For weekly reviews of children’s books, see ‘TES Teacher’ magazine.The annual Torchlight Award (in which pupils vote online for the winning book) offers ideas and resources for wide reading at key stages 2 and 3 and provides a way for children to make their opinions as readers known. Details at www.askews.co.uk. A Torchlight reading poster will highlight around 100 titles handpicked by experts and enthusiasts. The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, based in south London, runs courses and events around the UK. It has published two booklists (Simply the Best- Books for Children 0-7 and 7-11, pound;5.99 each). See www.clpe.co.uk; email: info@clpe.co.uk. The Roehampton Institute Children’s Book Collection, Tel: 020 8392 3772 (the Book Trust’s reference collection, dating back to the 1970s), is worth making a trip to south-west London for. Bookshops (especially independent children’s specialists) and public librarians offer expertise, as well as your school librarian andor school library service.
Help on the webMichael Thorn (above) publishes a children’s books website, www.achuka.co.uk. The Book Trust site, www.booktrusted.co.uk, publishes recommended reads and links to useful organisations. Children’s writer and former teacher Diana Kimpton, www.wordpool.co.uk, has a section on encouraging reluctant readers. See if your favourite author or illustrator has a website. Some are more useful than others, but www.quentinblake.com
and www.roalddahl.com are unmissable.
