What makes a good digital book?
Digital books have many advantages, making Reading for Pleasure (RfP) more accessible for many children and their families. As our world and how we consume information becomes increasingly digital, researchers from The Open University’s RfP Community Coalition have set out to answer the question: What makes a good digital book? This animated video, Children’s Digital […]
The Joy of Having a Book in Your Own Language
This article describes the sourcing and introduction of books in the home language of children in the refugee resettlement programme in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Proud partners of Spark! School Book Awards
We are delighted to partner with the Spark! School Book Awards this year, where the winners are decided by children from a shortlist chosen by teachers, booksellers and librarians. Alongside the awards, the charity provides a book fund where people can donate towards books for disadvantaged pupils, to inspire young readers everywhere. Over the past […]
Sayes Court TRG: An update from Rochelle Richmond
It has been another great year for RfP at Sayes Court. We started our first parent book club this year which has given parents an opportunity to share their love of reading and to find out more about children’s literature. We are looking forward to building on this next year and also to combining reading […]
The Farshore Reading For Pleasure 2022 Award Winners
The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2022, in association with The Open University and the UK Literacy Association (UKLA), celebrate how teachers have found innovative ways to inspire reading for pleasure in the classroom. Each year since its launch in 2017, the awards have revealed the determination and passion of teachers to get children […]
Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize
First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize and its new sister award Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize founded in 2020, seek to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers. The prizes are unique in that they accept entries published in the UK by writers of colour. These include (and not limited to) fiction, non-fiction, […]
UKLA Book Awards 2022
The only national book awards judged by teachers! United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) Book Awards are now in their 14th year. Teachers are looking for texts that can “enhance all aspects of literacy learning”. The process ensures they are able to share the books with their classes and discover what genuinely works with young readers […]
Little Rebels Book Award 2022
The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award, now in its 10th year, recognises children’s fiction (for readers aged 0-12) which promotes social justice or social equality, challenges stereotypes or is informed by anti-discriminatory concerns. The award is given by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers and was established in conjunction with Letterbox Library. The award is now […]
Children’s Book Award 2022
The Children’s Book Award is the only national award voted for solely by children from start to finish. Over 1,000 new books are submitted to be read and reviewed by local Testing Groups across the country. When the shortlists are announced voting opens on the website for any child or school to participate in. Usually […]
CLiPPA 2022
CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) is the only award for published poetry for children in the UK. A Schools Shadowing Scheme is available to promote the teaching of poetry in schools. To assist schools there are teaching resources for all the shortlisted books and videos of the poets performing their poems. There […]
Branford Boase Award 2022
The Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of outstanding author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase of Walker Books, who both died in 1999, and is unique in honouring editor as well as author. Over its 20+ years in existence, winners and shortlisted authors include Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Philip […]
Oscar’s Book Prize 2022
Oscar’s Book Prize is an annual prize for the best under-fives book of the year. The prize is awarded in memory of Oscar Ashton and in partnership with Amazon, the Evening Standard and the National Literacy Trust. Details of previous winners can be found here http://www.oscarsbookprize.co.uk/winners The Oscar’s Book Prize 2022 shortlist is as […]
The British Book Awards 2022
First launched in 1990 and now run by The Bookseller, the British Book Awards seek to showcase and celebrate the best books, the best bookshops and the best publishers. Nicknamed The Nibbies, they are unique in recognising that a book’s success is not down to just one factor. It is the author’s creative genius, it […]
English 4 – 11 Picture Book Awards
Established in 1995, the English 4-11 Picturebook Awards are presented by the English Association to the best children’s picture books of the year. The winning books are chosen by the editorial board of English 4-11 journal for primary teachers published by the English Association and the United Kingdom Literacy Association, from a shortlist selected by […]
2022 Greenaway Medal
The newly sponsored Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955, for distinguished illustration in a book for children. Awarded by librarians annually, the Medal is the only prize in the UK to solely reward outstanding illustration in a children’s book. The winners were revealed in a lunchtime ceremony held in person at The British […]
Lincolnshire TRG: An update from Sarah Bell
It has been a privilege to lead Lincolnshire’s OU RfP TaR group this academic year. Working together, we have gained so much inspiration from the website and have found the audit tools, videos, research and case studies invaluable. We have become a community of readers who share and grow ideas to promote reading for pleasure; […]
South Lanarkshire TRG: An update from Susan Brownlie
South Lanarkshire’s primary and secondary TRG participants, from this year and last, took part an online Celebration Event in May. The event was packed with ideas and inspiration for attendees to use within their schools, thanks to the work of presenting practitioners from both sectors. Our secondary teachers were excited to hear about the diverse […]
Reading TRG: an update from Miranda White & Jackie Wilcocks
The group reached session 5 and celebrated with a visit from author and poet A F Harold (see photo). Even more importantly, they shared their wonderful development projects and are hoping to publish 10 examples of practice to the website! Great work achieved and a huge impact on the children they are working with.
Rochdale TRG: an update from Clare McGreevy
Rochdale held their final TRG meeting in mid-May. It was a fantastic occasion with many members sharing their marvellous Examples of Practice. Amongst other memorable presentations, a case study from Vicki (a secondary school librarian) showed how Reading Aloud doesn’t need to stop at the end of primary! Indeed, RA has a vital and enjoyable role […]
2022 Carnegie Medal
The newly sponsored Yoto Carnegie Medal is the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book award Awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The winners were revealed in a lunchtime ceremony held in person at The British Library for the first time since 2019. It was […]
Diverse Book Awards 2021
Created by award-winning author Abiola Bello and award-winning publicist Helen Lewis, co-founders of The Author School. “We want to highlight the best of the diverse voices published in the UK & Ireland during 2021, both traditionally and self-published. We believe there’s a need to showcase the talent of marginalised voices, so we came up with […]
North Lanarkshire TRG: an update from Erin Houston.
Despite spring being the most hectic term ever, Session 4 was very good. Our core group of experts are School Librarians, Primary and Secondary, a useful mix. Great poetry books and non-fiction books suggestions shared from all. We were very lucky to have Jennifer Horan, Chair of the Board of Judges, share the Carnegie 2022 […]
Nechells, Birmingham TRG: an update from Louisa Farrow
There have been seven ITT students in the Nechells TRG group this year, all keen to build their knowledge of children’s literature as well as to hone their practice. We have done plenty of book sharing and there are some interesting projects coming along. ‘The Sunflower Sisters’ by Monika Singh Gangotra was a real favourite and sparked […]
Waterstones Book Prize 2022
The Waterstones Children’s Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children’s literature published during the previous year.
Celebrating Five Years of Reading for Pleasure!
We are delighted to be celebrating five years of the Open University (OU) Reading for Pleasure (RfP) coalition! Since 2017, we have experienced incredible growth and have been part of some brilliantly successful social-justice driven projects and initiatives. In fact, it is estimated that our research has influenced the reading lives of over 180,000 children* […]
South Lanarkshire Secondary TRG: an update from Susan Brownlie
We focused on book talk and reading recommendations, sharing tips and examples, whilst also making time so participants could chat about their work on their individual examples of practice. We were delighted to welcome Jennifer Horan, Chair of Judges for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals 2022, along to talk to us about this year’s […]
The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2021
The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize aims to promote literacy in young people and to inspire them to read about science. It also supports the writing of excellent, accessible STEM books for under-14s.
East Midlands TRG: An Update from Jayne Carter
The Lincoln Anglican Academy Trust met for session two recently. The group are getting on with their planning particularly well, having each chosen one clear aspect of RfP pedagogy for their development. With the acceptance that we ‘can’t change the world in a year‘ this is keeping us on track with an emphasis on why we […]
The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2022
The Lollies are a celebration of the funniest books for children and the winners are voted for by children themselves!
25 Ways to Celebrate World Book Day
Download this list of 25 ways to celebrate World Book Day! This list is a richly compiled range of ideas, that we were delighted to contribute to. We’ve been working with the team at WBD for some time now, alongside their other partners CLPE and NLT, helping underpin their new approach with research evidence. Exciting […]
COSTA Children’s Book Awards 2021
The COSTA Children’s Book Award is the only prize which places children’s books alongside adult books.
2022 Read for Empathy Book Collection
EmpathyLab has announced its 2022 Read for Empathy collection on 26 January – 60 diverse, empathy-rich books for 4-16 year olds . These can be used in homes, schools and libraries to build children’s empathy skills and understanding, and give them new horizon-widening experiences. Look out for the free downloadable Guides, here. “The pandemic has […]
Free Badged Online Reading for Pleasure Course
Explore current theory, research and debates around supporting children’s reading engagement in this free online course, Developing Reading for Pleasure: Engaging Young Readers. Aimed at teachers, teaching assistants, school leaders, reading volunteers, parents and all those interested in nurturing children’s reading, participants will gain knowledge and strategies to help promote reading for pleasure across schools, […]
Canterbury TRG 2: An update from Tracy Parvin
Swalecliffe Community school have had their own TRG for the last 3 years, joined by a cross-section of the school community and the owners of a local independent book shop. Online meetings have led to us gaining a visiting member, Amelia, the 12-year-old daughter of one participant, who has offered us a unique insight into […]
Book Award Winners 2020-21
A comprehensive list of Children’s Book Award Winners 2020-21
OU RfP Newsletter LIVE!
Tuesday 7th December, 8pm – 9pm After the success of last year, we’re delighted to host another OU RfP Newsletter Live, a rapid-fire virtual event dedicated to the latest in Reading for Pleasure. With Professor Teresa Cremin hosting, this virtual event will cover a range of useful topics to help you enrich your practice and […]