Making Reading Fun for All


Encouraging children of all backgrounds and abilities to read for pleasure

Our aim is to encourage all children to read from an early age; to fall in love with the characters they follow and the worlds they imagine. This page provides a useful resource for organisations that do just that …

World Book Day

World Book Day (WBD) is a nationwide celebration of authors, illustrators, books and {most importantly} reading. It’s the biggest celebration of its kind, where children come together to appreciate reading. Very loudly and very happily!

Their aim is to encourage children of all ages, from toddler to teen, to explore the pleasures of books and reading through having a book of their own and distribute 12.5 million book tokens through schools {one for nearly every child in the country) to make this happen.

Whilst celebrated on the first Thursday of March each year, World Book Day is a year-long campaign which encourages teachers, parents and carers to foster a culture of reading for pleasure both at home and at school. The WBD website is updated throughout the year and is full of fun reading ideas, activities, games and resources, based on favourite books and authors, as well as reading recommendations and advice.

Quick Reads

Quick Reads was founded by Dame Gail Rebuck on World Book Day 2006, as an initiative to support adult literacy. Their mission is to bring the pleasure and benefits of reading to everyone, but today, one in six adults of working age in the UK find reading difficult and may never pick up a book. For many adult emergent readers, a Quick Read title may be a first ‘proper’ book they have read and Quick Reads are read by a wide range of readers and, increasingly, busy people who may have lost the habit of reading for pleasure.

To encourage them to read, Quick Reads commission, publish and distribute short books by major authors. Since 2006, 123 Quick Reads titles have been published and 4.5 million copies distributed.

As well as making Quick Reads titles available through libraries and retail channels, their main focus is to get Quick Reads books and resources into the hands of those who need them most, so they undertake a year-long programme of outreach work in partnership with other organisations and charities, including The Reading Agency, National Literacy Trust, World Book Night, Unionlearn, English PEN and the British Council.

World Book Night

World Book Night (WBN) is an annual celebration of reading and books celebrated on April 23 and run by The Reading Agency.

The campaign sees passionate volunteers give away hundreds of thousands of books in their communities, to share their love of reading with people who, for whatever reason, don’t read for pleasure or own books.

WBN work with partners and charities to encourage a love of reading through hundreds of events to celebrate World Book Night nationwide, from small community gatherings to author readings in flagship libraries.

World Book Nights is about giving books and encouraging those who have lost their love of reading – or are yet to gain it – to pick up a book and read. Reading opens up opportunities for education, employment and culture and frees the imagination. In short, it has the power to change your life.

Coram Beanstalk

Coram Beanstalk is a national literacy charity that recruits, vets, trains and supports volunteers to work with children in primary schools who have fallen behind with their reading. Their vision is a nation of confident children who can read and grow up to lead successful lives.

Beanstalk reading helpers work with children on a one-to-one basis, giving them consistent support to improve reading levels, increase overall confidence and help them gain the vital literacy skills they need to succeed in education, training and employment

Each Beanstalk reading helper works with three children, who they see twice a week during term-time, for a whole year. Together, they read, play and talk. With Beanstalk’s support, the child’s approach to learning and enjoying reading is often transformed.

They currently work in areas of deprivation in the North of England, Midlands, Greater London and Kent, and have over 80 staff and more than 2,300 volunteers, who support over 7,000 children a year.

BookTrust

Booktrust expands children’s chances in life by developing their loves of reading through bookgifting and family activities. Reading together builds family bonds and gives children a better start – and children and young people who read for pleasure do better at school and beyond.

They give free books to 2.5 million children and families, supported by advice and fun things to do for parents and agencies. Councils, health visitors, children’s centres, libraries, schools, publishers and other charities help them make this happen.

Booktrust believes everyone should get the chance to develop a love of reading, so they gift books to every baby under 12 months and child ages 3-4 (Bookstart) and to all 4-5s (Booktime) and stimulate reading through our Read for My School competition and Children’s Book Week.

Their Letterbox Club gives children in care extra books and opportunities, and tailor books for those who are deaf, blind/partially-sighted or whose first language isn’t English. For disadvantaged children, there’s Bookstart Corner (18-36 months) and the Children’s Reading Fund (4-11s).

Learning and Work Institute

L&W are an independent policy, research and development organisation dedicated to lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion, who research what works, influence policy, develop new ways of thinking, and help implement new approaches.

Working with partners, they inspire people to learn and help transform people’s experiences of learning and employment. This benefits individuals, families, communities and the wider economy.

L&W want everyone to have an opportunity to realise their ambitions and potential in learning, work and throughout life and believe that a better-skilled workforce, in better-paid jobs, is good for business, good for the economy, and good for society.

Save the Children

Born to Read is a partnership between Save the Children and Beanstalk, giving children in the UK the reading skills they need for a better future.

Literacy is key to a child’s future and learning to read unlocks a world of opportunity. It underpins a child’s chances of achieving at school and, beyond that, of finding work. But far too many boys and girls in the UK fall badly behind in literacy in their first few years at school. Most of these children never catch up, leaving school without basic reading skills or good qualifications.

Born to Read will provide 7,000 more reading helpers for 23,000 pupils in schools in deprived areas across the country, to support their literacy.

The Reading Agency

The Reading Agency’s mission is to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers through a range of programmes, promotions and author interactions. They champion reading for pleasure through a strong partnership with libraries, publishers, charities and other institutions.

The Summer Reading Challenge tackles the ‘dip’ in reading during the summer holidays by encouraging children aged 4 to 11 to visit their local library, read six books and collect points & rewards. Over 800,000 children now take part.
Chatterbooks Reading Groups – children widen their reading horizons and build literacy skills by being inspired to talk about books.
Reading Activists help 11 to 19-year-olds build their skills and enthusiasm for reading through new forms of engagement and community volunteering.
The Six Book Challenge helps less confident readers develop a new reading habit while improving their confidence, literacy skills, employability and quality of life.
Reading Groups for Everyone encourages and inspires people to talk about books and set up their own reading groups.
Reading Well promotes health and well-being through the national English Books on Prescriptions scheme of quality-assured self-help books and peer-recommended Mood-Boosting Books.

National Literacy Agency

The National Literacy Trust is a charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK, and work to improve reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in the UK’s most deprived communities. They campaign to make literacy a priority for politicians and families, young people and children.

They support schools and provide innovative teaching conferences and resources and work with local authorities to build literacy hubs in the poorest communities that join up local businesses, voluntary organisations, schools and the media to raise literacy levels.

RNIB Bookshare UK

RNIB Bookshare UK  opens the world of reading for learners with print disabilities. With more than 600,000 accessible books from around 900 publishers and imprints, the online service enables learners who cannot access standard print, including those with dyslexia and who are blind or partially sighted, to read the same books as their peers, giving them the same educational opportunities.

Signing up for membership to RNIB Bookshare is free for educational organisations supporting learners with a print disability in the UK.
Learners can then be added to organisational memberships.

More information is available here: https://www.rnibbookshare.org/cms/bookshare-me.