When we sat down to think about the best way to encourage children to read we thought ‘That’s not enough – we want our children to LOVE books’. Then someone said it out loud:
“That’s not enough – we want our children to LOVE books” (it was probably Mrs Drew), and then we had to sit down again and think about HOW we get children to fall in love with books again. Then we realised (after much thought and gnashing of teeth and chewing of pencils) that the way to get children to fall in love with books is to give them remarkably brilliant books to fall in love with. So that’s what we decided to do – GIVE them books and give them remarkably brilliant books.
How do we do it? Something like this…
Children have to read at least three times a week at home. Their planner/diary has to be signed by a parent or older sibling or by their Aunty Pam or their goldfish (if their goldfish can remember their name because goldfish have remarkably short memories).
If they have at least three reads signed off, children get their names entered into a draw.
If their names get pulled out of the hat/bucket/old brown shoe they get to choose a book!
It has to be a remarkably brilliant book.
It has to be off a list of remarkably brilliant books we found on the internet.