Tag Archives: #readingtips

Great start to literacy – 1000 Books Before School

February 22, 2017Blog, Children, Fiction, Top Tips#Children, #Childrensbooks, #ChildrensLiterature, #Fiction, #readingtipsKaren Seligman

Most people are aware that reading to children is beneficial; in fact, it is one of the best preparations for school. When we read to children, we are exposing them to a rich vocabulary, helping them develop listening skills and attention spans, conveying information and fostering a love of reading. These skills create a solid foundation for developing literacy.

Many libraries are now running “1000 Books Before School” programs (sometimes called “1000 Books Before Kindergarten”) to help encourage caregivers and children to keep reading and reap those literacy benefits. The 1000 books goal is based on research – it is big enough to allow children to experience a variety of language, but still achievable – for children who start school at 5, it translates to about one book every 2 days. And for children who prefer to have the same book read over and over, each time counts as one book!

To make the process more fun, libraries and some websites offer record sheets to help families keep track of their reading. Regular milestones (with small rewards) help build a sense of achievement until the big, final graduation.

Families living in Victoria can enrol in the program through the State Library of Victoria website or at your local library.

To get you started, here are some new and older favourites, perfect for sharing with your children. 6 down, 994 to go…

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Sturdy board books are great for the youngest readers, who might show their enjoyment of books by chewing and throwing! In Dear Zoo, a child writes to the zoo to send them a pet. It takes a bit of trial and error to find a pet that is just right! Dear Zoo has been a favourite with both little and big kids for over 30 years. Its combination of a funny story, cute animals, lift-the-flaps and call-and-response makes it an excellent choice for both reading aloud and reading on your own.

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Tap the Magic Tree is as much a toy as it is a picture book. Each page invites the reader to tap, shake, jiggle, or pat the book, even to blow it a kiss! Starting with a bare brown tree, we gradually see leaves sprout, buds blossom, apples grow, the leaves yellow and finally blow away with the changing of the seasons. The simple drawings and sparse text combine into an absorbing story that is elegant and sweetly magical.

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

Charlie and Lola stories are laugh-out-loud funny, with vivid characters and situations that perfectly captures life with young children. I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato is the story that started it all, and is still one of the best. Big brother Charlie – the sensible, long-suffering one – needs to give dinner to his funny little sister Lola. But she is really fussy about her food! So Charlie plays a trick on Lola – what if he is not giving her mashed potato, but cloud fluff from the peak of Mount Fuji?

Mr Huff by Anna Walker

Bill woke up with a bad feeling about his day. As more things go wrong, his huffy feelings coalesce into a big grey thing, who sighs and keeps following Bill around. How can Bill make Mr Huff go away? Mr Huff is a cute and poignant story, and perfect conversation-starter about how to deal with sad, gloomy feelings. Anna Walker’s understated illustrations add surprising amounts of drama and emotion. Well-deserved winner of last year’s CBCA Early Childhood Book of the Year Award.

The Usborne Big Book of the Body

Non-fiction (information) books can often engage children who don’t seem interested in stories. Usborne is known as a publisher of beautifully-produced, interesting information books for children, and The Big Book of the Body is no exception. The pages fold out into giant posters showing our main bodily functions, including bones and muscles, heart and blood, lungs, brain and our senses. A mix of short explanations and quirky facts make The Big Book of the Body entertaining as well as educational.

Billie’s Underwater Adventure by Sally Rippin and Alisa Coburn

As your child gets older, why not introduce them to great characters whose stories will keep them company through their school years? Billie’s Underwater Adventure is a picture book where Billie and her friend Jack use their imaginations to have marvellous adventures at Kinder. Then there’s the Billie B Brown and Hey Jack series, which are slice-of-life stories aimed at beginner readers; and the Billie B Brown Mysteries is a collection of short chapter books that is perfect for those mystery- and excitement-loving middle graders.

What we can learn from the Slow Books movement

September 13, 2016Personal development#mindfulness, #Reading, #readingtips, #slowbooksKaren Seligman

source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Are you a booklover who struggles to find time to read? If, like me, your answer is yes, then the Slow Books movement is for you.

Slow Books is the extension of a philosophy first appearing as Slow Food. It encourages people to rediscover “old-fashioned reading” – sit down and read a book, uninterrupted, for at least 30 minutes each day. Such reading should be deliberate and reflective, not simply trying to finish as many pages as possible. Slow Books devotees suggest that slow reading reduces stress, as well as improve people’s ability to think, concentrate and empathise.

Slow Books ties in with digital detox; an opportunity to reduce mental clutter and to re-develop our attention spans and comprehension – known negative effects of our increasing reliance upon online reading. The Internet’s effect upon changes to our cognition is explored in Nicholas Carr’s provocative book The Shallows: how the internet is changing the way we read, think and remember.

Besides Slow Food and Slow Books, the Slow philosophy can also be applied to activities including travel, education and relationships. Carl Honoré’s In Praise of Slowness offers a compelling overview of the Slow ideal, including how it can be applied to daily life. This subversive book also spawned a popular TED talk. The guiding principle of the Slow Movement is the rejection of the “faster is better” mentality ; instead it advocates a mindful approach where we slow down to do something properly – savouring the process along the way.

And if you need any more encouragement, just remember that a recent study from Yale has found that regular book-readers live almost two years longer than non-readers.

How to get started: Ingredients for enjoying books, slowly

Create a comfortable reading spot – beanbag, armchair or in bed? An internet search on “reading nooks” will reveal gorgeous examples, from cosy to quirky to elegant.
Make time for reading – before it becomes a natural habit, use reminders to help you set aside a regular timeslot. You can even join a Slow Reading Club if you prefer to read in a social environment.
Find a great book – a gripping story that will draw you in and help you forget the passage of time. Start with a genre you enjoy, or try some current bestsellers such as The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, and Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty.

6 books that will change how you see the world

August 4, 2016Non-fiction, Uncategorized#Nonfiction, #Reading, #readingtipsTeam Booko

Consider what words of advice, experiences or books you have read that have made a lasting impact on your life. The best thing about reading when you are going through a challenging time or even just a period of change, is that someone who has been there before can help, if only in a small way. Here are our recommendations of books that have changed our lives for the better, or tipped our perspective on its head for a moment in time.

The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris & Daniel Simons

The funny thing is, we feel like we have a reasonable understanding of how our mind works. The authors of ‘The Invisible Gorilla’ challenge this when they show just how our mind plays tricks on us and why people succumb to everyday illusions. The Invisible Gorilla shows how our intuition deceives us and how we can ‘train our brain’ to withstand it’s effects.

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? Why does the line at the grocery store always slow down when we join it? In this book, Harvard psychologist Gilbert argues that our ability to remember past happiness is flawed. Added to this is that our ability to predict what will make us happy is not well developed. The net result is that our human minds are working against our own happiness. This book explores how we can best challenge ourselves to seek happiness.

Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin

The premise of this book is that every day you go to work to trade the hours of your life for money. If you spend that money on things you don’t need, you are essentially trading your life for material possessions that don’t add value to your life. This is a classic financial self-help book that offers a nine-step program for how to live a more meaningful life, showing readers how to get out of debt, save money, reorder priorities, and convert problems into opportunities.

As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

“A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.” A classic book that has helped thousands for over a century, “As a Man Thinketh” is based on the premise of ‘you are your thoughts’ and provides a guide on how to use your thoughts to the betterment of your life.

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr

This book explores the thinking that the internet, for all its instantaneous information, is making us stupid. We are losing the ability to think deeply due to the ease with which we can easily source the answers to just about any question we can think of. “The Net’s interactivity gives us powerful new tools for finding information, expressing ourselves, and conversing with others. It also turns us into lab rats constantly pressing levers to get tiny pellets of social or intellectual nourishment.”

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicolas Taleb

From the author of international bestseller The Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness is the bestselling account of the hidden role of chance in life and the markets.Everyone wants to succeed in life. But what causes some of us to be more successful than others? Is it really down to skill and strategy – or something altogether more unpredictable? This book is the word-of-mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world.

How reading makes you more creative

August 1, 2016Blog, Top Tips#Reading, #readingtipsTeam Booko

Our lives are fast flowing and are becoming increasingly so. In this digital age of capturing virtual Pokemons, streaming TV, social media, apps and games, it’s worthwhile considering the impact all of this has on our reading levels. Unsurprisingly, we do seem to be reading less: children under 13 still enjoy the act of reading a book but studies are showing a decline in reading after the onset of puberty.

So what are we missing out on? The standard benefits of enjoying a book are relaxation, improvements in our literacy as well as its soporific effects. But what if I told you it could help improve your creativity? Creativity for Life recommends reading books (as opposed to blogs, short stories or small passages of writing) as a way of ‘turning on’ your brain.

Experiencing different genres

20 minutes set aside each day to read different genres will gradually enable your mind to think differently and as such, your creativity will be released. If you are a fan of a particular writing style, challenge yourself with another.

Building our concentration levels

There are so many channels that we have access to (mobile/social media/television etc) that we don’t truly concentrate on a single thing at any given point in time. We are becoming the kings and queens of multi-tasking – but at what expense? Books have a way of truly absorbing our concentration like other channels can’t. The benefits of this are that, like any muscle, constant use will increase our concentration levels, which improves our creative abilities.

Improving our vocabulary

I was a prolific reader during Primary school in particular. I also featured in the top end of town when it came to spelling tests. The reason? I discovered words I had never been taught in the classroom just from reading books. This improved my spelling abilities as I came across and then unpicked these new words. Reading improves our vocabulary like few channels can. Constantly challenging ourselves by reading more complex texts and different genres will compound this effect. That’s something you can’t get from Facebook.

Increasing brain functionality

Research that came out of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, has discovered that reading books increases connections in the brain which makes permanent neurological changes (like a muscle memory).

So there are a number of great reasons to pick up a book instead of your smartphone. Here are our recommended reads that celebrate the art of reading:

So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading by Sara Nelson

A self-described ‘readaholic’, Nelson’s memoir highlights the interplay between our lives and the books we read. “How do you choose your books?’ my friends had asked. Less than a week into my project, I can now tell them the beginning of the truth. I don’t always choose the books, I’ll say. Sometimes the books choose me.”

Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books by Lynn Sharon Schwartz

The author explores the role of books and literature in our lives, interweaving the story of her own Brooklyn childhood with memories of special books and thoughts on how books have shaped her world. “Like the bodies of dancers or athletes, the minds of readers are genuinely happy and self-possessed only when cavorting around, doing their stretches and leaps and jumps to the tune of words.”

How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen

Quindlen provides her thoughts on the role that books and reading have played in her life. She also discusses the importance of reading broadly with reference to some of the favourite books she has read. “Books became the greatest purveyors of truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs

In recent years, cultural commentators have sounded the alarm about the dire state of reading in America. Americans are not reading enough, they say, or reading the right books, in the right way. In this book, Alan Jacobs argues that, contrary to the doomsayers, reading is alive and well in America. There are millions of devoted readers supporting hundreds of enormous bookstores and online booksellers.

For further reading on books as brain food, visit our Pinterest page.

How to set up a reading space for kids

July 25, 2016Children, Uncategorized#Children, #Childrensbooks, #ChildrensLiterature, #Reading, #readingtipsTeam Booko

There’s nothing like having a comfy, quiet space to enjoy reading a good book. In order to spark an interest and engagement in reading with our kids, the same idea applies. When it comes to teaching your child to read, finding a special reading space promotes quiet and calm and is particularly good for children who struggle to concentrate.

A reading nook doesn’t need to cost hundreds of dollars or follow the latest design trends, but we’ve looked into some of the recommendations from My Little Bookcase and Creatingalearningenvironment.com to firm up our ideas. Here are our tips on setting up a reading space for kids:

Light – Set up a space in a light-filled room. Use lamps when required to create a warm, ambient glow. There should be enough light to be able to read the books easily but also create a lovely atmosphere.

Enclose a space – Children love the idea of a ‘cubby’ or a secret space just for them. It’s also nice to enclose a space within a larger room, so their reading nook is easy to identify. Different ways to do this are to set up a tent over a few floor cushions. Other ideas are to take the doors off a cupboard and deck out the shelves with books, adding seating into the bottom. We love this version by Playtivities.com

Make it cosy – By adding floor cushions, soft toys and throw rugs, the reading nook will become a favourite place to ‘chill out’ and relax after a day at daycare or school. Adding comfy elements will also allow the child to ‘make it their own’.

Add some books – Make sure that books are at your child’s eye level. Find different ways of storing the books, such as in baskets and bins. Mix up the books so that a selection of their book collection are sitting in the reading nook. A great idea is to ask your child to select which books are brought into the reading nook at a time and when they should be swapped for new ones. This promotes ownership of the space. Other ways to store books is to create a reading bench, such as that featured in Creatingalearningenvironment.com. A simple idea of turning a bookshelf on it’s side, adding a padded top and filling it with books creates a beautiful and cost effective DIY reading bench. We love this!

So that’s it! A reading nook doesn’t need to be over-engineered, it just needs a few basic elements to become part of your child’s learning journey.

Looking through the ideas on Pinterest there are amazing and intricate reading nooks and spaces that clever people have created for their children. Here are some of our favourites.

How to encourage your child to read more

March 7, 2016Blog, Children#Children, #readingtips, #youngreadersTeam Booko

This month we are celebrating readers of all genres and as we had such a great response to our post last year on encouraging children to read we thought we would share it again for you.

Most people would agree that reading is a good thing, and that it is critical to language and literacy development. But not everyone is a natural bookworm – so here are some tips on how to help your child develop a love of reading.

Tip 1: Reading should be fun

Your first goal is to convince your child that reading is a pleasurable activity that they will want to do again and again. Focus on making reading a fun experience.

Tip 2: Target their interests

Choose books that reflect your child’s interests – whether it be trucks/ princesses/ food/ shoes. There are books on just about every topic – the right one can get the reader hooked on reading for life.

Tip 3: Create a reading-friendly lifestyle

Create a comfortable space for reading – it can be a couch, or beanbag, or cushions, or in bed – and stock up on a variety of books or other reading materials, such as magazines or newspapers.

Incorporate reading into your weekly routine, for example by visiting your local library regularly, or by setting aside some “reading time” at bedtime or on weekends.

Tip 4: Model good reading habits

Let your child see you read. Show that you enjoy reading, want to do it regularly, and that you feel confident about reading. You can also explain why you love reading, such as “reading helps me make sense of things”, or “reading makes me laugh”.

If you want to improve your own confidence in reading, there are community resources to support you. Contact your local library or adult education organisation to see how they can help.

Tip 5: Try different formats

Reading isn’t just about novels. Some children prefer non-fiction (information books), particularly illustrated titles. Don’t forget that newspapers, magazines, even recipes and instruction manuals, can offer good reading opportunities – whatever interests the child.

If your child prefers pictures to words, then why not try picture books or graphic novels? There are many sophisticated picture books aimed at older readers (such as The Arrival by Shaun Tan) , and the graphic novel format has been used on a range of topics including literary classics (for example Nikki Greenberg’s adaptation of Hamlet) . Children who like to listen to stories can try to read and listen at the same time – play an audiobook and encourage them to follow the story on a printed copy.

Tip 6: Make it a family activity

Some children may find reading more appealing if it is done as a family activity. It could be reading aloud to each other; or reading silently side by side; or listening to an audiobook together during a car trip. It can even be watching a film adaptation together (and discussing how it differs from the original book). Be creative, and choose something that all of you can enjoy.

Tip 7: Talk to the experts

Teachers, school librarians, local librarians and children’s booksellers all have professional knowledge and experience in engaging reluctant readers. Talk to them and ask for useful strategies and/or book recommendations. Beloved author Paul Jennings, who is also a teacher and speech pathologist, has written a guide called “The Reading Bug and how to help your child catch it”.

Final tip: Relax

Remember Tip 1: Reading should be fun? Encouraging children to read should not be stressful for parents either.
Don’t worry if they don’t read everyday – this is understandable, especially at the beginning. Be gentle but persistent with your encouragement.
Don’t worry if they don’t choose “good” literature, or if they only read about a single topic or character; sooner or later they will branch out.
Don’t worry if they choose something that is too hard or too easy; gently offer a more appropriate alternative, but also respect their choice.
Finally, try not to feel disappointed if your child shows no interest in reading your own childhood favourites. Encourage them to read widely, and one day they may give your favourite books another chance!

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