Calling all school teachers! Usborne Reading Programme

Are you reading books looking a little tired?

Did you know Usborne Books offers a Reading Programme that fits in with the National Curriculum Book banding?

http://www.usborne.com/downloads/book-bands/urp-book-bands-nc3.pdf

Check out what we can offer you through the scheme.

One of the available books

Our Very First Reading section alone, offers 26 titles.

Remember with Usborne we can also offer up to 60% free books too, so we really can stretch those budgets, and if you have already exhausted your budgets how about letting us tell you all about our Ready Steady Read programmes where we can gets lots of lovely new books into your school for FREE.

Should you wish to see a full catalogue or just find out a little more information, please e-mail me with your questions.

We are continually expanding our exposure in schools and would sincerely like to help with your literacy requirements.

Quick Reads Review and Giveaway

Quick Reads is a literacy charity whose aim over the past seven years has been to introduce millions of people to the joys of reading by providing short, gripping, exciting books by bestselling writers and celebrities. The bite-sized books use clear language making them easy to read with fast-paced, brilliant story lines and are ideal for those who might feel too busy to try a longer book or for reintroducing those who haven’t picked up a book in a while to reading for pleasure. 

These books are priced at only £1 and are designed to only take a couple of hours to read and are not off putting to people that don't read a lot of books. They have just launched a new set of six books for 2013:

I was sent 3 of them to have a look at and today I picked up and read the first one:

Now I am a voracious reader so it only took me 30 minutes to finish whilst I was having my lunch! Its a romantic story about a young woman down on her luck and a policeman trying to decide on his future. Even in such a short story the characters have plenty of detail and there is a decent plot line. A nice way to fill your lunch hour or to read on the train to work. 

I will be having a read of the other two books as the week goes on but meanwhile here is your chance to win your own complete set of books. Just use the Rafflecopter widget to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

100 books challenge 2013

I have been using GoodReads to track my 100 books challenge for 2013 and thought it was time to do an update 1 month in! This is also part of Book Chick City's 100 book challenge and Read52 on Google:

So far it's looking good as I am apparently 7 books ahead of schedule although some of these are picture books I have been reading with my son. As you can see by these images its been quite a range of types of books that I have read so far:

I seem to be mostly reading my favourite genres of historical fiction and fantasy but there have been some other crime or other books too. There was a chunk in the middle when I spent an hour in a cafe reading from their children's section to my son:

Along the way I have discovered some new authors to me including James Aitcheson, Edward Marston and Kate Atkinson. There are also returns to old favourites with starting over reading my dad's Discworld collection! If you want to know more about what I think about these books then I have reviewed all of them over on my Book Blog. 

I am looking forward to reading even more books as the year goes on both in paper form and on my Kindle. Luckily I have been sent some more to review too so watch this space! Hopefully I will keep on track to hit 100 with more time to spare than last year when I finished the last book on December 31st..

100 Books Challenge 2013

Having signed up again with both Book Chick City and Good Reads this is my kick off post! I managed it in 2012 thanks to bedtime stories so I will be making sure I categorise all of those separately this year to compare...

2013 Reading Challenge

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Becky's bookshelf: read

The Colour of Magic

by Terry Pratchett

tagged: fantasy

Ferno The Fire Dragon

by Adam Blade

Bought for my 6 year old he is loving reading it out loud and I had to borrow it to read myself. A great adventure story for younger readers (7+ is aim) but also enjoyable for grow ups.

tagged: childrens and fantasy

Equal Rites

by Terry Pratchett

tagged: fantasy and favorites

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

by J.K. Rowling

Great magical fables for Harry potter fans

Johnny and the Dead

by Terry Pratchett

tagged: childrens and fantasy

Keeping kids reading

Regular visitors to my blog will know that I'm a book worm and passionate about reading. I have always hoped that my children will follow in my footsteps. They have grown up in homes full of books and were introduced at an early age to the library.

 

It is incredibly rare for my children to go to bed without me (or a grandparent) reading to them. In fact one of the worst punishments I can dish out is to not read to them as they get very upset. The choice of reading material has worked it's way from picture books and is now starting to become chapter books. We all like the suspense of waiting for the next night to see what happens next! Sometimes these are books new to all of us but also I am revisiting favourites from my own childhood with stories such as The Magicians Nephew and The Hobbit.

 

The children both enjoy reading to me too. This year my son at nearly 6 has really got into reading and has moved on a few levels already. He is so keen to read his new book each night that he reads it to me in the car on the way home! Partly this fuelled by a competitive streak as he wants to be at a higher level than his friends in class. He also enjoys picking out words in his bedtime stories or reading them from other sources. I really hope that he carries on being this enthusiastic.

 

My daughter is really turning out to be a chip off the old block when it comes to reading. She loves to read way after lights out in bed every night. The level of her reading has suddenly leapt up. At 8 she is devouring books by Roald Dahl and tonight I started her off on her first Discworld novel Wee Free Men. She is a pretty confident and competent reader though the vocabulary can stretch her a bit especially when reading aloud. Today she said she would rather read than play on her DS which is a good thing.

 

Long may both my children love reading and being read too. It will be such a shame when they are too old for a bedtime story. Though I guess we will all end up curled in our favourite chairs with our noses in our own books!

 

How have you encouraged your children to read and what tips could you offer to those with more reluctant readers?

#WordlessWednesday: Reading

Reasons to be Cheerful XXXV ( #R2BC )

Not just smiling this week but I do believe that I was jumping with joy around the kitchen this morning and this is why:

1) Work

I had an interview at a local secondary school yesterday to be a receptionist and they rang and offered me the job this morning! Having not had a paid job for two years this was fantastic news. Its a perfect position for me as it uses many of the skills I acquired in my 6 years in my previous job. Being in a school it is term time only and is for 20 hours so I can still do everything else I need to do as a mum!

2) Diet

I was worried that another week of being unable to properly exercise wouldn't make a great result on the scales. It seems that tracking my intake on www.myfitnesspal.com has kept me in control as I have lost 2 pounds this week which is the maximum healthy weight loss. Onwards and downwards from here I hope!

3) Proud Mummy

My daughter has continued her anti dog fouling campaign by contacting the local paper. They interviewed her on the phone and are sending a photographer round tomorrow so she can feature in the paper next week!

My son is still so excited about reading and loves sharing his new skill with everyone:

Please check out the linky:

World Book Day

Many of you will be aware that the UK and Ireland World Book Day is rapidly approaching on March the 3rd! But do you know what it is about? This is what the official UK World Book Day site has to say:

World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. The origins of the day we now celebrate in the UK and Ireland come from Catalonia, where roses and books were given as gifts to loved ones on St. George’s Day – a tradition started over 90 years ago. For international information about World Book Day, please click here.

World Book Day is a partnership of publishers, booksellers and interested parties who work together to promote books and reading for the personal enrichment and enjoyment of all.

A main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own. 

The majority of UK school and nursery children will be sent home with a World Book Day voucher which they can use at any participating retailer. One of these is Usborne books and if you would like to see the special offers they are running for this year's book day have a look here.

100 Books Challenge 2011

I admit I never properly kept track of the number of books I read in 2010 after challenging myself to read 100 books. I am sure I managed it as some weeks I read 3 books so hoping I did it...


So this year I'm going to try and be more committed by signing up to Book Chick City's 100 book challenge. Will see if I can finish off my latest C J Sansom - Heartstone before the end of tomorrow and then watch this space to see how I do!


If you want to join in then click on the link above or the icon appearing at the side of my blog and give yourself a challenge.