Still some issues
However, several adviser and consultant friends, currently working in schools, continue to express concerns to me that some teachers are overwhelmed by the vast number of books available and still lack confidence in choosing them. Although reading aloud and supporting reading for pleasure are enjoying a wonderful renaissance, there are still some teachers who are hesitant to devote curriculum time to reading aloud and, when they do, only read from a very limited range of books.
New resource offered
I have therefore been persuaded to start a new blog of my own, aimed primarily at these teachers. It offers a small number of recommendations of great books to read aloud, together with my top tips for effective ‘Story Time’. It is based on over forty years of experience, very many as a teacher and adviser, but also as a parent and grandparent, who has consistently read hundreds of children’s books a year, and continues to do so.
The blog can be found at FromTheStoryChair.blogspot.com
I have organised my recommendations into themes and age groups, but deliberately limited suggestions in each to just a small handful of titles, hoping not to overwhelm with choice. My aspiration is to add further themes over time, but not to increase the number of suggestions within each theme, This means that the blog is intended as no more than a ‘starter’ resource. I am fully aware that there are so many other great books I have not included and many other fine recommendation sites available. I simply hope that I might help to set a few more teachers off on the wonderful adventure of discovery and enjoyment to be found in exploring the world of children’s books, as well as giving them confidence that sharing books with children needs to be a core experience of almost every school day.