Getting children to engage with books and grow their love of reading is always a focus within schools. Initiatives to help pupils foster their love of reading is often greeted enthusiastically by those who already find pleasure between the pages of a book, but met with scepticism by those who for a plethora of reasons are resistant to reading.
Book clubs can be a great way to encourage reading and foster a love of books, with a social shared experience, but can also be intimidating for children with reading challenges. I began to wonder if there are ways to create different book clubs in a school setting to help bridge that gap and get more children excited about reading. Here are some suggestions.
Recommendation Book Clubs
I have a close friend, a former English teacher, who told me about book clubs she used to run in schools, which I think is genius. Every child and teacher brings a book they like to the meeting, and talks about why they recommend it. No mandatory time pressure reading required. Just a social meet-up for book lovers whatever their reading ability may be.
Someone makes a note of all of the recommendations and sends the list of books out as an email/print out to the group (this could be a pupil), so everyone has a ready-made book list of potential reads. It could even be distributed more widely across the school and be attached to the school newsletter – thereby encouraging reading beyond the bounds of the book club itself.
Graphic Novel/Comic/Manga Book Clubs
Lots of children, and many with reading challenges, like to read graphic novels and comics. So this could be a way of using the traditional format of a book club but making it feel more accessible. This allows for the discussion to cover the usual – plot, character development, story arcs – but also the illustrations and how they work with the text to deliver the story. In recent years a wealth of great graphic novels for children have been published by traditional publishers – so there are loads to choose from!
Book + Audio Book Clubs
Book clubs where you pick a book that has an audio edition, so children can choose to listen, or read along with the audio.
Audio Book Clubs
Book clubs where you listen with a group to a chapter or two of the book in a sitting. This would work well for a school setting, maybe at lunch break or after school. Everyone experiencing the story at the same time and then discussing it afterwards. Many middle-grade audio books are about seven hours long, so that would take a couple of half an hour book club sittings a week to finish the book within a half term. An inclusive book club where everyone can enjoy the book at the same time.
Adaptation Book Clubs
This does exactly what it says on the tin – you watch a film adaptation of a book in short instalments across lunchtimes or afterschool clubs throughout the term. Then discuss how it differs from the source text (trying to avoid spoilers) and why the book is better (I am assuming the books are better; they usually are).
This may well encourage children to seek out the original text and read it in their own time. Many children with reading challenges are very nervous about investing their time and energy in reading a book unless they are confident they will enjoy it. Therefore, having enjoyed the film, and hearing how the book differs and is possibly better – may be just the boost they need to pick up and read the original text.
I hope some of you will read this and be inspired to set up alternative book clubs in your school – maybe with your own take on an accessible format. You’ve got this – GO ALL IN!
Mammoth Rider by SJ Poyton is out now.
Find books on similar themes…
-
Mega Robo Bros creator Neill Cameron believes that there’s a comic out there for everyone – from reluctant readers to bookworms. Here are ten of his top recommendations for some graphic novels and comics that all children can enjoy.
-
There’s a book out there for every teenager, even the most reluctant of readers. Try a few of the books below to see if they click with your teenager and help them love reading. There’s non-fiction, graphic novels, rhyme and verse! Let us know which one works for your teenager.
-
There’s a book out there for every child, even the most reluctant of readers. Try a few of the books below to see if they click with your child and help them love reading. There’s fiction, non-fiction, rhyme and laugh-out-loud moments! Let us know which one works for your 9–12 year old.
-
There’s a book out there for every child, even the most reluctant of readers. Try a few of the books below to see if they click with your child and help them love reading. There’s fiction, non-fiction, rhyme and laugh-out-loud moments! Let us know which one works for your 5–8 year old.
