Good Afternoon Everyone!
We’re off to help kick start the Melbourne Writers Festival schools’ program today! We hope to see you during the course of the week.
Upwards and onwards to news around the book world.
1. Top Ten Must Reads for Parents
The University of Worcester recently held a survey on the patterns and influences on parents’ reading.
The top ten must read titles:
1. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
2. The Harry Potter Series, JK Rowling
3. The Lord of The Rings, JRR Tolkien
4. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
5. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
6. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, CS Lewis
7. Animal Farm, George Orwell
8. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
9. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The breakdown doesn’t have any real shockers on there; they’re pretty standard must read classics. I was interested to discover that Alice in Wonderland polled as their most read book.
2. Guardian UK: August Book Club
The Guardian’s Teen Book Club this month hosts Melvin Burgess (Doing It) and… Margo Lanagan (Tender Morsels). Over the next month there will be podcasts with the authors about their books. Might be worth popping by every so often to check on the discussions and comments.
3. Book Buddies
Canton Public Library (America) has a buddy reading program that is now in it’s fourth year.
The program pairs children and teenagers, who read together, make crafts and sing a few songs once a week for much of the summer.
The idea of bringing children together with teenagers and creating a reading experience seems a really unique one. Often a younger sibling will look up to or idolize an older sibling. It’s just more proof that reading is actually a very social activity.
Bright Ideas has a blog post about creating interactive writing workshops in your classroom using Inklewriter.
This tool would be perfect in creative writing classes or even in other subjects like History, where students might explore the different options available to historical figures. When creating an interactive story students will have to examine the motivations of their characters carefully. It could also lead to some really good discussions about narrative structures, pacing and conversation.
A short video unveiling of Mali, famous at the Melbourne Zoo, as designed by Graeme Base. The reveal was one of fifty Mali’s that will find itself around Melbourne for the Melbourne Zoo’s 150th Anniversary.
Happy Anniversary Melbourne Zoo!
6. 50 Books You Can’t Put Down
Get Reading is here! Get Reading is an annual book celebration held for the month of September. The aim is to encourage reading.
TAGS: Net News
