From today until 7th February copies of six stories from former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo’s Mudpuddle Farm series will be handed out  free with Happy Meals. Finger puppets of characters from the series will accompany each book to encourage parents to read with and bring the stories to life with their children.

The promotion is being backed by Harper Collins, who publish the Mudpuddle Farm series, and The National Literacy Trust, whose recent research revealed that one in three children in Britain do not own a book. Director Jonathan Douglas said:

We are very supportive of McDonald’s decision to give families access to popular books, as its size and scale will be a huge leap towards encouraging more families to read together.

Having seen for ourselves how valuable just one book can be to children, and having reached so many with Our Read we think that such a promotion is a fantastic way to extend the reach of reading. Given that eight out of ten families with young children visit McDonalds at least once a year, it’s great to know that they’re contributing to getting more children reading.

The book’s editor, Frances Macmillan, tells us on the book’s blog:

The writers are all from very different backgrounds. Some grew up with a multitude and variety of wonderful books within their reach; some had parents who imparted to them a fierce desire for books and for learning; for others, books were hard to come by, or even illicit. But all ten are united here in a passionate belief in the distinctive and irreplaceable pleasures and powers of reading.

In a year of rude awakenings to low levels of literacy and a widespread apathy towards books and reading, this book demands an interruption. Stop What You’re Doing and Read. Read these essays, because they aim to convince you to make reading part of your daily life. Read a novel because it will enable you to travel in time and space, or else quicken your sense of ordinary existence – family tensions, falling in or out of love, growing up or growing old.  Read a poem, because it won’t be as difficult as you think, and it might help you uncover and articulate a thought or a feeling previously buried deep. Read a story, if you’re short on time, because it imposes a unique period of peace and concentration into your busy life. Read out loud, to your children, to a partner, because reading together casts a potent and intimate spell.

The book aims to start people talking and thinking about books, and valuing reading itself in a new way, so we’re starting up a blog as a way of carrying on that conversation. We want to hear from readers – which books or poems do you love? Which book or poem changed the way you see the world? Have you ever found consolation or relief in reading a great book? Do you ever read books or poems aloud? We’ll be recommending great books throughout the year, encouraging debate about the importance of reading and we want to hear from you.

Read more about the book and share your comments on the Stop blog. You can also ask questions, recommend great books and join in the debate.

Help us remind everyone about the transformative power of reading and to build the Reading Revolution even further. Buy your copy now. Stop what you’re doing and read it.

You can follow Jane Davis, Director of The Reader Organsiation, here on Twitter and also over here, on her blog.

Getting children and young people into reading is a top priority amongst us at The Reader Organisation; we want everyone to discover the joys of books, but it is especially important that children experience the incredible imaginative power of reading in their formative years. We are constantly coming up with new ideas to engage children with literature – this year alone we have given away 50,000 free copies of the exclusive-for-TRO book The Unforgotten Coat written by award-winning children’s author Frank Cottrell Boyce as part of the biggest Our Read ever, as well as running a range of events and workshops alongside to support the shared reading adventure, and on Sunday we held the second Ha’penny Readings – an event full of fun, laughter and wacky entertainment with lots of reading thrown in, designed especially for kids.

But while the statistics do clearly point to a problem, it’s not just to do with the matter of owning books - but instead whether children are motivated to read them once they have them in their hands. There’s certainly no shortage of books available to buy for reasonable prices and many children across the country are in possession of items that cost much more. The real problem that is to be tackled is a lack of reading aspiration.

The various shared reading projects we run with children - the latest currently being developed in schools in Glasgow –  introduce them to the sheer pleasure of books, encouraging their individual passion and enthusiasm for reading to grow and leading them to read more and more often (and perhaps buy a book with their pocket money). Often, it only takes one story being read to a child or one book given as a gift to spark off excitement and a desire for reading that will last a lifetime.

A fortnight ago, Niall started our worldwide literature journey off by taking us all the way to Brazil; now we’ll jump from South America over to Central Europe, as I’ll be your tour guide for exploring the literary sights of the Czech Republic.

Before it became a popular stag and hen party hotspot, Prague – the capital city of the Czech Republic – was regarded for two quite famous literary exports. The first, a person: the author of many of the 20th century’s most notable novels and short stories, Franz Kafka, who was born in the city in 1883 (when it was still a part of pre WWI Austria-Hungary). The second, a book: The Unbearable Lightness of Being, written in 1984 by Milan Kundera. The novel immortalises Prague in the midst of what was one of the most difficult and significant times in the Czech Republic’s history – the Prague Spring of 1968, an attempt to reform Czech communism, of which Kundera himself was involved. Despite its title, the book may be considered anything but ‘light’ in its subject matter; dealing with the fate of the individual and suggesting that in the end, such a fate is meaningless as in an infinite universe the life of one person is insignificant – or as Kundera would put it, unbearably light.

The Strahov Monastery Library

Given this cheery philosophical outlook, it might be worth considering how best to spend an ultimately futile existence. Surely a pretty good way of going about things would be to soak up the contents of as many books as possible, as does one of the novel’s main characters, Franz (perhaps named after Kafka? Seems like a handy coincidence). Franzes both of the fictional and the Kafka variety would certainly be happy that they lived in a city containing such a historic, intricate and well-stocked library as the Strahov Monastery Library. Part of the Strahov Monastery, the library is 868 years old and has withstood such perils as fire and army invasion to hold over 16,000 books alongside 110,000 volumes of monastic writings – one of the oldest collections in the Czech Republic. With its beautiful and incredibly ornate Baroque interior and several special library rooms, the Strahov Monastery Library is as much of a tourist attraction as a library. Unfortunately given the rare and ancient quality of many of the books housed there, so much as a human breath would be likely to adversely affect their preservation; therefore most of the library is strictly off-limits to up close and personal inspection. You can however go on a virtual 360 degree tour of the library (also handy if you can’t afford the air fare to Prague).

Something that allows much wider access to literature for the Czech Republic’s readers – and those beyond – is the Libraries For All project. The Multicultural Center Prague is a partner in the project, which has the goal of upgrading local public libraries in the city (as well as also operating in Austria, Sweden and Germany) to ensure that they fully serve the needs of the Czech Republic’s migrant community. Libraries For All is working to make libraries in the Czech Republic truly multicultural, involving, diverse and democratic – an aim that Kundera with all his political activism would surely be proud of.

This  vibrant anthology explores the theme of survival, with poems about war, weather, growing ill and growing old as well as about cities and landscapes, art and music, trees and turtles and the many things that add richness to our lives.

Featuring many established poets such as Patience Agbabi, David Harsent, and TRO supporter Rebecca Goss, the anthology also introduces the work of exciting new writers. It is  due to be launched on 6^th December with an event at Keynes College, University of Kent.

To find out more about WordAid, the book, and to purchase a copy, please visit:  http://wordaid.blogspot.com/p/publications.html.

Well, now I have your attention, so let us start with our first country or as they say in Brazil: numero um.

I’m going to try to do this without explaining Spanish colonialism in Southern America. So let’s see how that works out. Brazil is the 6^th largest country in the world with a population of over 192 million people; it’s the largest country in South America and the fifth largest country in the world! It’s even got nice weather.

The culture of Brazil and its people is very mixed – a bit like our own. It involves mainly Portuguese, African and Native Indian ideas and customs mixed into the melting pot of European and Western values.  Which I think makes it a beautiful country…

On to the main event: in Brazil there is a mythological creature called Saci who is widely regarded as the most popular figure in Brazilian folklore – folklore being something I have always been interested in, probably because they were the first stories told around the campfire to keep the children from being naughty and well let’s be honest they were quite imaginative and entertaining. Saci is a little prankster with dark skin, a magical red hat, holes in his palms and the smoker of a pipe – I forgot to mention he only has one leg and at one time was on the receiving end of most of the blame for the country’s small problems e.g. ‘who threw that egg?’ ‘Saci’ ‘who soured the milk?’ ‘Saci’ ‘who smashed the pottery?’ ‘Saci.’ This little prankster was probably like a mini god-send for all mischievous Brazilian children – and adults.

Still want to know more about him? How’s about this:

He can make himself invisible, transform into a bird called a Matitaperê, he will lose his powers if he runs across a stream and if you leave him some tobacco he will be appeased for a while (sounds like some people I know).

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

Same place, two weeks time, to hear all about the Czech Republic.

I would like to draw your attention to this story from Anna Fleming, one of our Young Person’s Project Workers, who reads with looked-after children:

When I first met K (15) her foster carer did not think K would agree to take part in the project:

“she’s refused tutors before, she probably won’t want to do it.”

I explained I was not a tutor, and K responded well to the relaxed, open and friendly style of the sessions. Initially she was very shy; she has low confidence and self-esteem, but during the reading sessions she has developed more confidence to express her thoughts and ideas.

K particularly enjoys the poems we read together. Every week I bring a couple of adult poems to go with the story we’re reading. K likes to relate to the poems, and this boosts her self-esteem and confidence. When we read ‘Phenomenal Woman’ by Maya Angelou, K was taken aback by how much she liked it:

“I don’t like English in school, but this is different … it seems like it’s written about you when you’re reading it. My boyfriend says that about me [pointing to a line] that I’m cute, but I don’t think I am.”

From this, we had a conversation about different types of beauty and reasons to admire women. Afterwards I offered her the poem to keep, which she refused. Then after a few minutes, she said:

“I think I will keep it you know.”

K told me she enjoys writing stories, but because she finds writing very difficult, she does not often have the confidence to write them down. She was delighted when I asked her to submit a story for the young people’s magazine, and she was very proud when she saw it in print. She immediately showed it off to her carer, who was also interested in the magazine:

 ”That looks really good, I want to have a look through.”

It was great to see K share her interest and achievement with her carer and receive such warm support.

K lives in a busy household which is often noisy and hectic with demanding young children around. K tells me she listens to music in her room to escape. Our sessions give her an hour a week of calm at home, where she receives attention, sympathy and the opportunity to share her thoughts and concerns. Hopefully, she will develop the confidence to continue reading alone and find solace in books as well as music.

This is the exact reason why we need people to sponsor our reader runners in the Liverpool Team Challenge 5K on Sunday, running to get the next generation reading. (You can catch up with the fitness diary here.)

Our Read went down to the Just So Festival in Staffordshire last Friday to share the magic of The Unforgotten Coat.  The Just So Festival kindly invited the project to come along and run shared read aloud sessions throughout the day, and they even gave us some free tickets so we could bring two of the young people we work with to the festival. Jessica and Tina had a lovely day exploring the festival site and all it had to offer - they made clay faces, origami penguins, played in the Just So Festival beach, watched live music, and helped us spread the reading revolution by taking part in our group reading sessions and giving out copies of The Unforgotten Coat to people around the site.

The Yurt that we were going to run the reading sessions in was unfortunately out of action…

However it didn’t dampen our spirits, and the glorious sunshine and woodlands made a perfect setting to read in. 

We were hoping that we would see some exciting wildlife in the woods, and we did see a rabbit during one of our walks around the site, but our main wildlife experience was an unusual amount of wasps which enjoyed dive-bombing me… I think my reaction of running away as fast as my legs would carry me kept lots of people entertained.

We all had a really lovely day, and met lots of people who enjoyed sharing the book with us and hearing more about the project - hopefully Our Read will be invited back again next year!

We’ll be bringing along two children from the Wirral to read with us and share the experience, and we want as many people as possible to enjoy the story so if you’re planning on coming then make sure you pay us a visit - you can pick up a free copy of the book and maybe even try reading aloud to the rest of the group! We’ll be doing readings at 1.30, 2.30 and 3.30pm so there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved or just sit back and enjoy a good story.

The festival runs from the 19th-21st of August and takes place in the woodlands of Barnswood, near Leek. It’s aimed at children and families and includes a number of creative activities and performances from across the arts, taking in music, cinema, dance and literature. We hope to see you there!

Yesterday saw the last of this year’s Our Read summer workshops, which were held at Toxteth Library and the nearby John Archer Hall with the help of The Haven Project, who support the emotional wellbeing of young asylum seekers and refugees. The workshops were open to everyone and were attended by children from the ages of six to sixteen, who were able to enjoy the great range of events and activities staged over the three weeks.

The sessions were loosely based on The Unforgotten Coat, Frank Cottrell Boyce‘s book about a Bootle schoolgirl who befriends two Mongolian brothers, which he kindly wrote for this year’s Our Read campaign. Activities included sampling food from around the world, making cakes and going on a treasure hunt around Toxteth Library, as well as a visit from Frank himself to read from the book and help with some creative writing exercises. The children were excited to meet Frank and especially thrilled when he signed a copy of the book for each child to take home.

We were also joined at one session by Carl Hunter and Clare Heney, whose photographs illustrate The Unforgotten Coat and who led the children in a photography workshop, during which they were encouraged to explore their environment using Polaroid and digital cameras. Other activities included a journey to Princes Park which concluded with a keenly-contested game of football, and things were topped off yesterday by a party at the John Archer Hall involving lots of exciting fun and games.

We hope everyone enjoyed the workshops, we certainly had a lot of fun putting them on and it was a great pleasure to meet so many lovely people. We’ll be back next year so watch this space to find out what we’ve got planned!