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Three Fantastic Magazines for Children

Have you ever thought you'd like to subscribe to a magazine for your children, but something with a little more depth and less gender stereotyping than the average glossy mag that can be slipped into the shopping trolley at the supermarket? Living…
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How can we as parents turn around reluctant readers?

Do you have a child you really have to coerce into reading? Does it sometimes feels as though everybody else's kids are racing through books whilst your child will do anything they can think of to avoid it? We, as parents, would all love our…
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Lessons learned about Reading & Writing in 2015

READING Read outside your comfort zone. There is, I can't deny, something so wonderful and luxuriant about snuggling down with a book you just know you will enjoy. But taking a few risks with reading can yield surprising, exciting responses.…
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A mini-bookworm's TOP TEN reads from 2015

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my top ten reads of 2015 and now I'd like to share with you my nine year old's top ten reads of this year as it draws to a close. I often bring my children into my blogs in one way or another and this time…
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Looking for books for Christmas gifts? My top 10 fiction reads of the year

As Christmas is fast approaching, I thought I'd blog this week on my favourite ten books I've read this year. This doesn't mean they were written this year, in fact the oldest amongst my choice (The Go Between) dates back to 1953. It was a…
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9 Tips for putting the 'child' back into childhood

In light of the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday 13th November, what I wanted to blog about pales into insignificance. Sometimes I truly feel that the world is so environmentally, morally and ideologically broken that all I would like to…
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Why scary reading for kids is a good thing and 5 of the Best

"Fear is a wonderful thing. In small doses. You ride the ghost train into the darkness, knowing that eventually the doors will open and you will step out into the daylight once again." Neil Gaiman Illustration of Edgar Allan Poe's 'Tales of…
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Why as parents and teachers we must all read aloud to older children

'If speaking is silver, then listening is gold.' Turkish Proverb We all know about the benefits of reading to young children, even from birth. It's been drilled into us as parents and teachers and carers to such an extent you'd be hard pressed…
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Which kids' book inspired one man to cycle across the globe?

SuperCyclingMan, currently in Germany I have a friend I went to university with, Will Hodson, who is currently at the start of a five year cycling journey that will take him across all seven continents. And not only that, but he is cycling…
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Fighting back against Kenya's alleged 'non-reading' culture

A couple of weeks ago, I ran a creative writing session in a school with about twenty 10 and 11 year old's. This is the place where I do voluntary work about once a fortnight and the kinds of writing exercises I get the kids to do is received…