Archive for the 'authors' Category
13 March 2012 at 10:02
Readathon's former Chairman Roald Dahl has been voted favourite children's author in a survey by the Teachit Primary website. Joint second were current Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson and JK Rowling. Julia Donaldson's "The Gruffalo" was voted best children's book.
All of these authors feature frequently on the lists of books chosen by primary school children for their Readathon sponsored read. Some especially prolific readers have even volunteered to read all of Roald Dahl's children's books or the complete Harry Potter series.
But Readathon participants are not obliged to read on this scale. Our sponsored reading scheme - the only UK national sponsored reading event - is designed to be accessible to readers of all ranges of ability.
"With Readathon, each child chooses their own reading material," explains Brough Girling, Readathon founder. "For some children, especially struggling or reluctant readers, completing just one book of any kind will be a real achievement. But the most important thing about Readathon is that it makes them realise that reading is fun. This encourages them to read for pleasure, a habit proven to provide substantial lifelong benefits."
Tags: primary school | reading | reluctant readers | struggling readers
Posted in benefits of reading for pleasure | authors | Readathon sponsored read | primary school | No Comments
02 March 2012 at 11:48
Jeff Kinney's Diary of A Wimpy Kid has been awarded Blue Peter Best Children's Book of the Last 10 Years. Children were asked to vote for titles in a shortlist of the decade's ten bestselling children's books, which included stories about Hogwarts wizard Harry Potter by J K Rowling and the tale of the young James Bond by Charlie Higson.
For the full story, please click here.
Posted in authors | awards | No Comments
10 October 2011 at 09:59
On Friday our office team enjoyed a day out at the nearby Cheltenham Festival of Literature 2011 to attend Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson's fabulous Singalong event.
Accompanied by her husband on the guitar, she engaged 600 schoolchildren in her lively songs and stories. Her sister and great-nieces joined the cast, along with lots of children from the audience, together acting out favourites such as "The Stick Man" and "The Gruffalo", who made a special guest appearance in person!
After the event, we enjoyed chatting to Julia to find out more about her work. Did you know she started her career as a children's songwriter? She was equally interested in hearing the latest news from Readathon, of which she is a great advocate.
"Inspiring children to read is the greatest gift you can give them", she says.
She is also keen on our new Readwell programme, which takes books and storytellers into children's hospitals, not least because her guitar-playing husband Malcolm is a paediatrician.
An interview given by Julia later that afternoon is now available to see here. Her next mission is to collect her MBE later this week, awarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours, a few days after she was made Children's Laureate!
Tags: Julia Donaldson | Children's Laureate | The Gruffalo | The Stick Man | Julia Donaldson | Children's Laureate | The Gruffalo | The Stick Man
Posted in Cheltenham Festival of Literature | authors | No Comments
27 September 2011 at 12:47
Hawkesbury Primary School in South Gloucestershire enjoyed a memorable launch for its recent Readathon with a visit from the charity’s founder and children’s author, Brough Girling.
Brough spent time in each classroom, reading stories, telling jokes and answering their questions about what it’s like to write books.
In assembly, Brough entertained staff and children alike with anecdotes about his friend Roald Dahl, Readathon’s first chairman. The children were particularly intrigued by Dahl’s boyhood encounter with Beatrix Potter.
“The free books from Readathon are especially welcome as we are working hard to expand and modernize our Infant and Junior Libraries in the face of substantial budget cuts,” says Mrs Louise Lewis, Head Teacher.
“We are also keen to demonstrate to our pupils that reading and writing are lifelong pleasures of equal interest and value to boys and girls, so a visit by a male author was really constructive. We love supporting children’s charities too.
“I recommend Readathon to any school that wants to enthuse their pupils about reading, to build their library stocks and to find a different way of raising money for charity. With Readathon, everybody wins.”
Brough Girling also enjoyed his visit.
“What a lovely village school!” he remarked.
“The wonderful thing about schools and young people, is that even in today’s economic climate, they are still eager to raise money for those less fortunate than themselves,” he says.
Tags: Readathon | primary school | reading | boys reading | sponsored read
Posted in free books | authors | school visits | Readathon sponsored read | No Comments
09 August 2011 at 11:27
Julia Donaldson, children's author and the current Children's Laureate, loves Readathon and says about it:
"Inspiring children to read is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. I'd recommend Readathon to anyone."
Tags: Julia Donaldson | Children's Laureate
Posted in benefits of reading for pleasure | authors | No Comments
