All children can and should read! Barrington Stoke, Anthony McGowan and an evening spent cracking reading

Last Thursday we spent a wonderful day in the company of Mairi Kidd, MD of publisher Barrington Stoke, and Anthony McGowan, award-winning author of many books including 'Brock' and 'Pike'.
Anthony spoke to students from Larkmead School and Thameside School in the afternoon - and in the evening we welcomed teachers and parents to the Larkmead LRC to discover how they can help their children to 'crack' reading.

It was an inspirational evening, one brought alive by Mairi's passion, enthusiasm and courage in the face of the mass of traditionally published children's books which often let down swathes of children by erecting unnecessary barriers to the way words get into a child's brain.

Mairi started off explaining how children read, and then used examples of both the good and the bad in children's books. 

Ultimately it was a plea for diversity in publishing, and to give all children the chance to discover books which allow them enter the world of storytelling off the page - something that has proven benefits in everything from improved maths skills, to reducing stress and improving wellbeing.

Anthony spoke about his route to becoming a writer, reading the opening extract of his novel 'Pike' and talking about the nature of inclusive stories, and the importance of stories to convey 'truth' not necessarily fact.

We made notes on the top issues that would open the door to more children reading for pleasure. This list wasn't exclusive:

1. Books themselves can be the problem. The publishing industry in general does not always think about being inclusive and how making even small changes to how books are presented would actually expanding the pool of readers.

2. Around 7-10% of people are dyslexic and will have physical, neurological reasons why they find reading books difficult.  Small changes, mostly to the way text is traditionally presented on the page would actually remove most of these barriers and make these people able to read books more easily, eg using a font where you can tell the difference between letters (eg a capital I and the letter l looks identical in some fonts).

3. The way children learn to read is often driven by getting them to recognise particular words, or phonics sounds, repeating the same sounds without there being any sense to the sentence, any story worth reading or any point or enjoyment to what is being read. Children can quickly not see the point of reading, particularly children who don’t have books at home or have role models of adults who see reading as enjoyable.

4. Having picture content is viewed as being for young children, yet the internet is full of adults sharing images. If adults find images such good ways of communicating, why do so few books use images?

5. Books are often written in a particular literary style which does not reflect the way people speak. It is more difficult for children to decode meaning. It can take a while to work out what a sentence means. When we speak, we tend to use subject, object and verb in a logical order, but this isn’t always reflected in books.

6. Reading for pleasure should be about magazines, comics, even audio books – anything that opens a door to taking pleasure in the written word or in stories.

7. There seems to be a perception that as teenagers get older, they want longer books. But the teenage years are often where there is most study pressure and competition from other areas of life and many stop reading altogether. Shorter books can help.

8. There is a prejudice against short books – very few ever make it onto prize lists. Yet research has shown that teenage boys would most like to read books of 100 pages or less. So this is the norm, yet almost no books this short are published.

9. We have a thriving publishing sector for young adult fiction, but figures show that 80% of YA of this is bought by adults. So why do we congratulate ourselves on publishing marvellous fiction for teenagers?

10. Everyone can feel daunted by the challenge of reading. One of the barriers to reading for pleasure is fear of failure. It’s a bit like if an adult wants to be recommended a good book to read and is presented with ‘War and Peace’. People’s perceptions of the value of a good book are very different. It is also easy to ‘dumb down’ to reluctant readers and think they will only read books about football or simple topics.

On the Barrington Stoke website, you can read 'Mairi's 10 Laws' which include a suggestion that we think is absolutely fantastic - a National Reading Day. A day to go to work and school as normal, but one where everyone puts their feet up and reads for the whole day. We know several teachers who would love to do this at their schools - so I reckon we should try to make it happen.

Mairi suggests calling it 'Terry Pratchett Day' and we wouldn't disagree with that either...

We have always been very proud of our association with Barrington Stoke, so if you have any concerns about your children reading - whatever their age and ability - please come in and ask our advice.

We always say 'one mountain, many paths' (which we may have cribbed from someone else!) as far as reading goes, and this isn't a one-shot deal to 'solve' your child's reading issues. It's definitely a journey, there may be a few false starts, but we know that there are books out there that can really open the door to reading - and Barrington Stoke titles (written as they are by many of our most well-known children's authors) is a great place to start.

Thanks to Linda Stone at the Larkmead LRC for doing such a fabulous job of hosting the event, and also to Sally Poyton who helped with the author event in the afternoon - and ran the bookstall for us in the evening.

Having an author to ourselves for most of the day was also a bit of a luxury, so we managed to ask Mr McGowan a few questions about his writing life, and any tips he might have had...

Five questions with . . . Anthony McGowan's writing life

1.    What are you working on at the moment?

I'm working on a teenage horror/Sci-fi mash-up called "The Wrath" (working title!) set in the future. It centres on a school in a desolate, barely-functioning town, and specifically in an exclusion unit within the school. When a train accident involving a battlefield chemical agent spills into the schools, it turns out the kids in the unit - by way of a medication they have been taking - are unaffected. I like to think it's horror in the way that Stephen King writes horror, aside from the idea and setting, what drives the story forward is following the individual characters that you invest in. I'm also hoping there will be a 'Battle Royale' feel to it (the Japanese novel some cite as an influence on The Hunger Games).

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

I wasn't really given any writing tips as such starting out - I just started writing and made loads of mistakes along the way. But the one thing I did do is read a lot, so I guess I passively absorbed a lot of great writing. After that it's just trial and error as you find your own writing style.

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

When you are writing for teens, you are writing for readers who are at the most intense phase of their life - their friends represent the strongest friendships they will ever have, they have enemies that want to do them actual harm. But above all they are incredibly open to ideas, which means they will go with you on whatever direction you want with the story. They are open to challenging - and sometimes upsetting - subject matter in a way that isn't the case once you get into your 20s. I've talked to students who have walked out because of the subject matter in my books, but teens would never do that.

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing or snack essential before you can start work?

I have a study - the smallest, ugliest room in the house with a window you can't really see out of. And that's where I write, because it's the room with the least distractions. But sometimes I want a place which is a bit more 'active' and I head to the British Library. It's only a half hour bike ride away, but it feels like I'm definitely heading out to work like a proper job (rather than sitting at my desk in my pyjamas!)

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

That's a really interesting question (*think hard*). I did a PhD, and that required me to write 100,000 words, and actually *finish* something, so I knew I was capable of writing a physical book. I then found myself working in a pretty dull job, and one day I had an idea for a story, and I started writing it down, and the words just flowed out. So I knew I could *write* (getting the words out and down) but I think - creatively - the breakthrough was when I realised that what I was writing was funny, and then I showed it to someone, and they thought it was funny. If you can use humour, you know you can engage the reader. That book went on to be 'Hellbent' my first novel.

(Much more about Anthony McGowan on his website here)

Just Read! Help your child become a keener reader with Barrington Stoke

We know that reading opens doors, engages the imagination, builds confidence and stimulates curiosity. But that doesn't mean the path to reading success is a smooth one.

Parents want to help their children develop the skills of reading, yet many are unsure of how best to support their child, and help them overcome barriers to reading.

We've got together with Larkmead School and would love to invite you to an evening with a specialist publisher for more reluctant readers, Barrington Stoke. They will reveal tips, simple strategies and target books that are proven to help support your child and give them the opportunities to become more successful readers.

Mairi Kidd

Barrington Stoke specialises in publishing super-readable children’s books that break down the barriers that can stop kids getting into reading.

Barrington Stoke MD Mairi Kidd will be joined by bestselling author Anthony McGowan to discuss ways of removing barriers to reading, and helping parents to take confident steps to turn reluctant readers into keener readers.

Anthony McGowan

There will be a chance to ask questions, and browse books from Barrington Stoke from some of their most famous authors, including Michael Morpurgo, Tom Palmer, Chris Bradford, Malorie Blackman, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Julia Donaldson, Alexander McCall Smith and Chris Riddell.

The event takes place at 6.45pm on Thursday, May 5 in the LRC at Larkmead School. The event is free and there will be refreshments available. We really hope you can come – particularly if you’re looking for ideas to encourage reading.

If you would like to come along, please email us as soon as possible to let us know you will be attending.

All children can develop their reading skills, and read to succeed. We hope you can join us!

Can't Read, Won't Read

We are currently in a five-day, five-event stint - with another two events next week (i.e. this post will be short). Yesterday (Tuesday), we provided the books for an event with the former Tory MP Lord Hurd (better known - to me anyway - as Douglas Hurd) and in lieu of a proper write-up of a very entertaining evening, I'll point you to the Abingdon Blog.

However, on Monday night we ran a very special event indeed, and we are still reeling somewhat from a) the response in terms of the number of people who attended, and b) the feedback on the night. It may sound trite - or false, or something cooked up by someone firmly focused on a PR angle - but I'll say it anyway. A very experienced bookseller told me once that selling books is a privilege rather than a job, and occasionally something happens that proves this adage in spades. Monday night was a classic example, and I feel very privileged to have been involved.

Can't Read, Won't Read was jointly organised between Larkmead School, ourselves, publisher Barrington Stoke and their distributor Bounce. Barrington Stoke arranged for two of their authors to come along (Nigel Hinton and Joanna Kenrick), as well as a lady well-known in the field of reading, learning and literacy: Patience Thomson. We billed the event as an opportunity for parents and teachers with children who have reading difficulties (call them 'reluctant readers', or 'struggling readers') to pick up hints and tips in terms of understanding the problems they face, and helping them to develop a love of reading.

Given the range of problems that children can face when reading - and as I have been discovering, there can be a huge number of roadblocks to reading fluency - this was a big promise to deliver on. Given we had never tried the format before as well, there were all kinds of risks in terms of expectations.

We had hoped that we might get close to 50 people attending. Thanks to an incredible and generous response from parents and teachers to an email I had sent the week before, we had 93 - and we almost ran out of seats. More seriously, we almost ran out of wine glasses (which, IMHO, constitutes an events 'crisis').

We didn't take many photos on the evening - but here's Nigel speaking on the night to get an idea of the audience, and also the woderful space that is Larkmead's Learning Resource Centre: With the help of some willing volunteers from the English department, we grabbed more seats from nearby classrooms, but the larger-than-expected audence meant that (with the marvellous benefit of hindsight) we perhaps should have thought about a microphone. Apologies to anyone struggling to hear near the back - although each of the speakers seemed to have no problems making themselves heard - or understood.

Each of the speakers picked a particular viewpoint to focus on in terms on tackling the problems of children reading. Patience talked about the ability to cope with language, and the problems that can arise for children who cannot process language in an efficient way, which leads to issues of confidence and ability which can impact on all areas of social interaction. This informed her own beliefs in the way she set up Barrington Stoke.

Nigel focused on the power of stories, and the problems and perceptions of what are great books, how the types of books that get talked about and win awards are books that are only really enjoyed by a small fraction of society - but pass the majority by. He talked about the fact that written literature sits in a small amount of time compared with the eons of spoken stories, ballads - and a future where the book may disappear altogether. 

Joanna gave her own impressions of writing for Barrington Stoke, and the challenge of having to use limited vocabulary to tell compelling stories. Finally, larkmead's librarian Frances Stott focused more on the "Won't Read" side of things, having produced a display of books that seemed to appeal to kids who, ordinarily, were not turned on by 'traditional' books - and who needed a special approach in terms of motivation. Everything from graphic novels to Top Gear books.

This by the way is a very clumsy - and misrepresentative - summary of the entirety of what was discussed, which included readings, tips, personal anecdotes. The evening ended with a look at Barrington Stoke's huge range of books, and a chance to ask questions directly of all the speakers. Many people stayed until quite late, and I hope that everyone had the chance to pick up information, parent packs - but more importantly, by taking time out from the busy lives that we all lead, and get to some of the core elements of the power of stories and the reasons that we do - or don't - read, everyone went away inspired to try some different approaches with overcoming some of the serious hurdles that a lot of children face in trying to read.