Nine year old devours 364 books in 7 months......by Miriam Halahmy

There are more and more articles in the newspaper about remarkable reading marathons by children. 9 year old Faith Jackson from Cheshire loves reading so much she has devoured hundreds of books in less than a year. "I mostly like books with animals or magic or adventure in them," says Faith - so that's most of them, then
A five year old in Louisiana has apparently read 875 books in a year according to her school librarian.
How wonderful...at a time when we are constantly told that children are not reading, spend all their time on computer games, etc. etc.
But actually, that wasn't my initial reaction.
My first thought was - Lucky girl!
When I was a child I simply didn't have access to 364 fresh new books in a year, or even two years, let alone 7 months. Growing up in the 1950s we didn't buy books, we went to the library. We were only allowed to borrow three books a week and as children we had no access to the adult library until we were 11 years old.

It took me less than a day to read my library books.
We had a school library, two shelves of musty dog-eared books about things like pond life, about which I had no interest, but always borrowed a book whenever given the opportunity out of sheer desperation. We could only take out one book twice a term.
Other than that, I had two books which my mother was given as a child:-
Little Women - for which I am eternally grateful and must have read it about a hundred times. It was given to Mum by her siblings when she was a child and we both loved it. Then I gave it to my daughter.Our copy is nearly eighty years old.


The Flowers and their story - my mother loved flowers and could name all the wild flowers even though she was born in London.

I won two books as school prizes; The Secret Garden, probably my favourite book ever and a picture book, Animal Babies. The photos are all in black and white and I used to kiss the pictures of the sweet baby animals. ( Very edgy!)

I was also given a book by my aunt when I passed the eleven plus - The Island of Blue Dolphins, which I also loved and must have read dozens of times.

But how to get books? That was the biggest issue of my childhood. My unquenched thirst for books.
One trick was to go through the bookshelf ( they didn't have more than one) of wealthier friends/ relatives and say, "Any books you've finished with?" I usually came away with two or three. Generally at least one was an annual and one a book I wasn't that interested in, but I wasn't picky. I would read the instructions on a washing packet if there was nothing else.

Once I had read all the borrowed, begged and presented books then I always had Arthur Mee's set of encyclopaedias - all ten volumes. Here began my love of poetry as I read aloud, copied out and learnt off by heart reams of poems from Wordsworth to A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go. I read them until they threatened to fall to pieces and I still have them today. They went through my children and are gearing themselves up to grandchildren.

But our children had access to any amount of books they could read, with school libraries, public libraries they could visit every single day of the week if they chose, books in sales, books in charity shops, books as presents and books bought just because they wanted to read them.

Yes - I can't help looking back on the child I was and feeling rather jealous - but I am also delighted to be living in a time when a nine year old child ( in some parts of the world) can read a thousand books a year if she/he wishes and is able to.
It's not a race - it's all about access and now with Kindle - the sky's the limit.



www.miriamhalahmy.com

At the Edge of the World Cup: Football and Reading—a winning combination?

By the time this post goes live, we will be eight days into the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals. It’s hard to escape football, with news and comment from Brazil dominating the airwaves and filling the streets. I like football, but I appreciate it’s not for everyone. In fact, I imagine some readers will be on the verge of clicking away to another post—but stay with me.

There are a lot of young sports fans out there, most of whom would much rather be outside kicking, or hitting, a ball than settling down with a book—but maybe sport and reading have more in common than we think. 

As a supporter of an extraordinarily unsuccessful football team, I’ve long been aware of the drama inherent in the game—in fact, what is a football match if not the classic quest story? All the ingredients are there: a closely knit band of brothers (a fellowship if you will) in search of a mythical trophy (believe me, for many fans, such trophies are indeed the stuff of legend). These protagonists are watched over by a manager or coach—an older, sometimes enigmatic figure—guiding them with words of wisdom from the sidelines. We have conflict—adversaries trying to stop our heroes from obtaining their goal. These opposing forces are often more powerful and ruthless than our plucky idols. There is a beginning, a middle and an end; a repeating series of try/fail cycles where our players attempt to use what skills they have to achieve their aims; we have characters, heroes and villains: the angry one; a young hopeful; the mercurial maverick; the legendary almost magical one; the unlikely hero waiting on the bench. As for the setting—what could be more dramatic and evocative than a full football stadium? That palpable sense of anticipation, hope and fear, carried across the floodlit field by thousands of voices raised in song. If you like stories containing heroism, a struggle against the odds, conflict, glory and failure … the World Cup Finals might not be such a bad place to look.

But can sport provide a way into reading? Once the finals are over, there will be many young fans feeling a sense of loss—a World Cup shaped hole in their lives—and there are thousands of great books that could plug that gap. Apart from the many biographies and magazines, there is a wealth of sports fiction available. I wish authors like Mal Peet, Tom Palmer and Helena Pielichaty had been writing when I was growing up, not to mention the impressive list of authors who have written about football on the National Literacy Trust’s Premier League Reading Stars website.

Here are a few links to resources that may be helpful in tempting young sports fans to pick up a book …

Premier League Reading Stars FREE World Cup resources

The Reading Agency Kick Off! Football Action Chatterbooks Activity Pack

Oxford University Press Charlie Merrick Free Football Resources

A list of my top 11 football books

Charlie Merrick's step by step guide to drawing a football action scene

Charlie Merrick’s Misfits in Fouls, Friends and Football by Dave Cousins, is out now, published by Oxford University Press.

Why We Should Read YA and Fairy Tales

by Edge Author Katie Dale 

There’s been a lot in the press lately about what you should and shouldn’t read, from Gove’s rejigging of GCSE set texts, to Dawkins’ views on Fairy Tales to Ruth Graham’s criticism of adults reading YA. I love books, yet for me nothing threatens this love more than being told what I can and can’t read. English was always my favourite subject ast GCSE and A level, and I didn’t think twice when choosing English Literature as my degree subject. However, that was precisely when it became a chore. Suddenly I had to read a LOT of books in a short space of time, I couldn’t choose any of them, and many of them I disliked. I remember plodding through one dry, never-ending novel, imbibing endless cups of coffee as I forced myself to finish it. Reading was no longer fun, and what’s worse, I stopped reading for pleasure as I simply didn’t have the time.

It was the same when taking piano lessons as a child. I loved playing the piano, but scales and arpeggios sucked the love right out of it, till finally I refused to take exams altogether. Of course I understand both that academic courses need to have set texts, and that dutifully practicing my scales and arpeggios might have made me a better pianist, but I wanted to play music and songs I enjoyed – I wanted playing the piano to be fun, not a boring chore, and by ditching the grades, my love of the piano remains intact. 

Likewise, I rediscovered reading for pleasure once the constraints of set texts had been lifted, and consequently flinch at being told what I should and shouldn’t read for pleasure in my own leisure time. 

As it so happens, I write exactly the kind of stories that have caused such controversy lately – Fairy Tales (or rather, twisted versions) and YA “crossover” novels that I hope both adults and teens alike will enjoy. Consequently, it may come as no surprise that I believe that we  shouldn’t feel guilty for reading fairy tales or YA.

And here are some reasons why.

Fairy Tales

1) They excite and expand children’s imagination – in a world of magic ANYTHING can happen! 

2) They introduce children to the elements of story-building: setting, character, plot etc the building bricks for their own future stories.

3) Fairy Tales teach children valuable lessons disguised as fantastical, enjoyable stories: don’t talk to strangers; don’t lie; don’t judge by appearances. They also provide a moral compass, teaching us about the importance of love, honor, sacrifice, hope, courage, hard work, and  justice.

4) They provide a “safe” environment in which to introduce children to real-life darker issues such as child cruelty, abduction etc

5) Fairy Tales simultaneously cross cultural boundaries and give us a common language. Pretty much every child knows the story of Cinderella, despite cultural variations. 

YA

1) Teens are some of the most discerning readers out there. They have no time for padding, lazy plotting or pages of description – their attention span is arguably too short. Consequently, YA novels are among the most fast-paced, action packed, page-turning books out there.

2) They engage with important, relevant and often controversial issues, without being heavy-handed or preachy. 

3) YA goes to some dark places, but always retains an element of optimism. You may weep buckets by the end of a YA novel, but seldom will you finish reading and sink into depression. That’s not to say that they all have happy endings – far from it – but on the whole the reader closes the book feeling satisfied. 

4) If you’re the parent of a teen, reading YA can be a bonding experience. Relating to teenagers as an adult can be tricky at the best of times, but YA allows an inlet into the psyche of the teen. Read the books they love, discuss them, debate with them, or use them as a pathway into a conversation about topics or issues that otherwise may perhaps seem too heavy or awkward.

5) Because YA is an age group rather than a genre, it allows for huge diversity in content, theme and even structure. YA books can be contemporary, paranormal, historical, dystopian, fantasy, mystery, horror, science fiction, romantic, written in verse, stream-of-consciousness, or even graphic novel. But more than that, they can be more than one of these at the same time. 

Katie Dale is the author of YA novels SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE and LITTLE WHITE LIES and the Orchard Crunchies series FAIRY TALE TWISTS

www.katiedaleuk.blogspot.com

How Maya Angelou touched one member of The Edge, by Bryony Pearce

I expect to see many articles written about Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Annie Johnson) over the next week; she was a woman who touched a great many hearts, but despite this I could not allow her death to go unremarked.  

I, like a great many students of my generation, studied Maya Angelou at school.  Our A level class read I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings in conjunction with Grace Nichols, The Fat Black Woman's Poems. 

To this day I clearly remember a scene in the first tome of Angelou’s autobiography; the moment when her mother makes her sleep with the newborn she had been rejecting and she awakens with the baby in the crook of her arm.  Her body had naturally curled around the baby and kept it safe while she slept.  This scene stayed with me, and spoke to me most especially when I became a mother. 

Warned by the midwives against co-sleeping, I was terrified of having my daughter in bed with me, but exhaustion and a long bout of breastfeeding led me to fall asleep and wake, hours later with Maisie in almost the exact position that Maya Angelou had described. Even in the midst of total exhaustion I had known to keep her safe. 

And this is one of Maya Angelou’s great talents: even with our great cultural divide, she and I had a common experience that made me feel at one with her.

I had the unbelievable honour of going, with my A level class, twenty (ahem) years ago, to see her speak in London.  Her mellifluous voice, to this day, remains in my ear. 

She made me understand how poetry should be read, how literature could have a lyricism and music with which I had not previously realised it could be imbued.  I remember our whole class, boys and girls alike, falling silent and listening to her speak with open-mouthed adoration. 

Maya Angelou once said ‘Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory’.

She has returned to her creator and left behind a glorious legacy, touched the hearts of generation after generation, and inspired numerous writers like myself.

Thank you Maya Angelou.

                                             

#WeNeedDiverseBooks Savita Kalhan

Last week was the 8^th anniversary of Teen Librarian Monthly, run by the amazing Matt Imrie, @mattlibrarian. All the Edge authors were invited to write a piece on ‘Getting Kids Reading’, which is becoming more and more important in a world bursting with social media: You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Instant Chat – the list is endless. Factor in all the other distractions of being a teenager, and it’s easy to see how reading a book begins to fall way down their list of priorities.

My piece for Teen Librarian Monthly was about diversity in children’s literature. I’m cross-posting it here because it’s important to highlight the problem as many times as possible.

I recently blogged the lack of diversity in children’s books - Black and White and Everything in Between: You can read it here.

It was one of very many blogs on the subject – on both sides of the Atlantic. The subject seems to be gathering momentum – particularly in the States.

Following BookExpo America’s (BEA) BookCon line up of an all-white-all-male panel of ‘luminaries from the world of children’s and TEEN/YA writers’, an online campaign was conducted with the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks.

Here’s the link to their Facebook page.
And this link is to their Tumblr page

#WeNeedDiverseBooks ran a three day event. Most of it was online on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook, but from the photos on Tumblr you can see that librarians were very much involved – as were readers, who took photos of themselves saying why they felt the need for more diversity in books

The American Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) also initiated a programme to address the lack of diversity in libraries in the States. The letter, below, was posted by Alyson Felman-Piltch, a librarian at Indiana University:
Dear Colleagues:
Many of you have already read ALSC’s White Paper entitled “The Importance of Diversity in Library Programs and Materials for Children” (available here). If not, I highly urge you to read it, as well as participate in the “We Need Diverse Books” social media campaign.
In lieu of all the recent hubbub around these important measures, I wanted to re-advertise and advocate for participation in an important effort currently being undertaken by members of the EMIERT (Ethnic & Multicultural Exchange Round Table). I am currently the Chair for the Task Force on Establishing Guidelines for Selecting Multicultural Materials for School & Public Libraries, and we would love to have additional voices and advocates on our task force. This is a virtual committee, though we will be trying to get together at Conferences, such as ALA Annual, ALSC Institute, and the YALSA Lit Symposium. If you would like more information on the Task Force, or are interested in joining, please do not hesitate to contact me by replying to this email. Please feel free to proliferate and share this email amongst groups and listservs.All the best,AlysonAlyson Feldman-Piltch, MLS/MIS CandidateDepartment of Library and Infoalyf
In the UK, the Guardian also followed the debate as authors added their voices to the call for more diversity. You can read it here here. 

As a direct result of the campaign, BEA decided there was a need for a panel discussing diversity in children’s literature and consequently invited authors and librarians to a special event at the Convention.

What’s very clear is a call for more diversity in children’s literature, from picture books to books for young adults, diversity in not only colour and race but in everything. In  Malorie Blackman’s words, “diversity in literature fosters knowledge and understanding of others outside our own sphere of experience. It is only through knowledge and empathy of how others live that we can attempt to communicate and connect with each other.”

Setting aside the other factors that might contribute to teens generally reading less, are teens partly reading less because there isn’t enough diversity in the books available to them? And does it start when they are much younger, when they are frustrated by not finding a voice they can identify with or a character to relate to?


Savita Kalhan website

Twitter @savitakalhan

Thanks, Caitlin! by Keren David

So, I was going to post about something else completely and then the awesome Caitlin Moran, fabulous journalist and author of the brilliant How to be a Woman, was interviewed about her new YA book in The Bookseller. Her first and only YA book. 

Moran, who said she would always write about “fat, gobby teenage girls”, argued that writing about sexual adventures was important for that age group.  “I grew up reading Jilly Cooper at the age of 13; I think it’s really important which sexy books you read - particularly when you’re a girl," she said. "These form your sexual imagination and I wanted to get in there before anyone else and talk about sex.”



OK, I thought, she doesn't mean 'before any other YA writer writes about sex', because that would be crazy. Also impossible. She means 'before kids read sexy books by other writers.' Or before they get their ideas about sex from porn on their phones, or Hollywood rom coms. Possibly  she's aiming at 9 to 10 year olds, possibly older.  Good stuff anyway, and she joins quite a few of us who are trying to do the same.  

 Anyway, the article went on: 

She is keen to redress an imbalance in books about teenagers, she added. “It’s always about teenage boys going off and having amazing adventures. You don’t see teenage girls anywhere unless they’re being bitten by vampires so I wanted to write about a funny, weird teenage girl having adventures, particularly sex adventures."


 And that seemed odd to me, because does anyone really think that all the teenage girls in books for teenagers are being bitten by vampires? Surely not. But then I looked again and focussed on 'you don't see teenage girls anywhere' and I thought, she's not talking about the books that get written, she's talking about the books that get talked about in the mainstream media. Because we all know that books about girls and love and sex and all that girly stuff don't get a lot of attention in the mainstream media, unless, as happened in the Daily Telegraph recently, they are being dismissed as 'teenage schlock'.  And frankly if you rely on the mainstream media for information about YA, you probably think it's still all Twilight and Harry Potter and Hunger Games, and isn't there someone called Meg Rosoff? 

Anyway, as the queen of Twitter, I am sure Caitlin knew that the UKYA world would respond appropriately with an awesomely positive hashtag #caitlinmoranshouldread recommending great YA books about girls who do more than kiss vampires, I mean get bitten by vampires. Among the names mentioned were Cat Clarke, Katie Dale, Keris Stainton, Sophia Bennett, Liz de Jager, Rae Earl,Sarra Manning  James Dawson...I could go on and on. 
 Naturally I took the opportunity to mention my own Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery, about money and sex and inequality and Islam and...just read it, Caitlin, please, read it, because if you recommended it on Twitter I'd be so happy.  
And even happier if you went on and read  other YA books as well, and tweeted and wrote about them, because girl-centred YA really needs a great, outspoken champion with a loud voice that people listen to. I really hope that's going to be Caitlin.

So, welcome to the world of YA, Caitlin,  where lots of people write books about lots of things, and we generally read eachother's stuff and tweet enthusiastically about it, and only take offence very occasionally. I'm looking forward to reading your book, because I love your writing. And I look forward to you reading lots of ours. 

TO WALK IN SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES

Paula Rawsthorne discusses the importance of empathy in stories.


 
 

Over the last couple of years there has been research published showing that children who read books voluntarily (i.e. outside of set books in school) do better academically across a range of subjects.  However, reading books comes with a multitude of benefits aside from the academic.  First and foremost is the pleasure that can be gained from being engrossed in a great story but also, an important and powerful benefit is when a story produces empathy in the reader.

We may spend our whole lives trying to make sense of the world, however, the teenage years can be a particularly intense and questioning time and having powerful, accessible stories can help in the process of trying to understand ourselves and others.

Empathy is the ability to feel someone else’s emotions or experience.  The ability to cultivate empathy in the reader seems particularly strong in many stories written for Young Adults. 


 

Creating empathy can help break down prejudice and lazy stereotypes that surround us.  Within a gripping story, the best Young Adult books can create an emotional connection between the reader and the main protagonist (who is usually also a teenager).  The reader is allowed inside the protagonist’s head to feel what they are feeling and to hear their inner thoughts.  This can be especially powerful when the protagonist is in a place or situation that the reader has never experienced; this then offers the reader the chance to walk in someone else’s shoes, to see the world from another perspective, to gain insight and understanding of why people may behave the way they do and so be more understanding and accepting.  It can also show that, no matter how different people’s cultures, upbringing or situations may be, there are also similarities between us and aspects that connect us.   

The YA books that do this successfully, do it organically, through the story and characters, without being forced, preachy or ‘worthy’.  The empathy developed when reading a powerful story can remain and hopefully, be carried over from the world of the book to be used in everyday life.

Here’s a small selection of the many novels YA readers cite as producing a strong sense of empathy;

The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

Wonder – R.J. Palacio

To Kill A Mocking Bird – Harper Lee

In Darkness - Nick Lake

Before I Die – Jenny Downham

Please let me know which novels you’d select and why.