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Poems of a Teenage Girl

Last year, I spied a book in the window of my local bookshop, How to Grown your own Poem by Kate Clanchy. I loved the cover and the title and often use poetry to help my students with creative literacy, so decided to treat myself to…
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How to set up a virtual book club for young people

Several weeks ago, I did something I said I'd never do: I joined my first book club. Why was I so against it? I imagine it has something to do with the piles of un-read books lying around my house that I really want to get to. If I desperately…
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The Children's Choice: What are the best books out there?

‘I can promise reading will change your life for the better,’ writes beloved children’s and YA author Judy Blume. ‘You’ll be smarter, savvier, you’ll have a way to connect with people of all ages, and you’ll never be bored. What…
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✳︎ 6 Books for a Compassionate Christmas ✳︎

How is everybody coping as Christmas edges ever closer? I don't know about anybody else, but when December hits and Christmas starts carolling towards us, as much as I love this season, I sometimes feel like burying my head under a pillow and…
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My 5 favourite books from the first half of 2018

'Someone reading a book is a sign of order in the world.' Mary Ruefle Over the past six months as I have been travelling round India, I have been reading and reading and reading. Not that this is any different from normal, but what has been…
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Why I still read aloud to my children

Its been 1.5 years since I wrote my last blog about reading aloud to children, even older children. My kids are now 11,9 & 7 and I thought I’d give an update on what we’re doing now. Well, I’m still reading to my three most nights…
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#FeministFebruary - A shout out from India

Virginia Woolf As February draws to a close, I am sneaking in with a quick blog post to celebrate #FeministFebruary as I only discovered its existence the other day. Coincidentally, I am reading Virginia Woolf's book A Room of One's Own (1929) at…
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? Happy International Book Giving Day! ?

International Book Giving Day! It truly does exist! And, bookworm that I am, I cannot resist taking part. This is a day devoted, in their own words to 'getting new, used and borrowed books in the hands of as many children as possible.' What's…
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Move over Valentines, International Book Giving Day, here we come!

We all know that February 14th is Valentine's Day, but probably far less of us are aware that it's also International Book Giving Day. Never heard of it? Well, despite being in its sixth year, I put my hands up and say that neither had I until…
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You HAVE to read this book!

'You HAVE to read this book!" These were the words uttered by both my eight and ten year old daughters, independently of one another and approximately six months apart. To quantify: my children never say this to me about books that they read,…