A Snapshot of Practice: Expanding Children’s Reading Repertoire Through the Book Battle

Anna Davidson continues to provide exciting and innovative strategies to build reading interest and stamina in young readers. Following of from Book Chats for primary students in an earlier post, this week she introduces the idea of a Book Battle to hook enthusiastic younger readers.

The lower primary years can be an exciting time for students as they develop their skills to read independently. Finding the right titles and series can sometimes be overwhelming for young people, so it is important for library staff to guide students as they navigate their way through the book selection process.

In our library space, we use several strategies in our quest to hook students into great series and expand their reading repertoire beyond the heavily marketed books that need little introduction (Anh Do, I’m looking at you!)

During library lessons, we formally book talk new titles, both those that are newly published and those that might be new to individual readers.  We also informally promote books to students in one-on-one ‘Me as a Reader’ conversations, providing book preview stacks for students to explore.

By far, the most exciting way to expand children’s reading repertoire in the lower primary years is by having a Book Battle!  It’s super easy to set up and run, students have a great time and, most importantly the Book Battle gets kids talking about and borrowing a new range of books.
   

Book Battle wall display and borrowing boxes.

So, how does it work?

1. Choose eight lower primary series to battle it out over 7 weeks.  Hint – I try to choose series with lots of titles available to increase access for children borrowing.
2. Each week, read the first chapter from two books.
3. Students scan the QR code linked to a Microsoft Form to vote for their favourite title.
4. The winning book proceeds to the next round.

Voting in action - Book Battle Round 1A

Displaying boxes of the participating series under the Book Battle fixture means students can easily access the books, leading to increased borrowing of these series.

What do the Year 2 students have to say about the Book Battle?

“I love that we get to decide which book we like the most.  It’s always a surprise to see which book goes through to the next round of the Book Battle.  I’m really nervous about which book is going to win the Grand Final!” 

Sam

“I love that we get to listen to lots of different books. It helps me get into new series.” 

Louis

“Some of the books are really funny. I love choosing which book I like the best.” 

Tom

“It’s such a fun challenge.  Every week we have fun and it is a bit of a mystery which book will win.” 

Oliver

“All of my favourite books are in the Book Battle! There are so many different types of books – funny, adventure, sporty” 

Jack

“The book I vote for keeps on winning, which is awesome!” 

Nateo

“The Book Battle helps me choose different books when I don’t know what to choose.” 

Morris

An unexpected highlight of the Book Battle is the attention drawn to the Book Battle display.  Older students regularly ask, “Can we have a Book Battle too?”, debating which series/books they would include.  Older students also enjoy reminiscing about which series they enjoyed when they were in lower primary.

The Book Battle is a simple, fun way to expand children’s reading repertoire and encourages them to talk about what they are reading.  

Anna Davidson

Twitter - @davidsonteach

Junior School Teacher Librarian, avid reader (mad for Middle Grade Fiction), dog lover, yogi, nature lover, tea drinker

Tassie Rhymes for Little tigers – Read aloud to babies every day!

This week Narelda Joy, Tasmanian author and illustrator, provides behind the scenes insights into her publication of a nursery rhyme  book for young Tasmanians and an accompanying braille edition.

In 2020 I was thrilled to be chosen to create a book for the Help Babies Learn project, an initiative of Toast for Kids Charity Inc. Having had first hand experience of the low literacy rate in Tasmanian schools, I knew the idea behind the project was important - to encourage parents to read aloud to babies and young children by providing a *free book to the parents of Tasmanian newborns, and to create a braille and low vision companion version of the same book, so that parents with print disabilities would have the same opportunity.

 

Reading aloud to a newborn baby, toddler, or preschooler every day is important because it provides them with the building blocks of language, and introduces them to words and phrases that aren’t used in everyday talk. Stronger connections are formed in their brains from the repetition of words and sentences, and this helps them process language faster, and be ahead when they start school. If they don’t have these strong brain connections by kindergarten, it is much harder for them to learn. 

 

Spending time reading aloud to a child also develops a special bond that makes them feel loved and secure, exercises their concentration and imagination, and creates a fun, positive experience of reading. Kids that read succeed! Interestingly it doesn’t matter what you read aloud to a newborn baby, as it’s the sound of the words, the cadence of your voice, and your expressions that they absorb. It could be the Financial Times, Australian Dairyfarmer, a brochure on a steam train ride, or even Shakespeare! 

 

A book with a Tasmanian theme, as defined by my brief, was far more fun and appealing to me! I decide that I wanted the book to feature the quirks and uniqueness of Tasmanian animals, as well as the different environments in which they live. I wanted the book to have multigenerational appeal, to encourage older siblings to read aloud to younger, and to hopefully peak the interest of adults into learning more about the animals with their children. The book also includes a counting game in which the reader looks for animals hidden in each illustration, and the palawa kani names of the animals in the book.

 

After many hours of research into Tasmanian animals, writing and refining the sixteen rhymes, illustrating the animals and the landscapes, designing the layout, typesetting, editing and proofreading, Tassie Rhymes for Little Tigers was sent to the printer, and then officially published in August 2022.

Print book launched by Roger Jaensch (Tasmanian Minister for Education, Children and Youth)

L to R: Roger Jaensch, Narelda Joy, Steve Martin (President Toast for Kids Charity Inc, 
Sally Darke, (TAS Community Fund)

 

I then set to work on the braille and low vision companion version. It was such an honour to work in collaboration with the team at Next Sense (previously known as the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children) to make this happen. This institute has been supporting those with print disabilities since 1860, and believes that “everyone should have the power to reach their potential”… I also believe this!

 

I quickly discovered that the illustrations needed to be completely different to my usual detailed textural style, in order for them to be viewed by someone with low vision. I started from scratch and simplified each animal into groups of shapes, and used thick black or white lines around each shape to define them. I then chose the colours for the shapes specifically to provide a high contrast between each of the elements on the page.

A comparison of the Tasmanian devil illustration by Narelda Joy

 - showing a high contrast image for low vision on the left. © Narelda Joy

The sixteen rhymes from the original book, which feature Tasmanian animals, remained unchanged, as did the translations of the animal names into palawa kani, (and I’d like to thank the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre for providing those). However other incidental text within the book needed abridging, for as I have learnt, the amount of braille that will fit on a single page is 40 characters across and 20 lines down. It was important that the words in braille on the left side of a double page spread were replicated exactly, in a large size font suitable for a person with low vision, on the right side of the spread, to enable a parent with low vision and a child without any vision, to read along together (or vice versa). 

 

The illustrations were sized to fit any available space that remained on the low vision (right-hand side) pages. The book became quite thick, as each page is actually an A3 sized paper folded in half, so that the dot impressions of the braille do not impact the low vision text on the reverse.

 

Her Excellency, the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, Governor of Tasmania launched this braille and low vision version at Government House. That night, a mother of three vision-impaired young children contacted me, after the launch was reported on the TV news, and we were able to personally deliver her a copy of the book the next morning!

Braille and Low Vision companion version book launched by

Her Excellency, the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, Governor of Tasmania.

L to R: Sonali Marathe (Manager, Accessibility and Inclusion, Next Sense),

Steve Martin (President Toast for Kids Charity Inc), the Honourable Barbara Baker AC,
Narelda Joy

I was genuinely shocked when I heard that there were very few books for young children with visual impairment, and that most were home-made by parents. Hopefully this book will be a step in the right direction to rectify this. There are so many exciting possibilities available, for example Next Sense have the ability to produce a braille outline of an illustrated character so that a child can trace it with their fingers, or a 3D model of an animal that a child can hold and feel while the book is being read, to get a sense of its shape.

 

I’d like to thank Steve Martin and the Toast for Kids Committee, for their enthusiasm and determination to create these two books, our generous sponsors, and especially the CBCA Tasmanian Branch for their support.

 

My hope is that both versions of Tassie Rhymes for Little Tigers will foster and encourage a love of reading that spreads throughout Tasmania, and continues for generations of Tasmanians to come.

 

Narelda Joy

Award winning children’s book illustrator, author and designer.

 

*If you are the parent of a newborn, please refer to the Toast for Kids Charity Inc. Facebook page for the terms and conditions of receiving a “free” book, or contact T4K directly. https://www.facebook.com/toastforkids/

Book signing in a Hobart bookstore
© Narelda Joy

If you are a member of the general public, the original book is available for purchase in Tasmanian bookshops, or through T4K, for $20. The braille and low vision version has a high production cost as each is individually printed, and as such will be printed on demand. Please contact T4K directly for pricing and details of how to obtain this version. 

 

 

www.nareldajoy.com.au
https://nareldajoy.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/NareldaJoyAuthorIllustrator/

So many words…so why can’t I find the one I need?

A post that celebrates the sharing of favourite authors and provoking reciprocal responses. Felicity has captured that special relationship and magic moment of shared pleasure – I too can’t find the perfect word!

A Google search (#ididtheresearch) tells me that there are somewhere between 750 thousand and one million words in the English language. Susie Dent (if you haven’t already, check our 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) suggests we know forty thousand words, but only use about twenty thousand of them. With so many words, why can’t I find the one word that expresses the thrill and enjoyment I get when someone loves the same author I do? 

The two words Google gave me are compersion, the positive thoughts derived from knowing of another person’s gratifying experience; and freudenfreude (the opposite of schadenfreude) - the bliss we feel when someone else succeeds. But they aren’t the right words to describe my feeling.

Daughter of the Forest
by Juliet Marillier

I love books by New Zealand born and resident West Australian author, Juliet Marillier. This love started when my mother purchased the second book in the Sevenwaters series for my birthday many years ago…I read the first chapter and realised that a love affair was born, and that I needed to stop reading and buy the first book before I could continue reading my birthday present. My mum gave me the gift that keeps on giving.

Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier

I purchased some of Juliet Marillier’s books for my workplace. They were not borrowed, so they have been withdrawn - based on our weeding policy - despite recommending them to many readers. I have mentioned them, ad nauseum, on any social media book related post. I may have even blogged about them in the past…and now, finally, I have two work colleagues hooked, and I am supplying their reading from my own library. And now I need a word to describe how happy this makes me feel. To have someone in my immediate sphere, other than my three children, love these books is a joy. As one book is returned, I pull another from the shelf and position it on my desk, ready to hand it over when the staff member walks past. This can go on giving me joy for months, as I have 25 Marillier titles on my bookshelf.

So, dear reader (#bridgerton) please come up with the word I need to describe my joy…we can’t all have the same forty thousand words in our lexicon…and I need that word. Surely it is sitting somewhere in the other 710 thousand words I don’t know! 

Please also post in the comments the name of your favourite author, so you too have the chance of experiencing this un-named feeling. I’m also happy for you to invent the word I need!

Felicity Sly is Teacher Librarian at Don College, Devonport and on the committee of CBCA Tasmania Branch.

Editor’s note: Thank you Felicity – you have provided the spark for me to return to one of my favourite authors who I have not visited for some time. I have series to complete – The Warrior’s Bard – here I come! Evidence that reciprocity is at work.

Warrior Bards trilogy by Juliet Marillier

Fiction, Non Fiction or Both?

Booksellers have their finger on the pulse (or is that eye on the page) when it comes to observing trends in the industry. This week Bronwyn, from Hobart Bookshop, shares her thoughts on publishing in the field of children’s non-fiction. This post is sure to resonate when we consider the range of books appearing on recent award lists and on the shelves. 

There are many trends a bookseller gets to watch come and go. These can include particular themes - such as the time we were receiving more books about llamas than could ever be reasonably necessary - or choices in fonts and cover illustration styles.  

Tasmanian Devil, by Claire Saxby (2023)
Walker Books
Look inside

A notable trend that appears to be on the increase is the morphing of fiction and non-fiction books for children. A beautiful example of where this works is in Tasmanian Devil by Claire Saxby. The book is both a story and a non-fiction information source, with the two elements clearly differentiated: displayed separately and in different fonts. This allows for the book to be read in two ways, doubling its purpose and enjoyment. (There are other examples which are not as successful and generally where they seem to go wrong is that you can’t really tell which side of the fence the book is trying to sit on.)

Democracy, by Philip Bunting (2023)
Hardie Grant
Look inside

Another aspect of this trend is the decrease in the amount of photography that is being used in non-fiction books.  Books produced using illustrations are now more common – some in cartoon-like styles with successful examples including many of the recent books by Philip Bunting including his new release Democracy. Others use beautiful art which would be quite at home in any picture book. 

Earth, Knowledge, Genius! (2022)
Dorling Kindersley (DK)
Look inside to see a combination
of both techniques.

It’s interesting to ponder the reasons for the more common use of illustrations. Using a single illustrator can give a book a more consistent tone, which photography obtained from different sources can struggle to create. Some subject matters are easier to draw than photograph (e.g. atoms and microbes) and others are more palatable to look at in illustration form (e.g. inside the human body).  However, I think there are two main underlying reasons for the bulk shift in these types of books.  The first is the legal and accounting processes that are involved in the production of the book with increasing complexity of licensing photos - and the second is the rise of the internet as a reference source (although this second factor has more influence with older readers). Generally, it is some of the biggest children’s book publishers such as National Geographic or DK (and some others directly targeted at school markets) that are still using photography consistently.

Feedback from several librarians who have noticed this change suggests that children are less likely to believe facts they read in illustrated books rather than those with photos whose realistic nature backs up the content. This may also hark back to our own childhoods where an encyclopedia with photos included (if you were lucky) was the common source of information for researching school projects.  Potentially the use of the internet as the source of all knowledge for older students means that non-fiction books are needing to become more enjoyable to read – in other words less like an encyclopedia. 

If the trend continues (and I expect that it will), then younger children will be growing up with non-fiction books that are mostly illustrated, and the expectation that non-fiction books should have photographs will decrease, as they will simply not be as common. From my point of view as an independent bookseller, I am trying to continue to support non-fiction books that are produced using photographs so that both options are available to our readers; however to ignore all the beautifully illustrated non-fiction books would be to miss out on many wonderful resources. Being aware of these changes is likely to be the first step in ensuring that the value of non-fiction books is not diminished at a time when online information sources are so easy to access.

Bronwyn Chalke 

The Hobart Bookshop 

W: https://www.hobartbookshop.com.au/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/HobartBookshop/ 

T: https://twitter.com/HobartBookshop 

Reading Routines – How do we design routines that form effective reading habits?

When children see an adult engrossed in a book it conveys a positive message about the act of reading. This week, Emma identifies this as one influencer in establishing effective reading habits in children. 

I was talking recently with a friend about the habits (quirky and otherwise) that we form over time. We found we had some similar habits, and some that were amusing to the other! I did some reading about forming habits, and, as you would expect, habits form when you repeat a routine over and over. And for this to happen, one needs some sort of motivator to get the ball rolling. 

This also suggests habits can be intentionally formed. And unintentionally formed. 

For me, improving habits associated with good sleep and exercise have been a high priority of late. Amongst other factors, choosing the right music or podcast has been key to building, and maintaining, enthusiasm towards exercise. The same can be said for reading and sleep. A really engaging book, and a solid routine around that, has led to improved quality of sleep. The associated routines to further support this, can also promote wonderful new habits. A fitting example is to always carry a book (or a kindle in my case) for those times when you are out, and lucky enough to find yourself with 5 minutes to spare.

Frederick Backman’s plot lines and character development have contributed to my renewed routines, thus rejuvenating my own reading habits. Would less engaging texts achieve the same level of commitment to a new routine? I very much doubt it!

Schools are highly structured places – an ordinary school day is based on a series of routines. If we know that these routines can be habit-forming, we have a responsibility as parents and as educators to ensure that the good ones (habits that is!) are lasting.

Group mentality cannot be overlooked as a tool to support the formation of lasting habits. A ‘goodreads’ approach to classroom reading programs, where children are recommending texts to each other, can also be incredibly powerful. As can role modelling good habits ourselves, reading and otherwise. I would go as far as to say that role modelling is one of the most powerful teaching tools available. 

To build strong and lasting reading habits, we can support young readers by:

- Creating engaging reading environments; 

- Ensuring access to high quality reading material readily; 

- Providing a variety of daily reading opportunities and structures; 

- Empowering the broader group as motivators and supporters of each other as readers; and 

- Role modelling our reading habits to create lasting, positive reading habits.

Maybe as educators we just need to make a habit out of making habits?

Emma Nuttall
Deputy Head of Junior School - Wellbeing | Teacher