of Floris Publishers) will be adding to their bank of resources with videos of creators sharing their own stories as well as activities, discussion points and learning resources for children of all ages. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for details of the latest additions, and check out their YouTube channel.
You will find a complete list of all available resources in the Features for Teachers section of the blog.
If you are looking for a way to continue class reading or storytime, please visit the website here
#FalkirkReadingTeachers Book Group Reviews
The Learning Resource Service runs two book groups for teachers and early years practitioners in the Falkirk council area. They aim to:
- increase teacher knowledge of quality children’s books
- support teachers in creating a reading culture in their classroom
- provide opportunities to talk about children’s books
- identify books that support different aspects of the curriculum
- ensure that the books we promote to children are diverse and inclusive
- have fun!
If you need some reading inspiration or want to find out about good reads for your pupils then click on the link above.
The RED Book Award is 15 years old!
The RED Book Award celebrates its 15th anniversary and to mark this achievement, the wonderful shortlist focuses on a BAME theme:
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman
A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
My Name’s Not Friday by Jon Walters
The authors will join the young people in each Falkirk Council secondary school at the digital Award Ceremony on Wednesday 19th May 2021. The Award Ceremony will feature creative interpretations of each of the shortlisted books by the young people and a Q & A session with the authors before the winning book is revealed.
The RED Book Award ceremony on the 19th May 2021 was attended by all the shortlisted authors and the S2 RED classes from 6 of our secondary schools. The authors gave us interesting and insightful guidance on writing, there was dancing and prizes were awarded for best alternative ending and front cover designs of the shortlisted books and the Q and A session was really interesting.
Congratulations to all the authors for reaching the RED shortlist.
Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin.
Author of the Week: Sally Gardner from the National Literacy Trust
Read and listen for free Sally Gardner’s Mr Tiger, Betsy and the Blue Moon, illustrated by Nick Maland. An enchanting story by a much loved author about Betsy K Glory, the daughter of a mermaid and an ice-cream maker, who meets the mysterious Mr Tiger and they have a giant challenge: a moon to turn blue, berries to collect and wishable-delicious ice cream to create. The sort that makes wishes come true.
You can also watch an exclusive video with Sally to hear all about her The Tindims of Rubbish Island stories, discover Sally’s top three children’s books and enjoy Questions & Answers to find out more about Sally.
Read, listen and enjoy here
The Book of Hopes
The Learning Resource Service promoted The Book of Hopes when it was published last year, it is a wonderful book to comfort and inspire children. Edited by the well known and loved author Katherine Rundell, it contains contributions from more than 100 writers and illustrators, including Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz, Greg James and Chris Smith, Michael Morpurgo, Liz Pichon, Axel Scheffler, Francesca Simon and Jacqueline Wilson. The publisher, Bloomsbury, have kindly made the on-line book available free during this lockdown.
There are some brilliant activities and ideas that have been produced based on the Book of Hopes as well as a challenge to spread hope, inspiration and a love of reading in your school and local community with a chance to win prizes!
Free e-Books from Oxford University Press
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
Mantra Lingua offers free access to E-books
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.
Dan Freedman’s football challenge
Enjoy an interview with the best selling author Dan Freedman, the writer of the FANTASTIC Jamie Johnson football novels, take a Premier League challenge and VERY IMPORTANTLY read Dan Freedman’s e-book The Kick Off here absolutely free!
Enjoy!
The RED Book Award ceremony goes digital!
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.