The new Reading is Fundamental website celebrates four years of getting new books into the hands of children: around 63,000 youngsters have each been able to choose three new books a year through schemes based in schools and beyond. In one London programme alone, five Books Etc branches have helped 4,500 primary pupils to acquire books worth pound;50,000. The site includes details of how your school could benefit and tips to boost family reading.
While the website design is child-friendly, much of the content is aimed at adults: pupils will need to be directed to the Word Funpath to reach West Ham footballer Rio Ferdinand and authors such as Benjamin Zephaniah and Jacqueline Wilson sharing tales of their reading lives.
There are also motivational ICTliteracy projects: write a story about the adventures of the Internet dot while the computer is switched off (as cartoonist Ralph Steadman, who also contributes to the website, has done in his latest picture book Little dot.com (Andersen Press); help Rosie Rushton to finish an onlinestory; explore links to authors’ own sites.See www.rif.org.uk
YOLANDA BROOKS and GERALDINE BRENNAN
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